Spending watchdog: Special forces and nuclear spending should be examined by MPs

Spending on the nuclear deterrent and the UK's special forces should be scrutinised by a new committee of MPs, ministers have been told.

The Commons' existing spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said a new panel should be established to examine expenditure in sensitive areas.

It suggested the proposed committee could use private evidence sessions and correspondence to examine how billions of pounds are spent on highly classified projects.

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The PAC warned there were "scrutiny gaps" where secret projects were not examined by existing panels of MPs and peers.

PAC chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said: "Parliament must no longer see through a glass darkly on whether value for money is being secured on confidential expenditure.

"There are, of course, sound reasons why certain areas of spending must be examined in a manner appropriate to their sensitivity."

She went on to say that "such sensitivity is all the more reason why the processes around its scrutiny should be made robust".

"A new select committee would address the current gaps in how such matters are scrutinised, and the PAC would be pleased to work with the Government to take this proposal forward," she added.

The National Audit Office has previously reported that the Defence Nuclear Organisation is forecast to spend almost £100bn over the next 10 years.

The PAC said the Ministry of Defence's annual update on the nuclear enterprise – which includes all the organisations, programmes and people that sustain the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent – contained little detail given the scale of the project.

More than £1.1bn is set to be spent in support of the special forces – which include the SAS and SBS – from 2025, but the MOD has resisted calls to provide more information to the Commons Defence Committee, the PAC said.

The PAC said the new select committee should have a "specific remit to consider sound financial practice and value for money" in sensitive areas which are outside the remit of the statutory Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.