Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the 2.5% increase to defence spending on 25 February 2025 will fund the Chagos deal.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The costs of the Chagos Archipelago Treaty will be met from within the FCDO and MOD budgets set out at the spending review. The NATO qualifying status of these costs will be considered in the usual way.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long the Global Combat Air Programme development phase is expected to last.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Work is ongoing with our GCAP Partners Japan and Italy to establish the core platform concept and set up the structures needed, ready to launch the Development Phase in 2025.
The programme's ambition remains to deliver an aircraft into service from 2035, and the detailed milestones will be agreed following completion of the Concept and Assessment phase.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the expected change in cost for Defence Nuclear Enterprise until 2033.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As stated in an update to the Public Accounts Committee in December 2023, the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) forecast an equipment plan spend of £117.8 billion over the period 2023-33. Over the same period to 2033, the current forecast for DNE equipment plan spend has increased by about £10 billion.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to answer Question (a) 56739, (b) 56740 and (c) 56741 on Strategic Defence Review, tabled on 3 June 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I responded to the right hon. Member's Questions 56739 and 56740 on 11 June 2025 and to Question 56741 on 10 June 2025.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 54377 on Veterans: Housing, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using data from Op Fortitude to undertake a review of the supply and demand of single occupancy housing for veterans.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 June 2025 to Question 57385.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve the specialist support available to bereaved military families.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Defence provides active and comprehensive support to the families of those Service personnel who die in Service. We take a holistic, multi-agency approach to supporting the bereaved with assistance provided through the single Services, the Defence Bereaved Families Group (DBFG) and Veterans Services.
Defence has recently undertaken several initiatives to improve this support including working to ensure that the bereaved community are clearly recognised and referenced as distinctly separate to any other cohort, through changes to official communication and language.
Additionally, the Purple Book (a guide that supports those responsible for handling the affairs and arrangements following a Service persons death) has recently undergone a full review following stakeholder engagement and consultation with representatives of bereaved families, to ensure its content was appropriate, accurate and informative; this was subsequently endorsed by the DBFG.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) industry bodies, (b) defence industry companies, (c) media organisations, (d) trade associations, (e) think tanks and (f) other non-Government (i) bodies and (ii) people were given access to the Strategic Defence Review 2025 before 9.00am on 2 June 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
For the launch of the Strategic Defence Review, the Government offered embargoed briefings to our people and senior defence leaders, plus certain Parliamentarians, trade unions, businesses, allies and media. This was broadly consistent with the approach for previous defence reviews.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether financial incentives for service personnel on overseas deployments were considered during the the Strategic Defence Review.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Financial Incentives (FI) are offered by cohort and rank rather than geography of Service. As such there is not a singular FI for those serving overseas, but a number of Service personnel overseas are receiving a FI. Service personnel receive an allowance package to mitigate disadvantage of relocation and differing costs of living. Furthermore, Service personnel living in Service Families Accommodation overseas pay a smaller accommodation fee then those living in the UK. The Strategic Defence Review also explored the importance of pay and measures to improve retention, including recommending the Ministry of Defence prioritise delivering its 'flexible working' initiative, and providing support towards home ownership. Also announced as part of the Review was over £1.5 billion additional funding to fix forces family housing.
As a new Government, we have already improved the childcare offer for those Service personnel which was announced in November 2024.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 54377 on Veterans: Housing, if he will (a) make an assessment of the adequacy of trends in levels of Op FORTITUDE caseload and (b) review levels of (i) supply and (ii) demand for single occupancy housing for veterans.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
We remain fully committed to ensuring the right support is in place for veterans, including housing support. As of June 2025, Op FORTITUDE has received a cumulative total of over 3,500 referrals and supported over 900 veterans into housing. The Government has committed £500,000 to supporting Op FORTITUDE's operation this financial year.
We have also funded an evaluation of Op FORTITUDE and the Reducing Veteran Homelessness Programme, which has been commissioned by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.
The Government is taking steps to increase affordable housebuilding, and I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 41721 on 3 April 2025.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the Strategic Defence Review.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Welsh Government was invited to respond to the public consultation through a letter from Lord Robertson. I have also held a call with the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales to brief the Welsh Government on the content of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and its significance for Wales. We will continue engagement with Welsh Government Colleagues on a range of Ministry of Defence matters including the SDR.