Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, what expenditure is involved in the Defence Marine Services - Next Generation; and when the business case was first submitted.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Full Business Case (FBC) was submitted to the Department’s Investment Approval Committee (IAC) members on 21 January 2025. Permission to proceed with the award of contracts was received on 9 April 2025.
The FBC authorised an Approved Budgetary Limit of £1.393 Billion over 10 years for the DMS-NG programme (including Ministry of Defence cost and risk provision).
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the MODnet Evolve Programme.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Significant progress has been made on the MODNET Evolve programme over the last quarter.
The development of the next generation MODNET Official service is nearing completion, and rollout of the new service to Ministry of Defence's (MOD) 200,000 users worldwide began in February 2025 with the start of the rollout to the 700-user pilot group.
The new Managed Print Service has been rolled out to over 95% of sites worldwide, with the remainder due for completion this financial year. This is providing a more secure and easier to use service, while saving MOD circa £26 million across the life of the new contract.
The contract for the MODNET Secret service was signed in December 2024, and is on track to achieve Service Transition by end June 2025 resulting in formal exit from the ATLAS contract.
All these contracts deliver considerable cost savings to defence, enhance the quality of service to users, and ensure MOD has a modern ICT infrastructure that aligns to the Department’s need.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with SMEs on the development of the Defence Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) hold a crucial place in UK defence. They are the backbone of the UK economy and are vital to delivering the innovation, expertise and agility that we need now and in the future.
The Defence Industrial Strategy will set the conditions to unlock the full potential of SMEs. To expediate this, in March the Government unveiled substantial additional support for defence SMEs, including a support hub offering guidance on accessing the defence supply chain and the upcoming publication of a new SME spending target for defence. These measures are being developed in collaboration with industry including SMEs.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the 36,347 houses re-acquired by his Department in January 2025 house service (a) personnel and (b) families.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
As at 30 April 2025, of the properties re-acquired by the Department in January 2025, 29,622 are let.
Of these, 26,470 are let to Service personnel and their families and a further 402 are let to Service personnel as appropriated as Single Living Accommodation.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release Homes fit for heroes: Raft of new measures to improve military family housing published on 18 April 2025, how the first 1,000 homes for refurbishment were selected.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
In our new Consumer Charter we announced seven commitments, one of which is to raise the minimum standard of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) with a new programme of refurbishment works targeted at 1,000 of the worst homes.
A combination of factors will be considered when selecting SFA for refurbishment. All SFA will be assessed against condition, thermal efficiency, age, safety, and modernity, as well as whether the Ministry of Defence has an enduring requirement for them. This will ensure both a geographical spread of investment across the UK and that a mixture of Officer and Other Rank properties are considered.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release Homes fit for heroes: Raft of new measures to improve military family housing published on 18 April 2025, how many families will each named housing office be responsible for under the new consumer charter.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The number of families each named Housing Officer will be responsible for under the new Consumer Charter, will vary depending on the number of Service families based at each location across the Defence estate.
Work is currently underway to review Housing Officer duties, roles and responsibilities, along with the current structure. A new Housing Officer Vision has been rolled out via recent Housing Officer workshops.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release Homes fit for heroes: Raft of new measures to improve military family housing published on 18 April 2025, what are they main components of the defence housing strategy.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Defence Housing Strategy, planned for publication later this year, will set out a roadmap to deliver a generational renewal of military accommodation, where the main objective is to raise the minimum standard of Armed Forces housing.
It will also turbocharge the development of surplus military land creating opportunities for Armed Forces home ownership and support the delivery of affordable homes for families across Britain as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April to Question 43178 on Defence: Procurement, what expenditure was involved in the Sheffield Forgemaster Recapitalisation; and when the business case was first submitted.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government will provide a full update on the Sheffield Forgemasters recapitalisation later this year.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total Reserve Service Day Budget is for the (a) Army, (b) Maritime and (c) Air Force in financial year 2025-26.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Reserves enable our Armed Forces to meet the threats we face at home and overseas, by providing the scale, skills, agility and connection to society needed, in a cost-effective way. As the Minister for Veterans and People, I have commissioned an internal review in Defence to ensure that we are making the most of the unique contribution our Reserve Forces offer. The review will examine the Reserves landscape and will include some aspects of their terms and conditions of Service.
There is no baseline allocation of Reserve Service Days (RSD) for Army Reservists; individual Army Reserve RSD consumption varies between zero and 120 days, with an average of around 30 days. For the Maritime Reserve, the minimum annual training commitment is generally 24 RSD, split between the delivery of operational capability output and support activity. For Royal Air Force Reserve, the minimum annual RSD is 27 days, though the average is 30 days.
Funds are allocated appropriately to deliver strategic objectives. In advance of the conclusions of the Strategic Defence Review and the review I have commissioned it would be inappropriate to anticipate future budgetary allocations.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the size of the Army Cadet force.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The merits of the Army Cadet Force and the societal benefits of all Army cadets are well recognised, improving self-efficacy, enhancing ability to communicate, and strengthening physical and mental resilience leading to better employability prospects.
Work is currently underway to understand opportunities for expansion across Ministry of Defence Cadets. Although it is too early to make an accurate assessment on projected numbers, I have directed that a review is carried out, closely aligned with the Strategic Defence Review, to determine how we can deliver more cadet activity and increase the size and offer of the Cadet Forces.