MOD hands Chancellor list of options to sell off £400m of assets to help fund the DIP

The Ministry of Defence is set to axe £400m worth of assets to help fund the Defence Investment Plan, a target set when the DIP was published earlier this year.

BFBS Forces News understands the Treasury is now considering what will be sold off after the MOD sent it a list of options, following a review of the defence estate.

The target is to make the savings by 2030 and the process is expected to begin next year.

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After Chancellor John Healey delivered his Budget to the nation, in which he committed to fully funding the DIP, journalists sitting in the press gallery rushed outside to receive their hard copies of the Red Book – the document that explains the Treasury’s spending decisions.

As I read my copy I zoned into a brief line on page 32 which says: "The Government has concluded its Strategic Asset Review, which has identified surplus assets for disposal as part of the Defence Investment Plan funding package.

"The Budget sets revised departmental budgets, reflecting individual departmental disposal targets."

Over the past few months since the DIP was published work has been underway behind the scenes to see what the MOD could sell off.

The decision was detailed in a document called the DIP funding explainer, which references £400m of MOD asset sales, describing it as "rationalising the MOD estate".

But what is their precise definition of assets? Buildings? Bases? Land? And crucially, what is on the final list they've put forward to face the chop?

When I asked the MOD these questions I was pointed to an answer that Defence Readiness and Industry Ministry Luke Pollard gave to Parliament earlier this month.

"The Ministry of Defence has a target to deliver £400m from asset efficiencies over a three-year period from 2027-28 to 2029-30," he said.

"The department has carried out a strategic review of its assets to identify opportunities to dispose of surplus assets and submitted these to HMT [His Majesty's Treasury]."

For now, the MOD isn't sharing its definition of assets in this case – and there is no clear timeline for when the Treasury will respond to the list.

​We have approached the Treasury for comment and are awaiting a response.