The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused by MPs of being “disingenuous” over the department’s financial problems.

In a report released today, the Commons defence select committee said answers given by ministers in hearings on the funding gap for the department’s procurement were “at best confused and unhelpful and at worst deliberately obstructive”.

The MPs highlighted National Audit Office (NAO) findings last year that the department had been delaying projects to help its immediate cashflow - a tactic which has added hundreds of millions of pounds to final bills.

But, according to the committee, when it quizzed witnesses on the funding problems last year, they failed to give straight answers.

"The evidence suggests that at the time that MoD witnesses gave evidence to our defence equipment 2009 inquiry, the MoD was in the process of taking steps to manage a funding gap of £21bn," the report said. "Witness denials at that time of the existence of such a gap now appear disingenuous.”

Committee chair James Arbuthnot said the department would need to be more open with the defence committee in the future. “The defence committee cannot fulfil its scrutiny role for Parliament if the MoD refuses to provide such information about its activities,” Arbuthnot said. “The MoD will need to provide the next defence committee with more accurate and complete information.”