Armed Forces Recruitment: North-east England

Alan Strickland Excerpts

Wednesday 25th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered armed forces recruitment in the North East.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Allin-Khan. It is an honour to lead this debate in Armed Forces Week, as we take time to mark the huge contribution that our service personnel make to the security of the UK and our allies. As we celebrate their public service, in this debate we will discuss how to recruit the next generation of warfighters that our country needs.

There has never been a more important time for this discussion. The recent strategic defence review called for

“a landmark shift in our deterrence and defence…moving to warfighting readiness to deter threats and strengthen security”.

A step change in how we recruit must be a fundamental part of that. As a region with a proud history of supporting our armed forces, the north-east can make a significant contribution in the future.

I will make three points today. First, I will talk about transforming armed forces recruitment to meet the rapidly evolving threats that we face. Secondly, I will explain how we can attract the high-tech warfighting skills that we need for the future. Finally, I will discuss how we can modernise recruitment to harness our armed forces as an engine of social mobility.

Let me start with transforming armed forces recruitment to meet the rapidly emerging threats. From the many visits that I have made to RAF bases at home and abroad as part of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, and having met service personnel in my constituency, it is clear that our armed forces’ greatest asset is their people. They demonstrate extraordinary commitment, resilience and professionalism day in, day out, and I am sure we can all agree that our men and women in uniform represent the very best of British public service. But as the Defence Secretary said:

“The world has changed. The threats we now face are more serious and less predictable than at any time since the Cold War”.

That means we need to look again at how we make sure we have the right people in the right numbers, and with the right skills, across our armed forces.

How do we do that? First, we need a step change in the number of people joining the regular forces and the reserves to give us the mass that we need to meet evolving threats. In doing so, we need to tackle the recruitment crisis that Ministers inherited from the last Government. It is incredibly disappointing that in the last four years, the number of people joining the regular forces fell by 40% in the north-east region. Across the country, it fell by just under a third. Over the last year, we have seen a welcome 19% increase in recruits, but as Ministers have made clear, there is much more to do.

To improve the scale of recruitment, we must transform its speed. It is vital that military recruitment, like all other aspects of UK defence, quickly starts operating at a wartime pace. For too long, new entrants have faced bureaucratic barriers, delays to medical screening and outdated restrictions on pre-existing conditions. This has meant that the length of time between filling in an application form and donning a uniform has often been too long.

[Lola McEvoy (Darlington) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech on this crucial issue. Does he agree that the system used to apply to join the armed forces is outdated and often cumbersome? I am very happy to say that a constituent of mine has successfully been able to submit an application, but this was after finding that she did not get a notification to say that she had missed some bits of her original application, so she had been waiting indefinitely. She is a keen young person from Darlington who really wants to serve the country, and we absolutely need to take advantage of having people like that.

[Alan Strickland]

I thank my hon. Friend for her helpful intervention, and I entirely agree. I, too, have had casework in my constituency involving people who are keen to join the forces, but whose applications have been lost or delayed. In other cases, medical checks have never been booked. I hope that the Minister will set out some of the practical steps that will be taken to speed up the process.

The problems that we are discussing have hampered recruitment efforts and led to the loss of highly skilled applicants, and we must tackle that. The top priority must be to deliver faster, more flexible and more dynamic recruitment that delivers at pace the new generations of talented servicemen and women that we need.

I turn to attracting the high-tech warfighting skills that we require. As we know, the nature of warfare has changed dramatically in the last few years, and in the appalling conflict in Ukraine, we see it evolving rapidly every single day. In response to that, the strategic defence review makes it clear that our warfighters need a broader range of skills across a wider range of professional and technical specialisms. That is because we need to defend and deter across the five domains of modern warfare— air, land, sea, cyber and space—all of which are developing at pace. I see that clearly in my constituency and across the north-east, where, alongside the manufacture of conventional defence supplies, we have a growing cluster of world-leading space and satellite businesses, many of which are involved in defence.

This rapid innovation means that our military personnel not only need to be skilled in deploying the latest technologies, but must be able to use the full range of defence capabilities in a seamless and integrated way to project maximum force. How do we make sure that people with this evolving and sophisticated range of skills can be successfully recruited into the armed forces?

First, we need to find ways of making roles in the regular forces attractive to those who might not have traditionally seen defence as a career option for them. That means convincing cyber experts, satellite engineers, drone operators and those from a range of high-tech industries and jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths that a career in uniform could be a valuable use of their talents.

[Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate and on his fantastic speech. To take a slightly different angle, does he agree that our many cadet units across the region, which are often based in very deprived areas, provide wonderful opportunities for young people to gain many life skills and get high-skilled qualifications, leading to good jobs, and that they promote opportunities for young people to consider a career in the forces? Does he look forward to hearing about the Government’s plans to boost cadet forces by 30% over the next five years?

[Alan Strickland]

My hon. Friend is right to set out the vital role that our cadet forces play, not only in encouraging young people to think seriously about the armed forces, but in developing their skills, teamwork, leadership and a range of really valuable things that we want young people in the north-east to be able to access.

In addition to the cadets, we need to be innovative in rethinking how we recruit to our reserve forces. There will be many in the north-east and across our communities who have specialist skills that are of huge value to the armed forces, but who may not be able to serve full time. By establishing the digital warfighter group recommended in the SDR and promoting a range of other opportunities, we could provide flexible and fulfilling part-time roles for those with the skills that we really need. Also, let us look at the opportunities to retrain and reskill our existing personnel, so that our modern warfighters evolve as quickly as modern warfare.

Finally, I will talk about how we can better harness our armed forces as an engine of social mobility.

[Dame Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way, for securing this debate in Armed Forces Week and for the fantastic speech that he is making. Proportionally, the north-east sends more of our young people into the armed forces than any other region in the country. I am proud of that contribution, yet relative to other regions, we have fewer armed forces personnel stationed in the region, and the Ministry of Defence spends less with businesses and industry in the region—in fact, I think it spends the least there. Does he think that the Ministry and the armed forces could be more visible and do more to champion the contribution of the armed forces to our region?

[Alan Strickland]

I thank my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, for that intervention. She is right that as well as making sure that we recruit from the north-east and that there are opportunities there, through the work that is happening on the defence industrial strategy, there must be an opening up of procurement opportunities not just across our region, but particularly for high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises. We know that, for too long, they have been excluded from defence contracts in our country.

Just as our renewed defence industries can be an engine for growth across our country, our efforts to transform recruitment can be a powerful engine for social mobility, spreading opportunity more widely across our nation. When meeting RAF personnel as part of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, I have been struck by the extent to which careers in our military can genuinely transform lives. On one of my first visits to a base, I met a young recruit from Tyneside, who said that being in the RAF had given him opportunities he could never have dreamed of. He was a working-class lad and he said that many from his family had struggled to find and secure jobs. He proudly told me that the RAF had trained him, trusted him and invested in him. The Air Force gave him the chance to train as a world-class engineer, broadened his horizons and allowed him to work all over the globe—all by his early 20s. I have had inspiring conversations like that at base after base. It has been brilliant to hear at first hand just what a difference military careers can make.

In the north-east—a region where, for too long, opportunities have not been spread as widely as talent—the routes our military provides into world-class skills development are all the more powerful and all the more needed. I would be grateful if the Minister can set out how we can show more young people in the north-east that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend (Mary Glindon) mentioned, supporting our armed forces—whether that is through the cadets, reserves or regulars—could not only make a huge difference to our collective defence, but have a transformational impact on their lives.

[Lola McEvoy]

I thank my hon. Friend for being so generous with his time. He is making an excellent speech in Armed Forces Week. Does he agree that the important incentives for joining the forces include not just pride in the country but a secure career afterwards? Does he also agree that the work the Government are doing to ensure people have decent careers in sectors that really need those with resilience, excellent teamwork, good discipline and grit is a great way to ensure that people think about joining the armed forces, as well as about what they do afterwards?

[Alan Strickland]

My hon. Friend is right that the range of skills that our servicemen and women develop, particularly as we move into a rapidly evolving technical warfighting age, set people in good stead for their future careers. On my RAF visits, station commanders often complain that because they have trained people so well, their personnel are snapped up by the private sector.

One of the things the review mentions is that this does not have to be a binary choice. As my hon. Friend said, there could better opportunities and more sophisticated ways of encouraging people to get trained in the military and contribute. If they move into the private sector for a while and come back into the military full time or go to the reserves, or take part in defence manufacturing, they stay within the defence family, but move around. We actively support that because it means keeping those skills in the wider sector.

I would be grateful if the Minister can set out what more we can do to ensure that schools, colleges and universities do not shy away from talking about military careers, but actively encourage and embrace them. What message will he send to people in the north-east, of all backgrounds and ages, about why they should seriously consider lending their time to UK defence?

As I draw my remarks to a conclusion, let us in this Chamber send a very clear message. If you are a young person looking for an exciting and challenging career, get involved in your local cadets. If you have the specialist skills that Britain needs for defence in a highly technological age, why not share them through the reserves? Be one of our new cyber warfighters. If you are an employer with staff who want to lend their talents to our armed forces, back them, support them and encourage them. And if you are considering how you might have a fulfilling career that develops the skills that my hon. Friend mentioned, why not consider becoming a regular and joining the forces?

Of course, the fundamental reason that this is so incredibly important—the reason why we must think so hard about these opportunities and challenges—is that our final message from this Chamber should be this: if you are a hostile nation, if you are an adversary of the UK and our NATO allies, we will in the next few years be taking major steps to recruit a new generation of world-leading warfighters who will provide world-class defence and deterrence.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

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[Alan Strickland]

I thank all hon. Members who have taken part today, and you, Dr Allin-Khan, for your excellent chairing, which has kept us in good order. I also thank the Lib Dem spokesperson, the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin). He said in his comments that he was slightly terrified of all the angry Geordies and Mackems coming at him in battle; I hope we were not too scary today. I am sorry to hear that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) did not make it as a commando, but his 14-and-a-half-year service to our country does us proud, as does the service of the shadow Ministers.

In Armed Forces Week, I thank everyone who serves in uniform to defend our nation, all veterans who have served, the armed forces charities that do brilliant work, and the armed forces families who sacrifice so much so that our nation can be so well defended.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered armed forces recruitment in the North East.

UK Military Base Protection

Alan Strickland Excerpts

Monday 23rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

I say to the right hon. Member that this is not a protest group, but people who have undertaken severe criminal damage to military assets and who are increasingly using violence as part of their modus operandi. The decision by the Home Secretary has not been taken lightly, and it reflects the seriousness of the intent of that organisation. I welcome free speech and I welcome debate and challenge, but vandalising RAF jets is not free speech; it is criminal damage. That intervention on a military base is, as I said in my statement, not only epically stupid, but a threat to our national security, and the Home Secretary was right to proscribe the group.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

I thank the Defence Secretary for the urgent review he has launched, and the Minister for the leadership he is showing. I join Members from across the House in condemning the appalling attack at Brize Norton, which I was privileged to visit earlier this year with the RAF parliamentary scheme.

As well as attacking military installations, Palestine Action has launched violent assaults on defence businesses, including in my constituency. As well as rightly holding a review of military base protection, will Defence and Home Office Ministers review what additional security measures and advice—through the MOD, the police and other bodies—our defence manufacturers may need in the coming years as we ramp up defence production?

[Luke Pollard]

I thank my hon. Friend for championing defence as the Member of Parliament for his constituency. He is exactly right in highlighting that Palestine Action has targeted not just military bases, but defence businesses—businesses employing people up and down the country and contributing to our national defence. He is right to do so, and I can reassure him that conversations between the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, police forces and those in our defence supply chain happen regularly, and we will continue to keep them abreast of developments and the concerns we may have.

Defence Industries: North-East

Alan Strickland Excerpts

Tuesday 13th May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Luke Myer]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. By boosting SMEs we boost not only the defence industry, but other sectors, because many of these SMEs are working on dual-use technology, which has a strong crossover with other areas.

Ultimately, growing our sovereign capacity by building more in Britain is a smart and strategic move that will pay off in the long run, both for our national security and our economic growth.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

I commend my hon. Friend for this excellent debate and the Minister for the leadership that she is showing—I was grateful for her recent visit to NETPark in Sedgefield in my constituency. Does my hon. Friend agree that there is another significant benefit of more work going to SMEs? Warfare is changing at such a rapid pace that we need to take hold of innovation and the innovative products being delivered by our SME community in Sedgefield and around the country, so that we are battle-ready for the future.

[Luke Myer]

Absolutely. One of those innovative projects in my hon. Friend’s constituency is a semiconductor plant, which the Government stepped up to save with £20 million of investment. That is exactly the kind of active Government and leadership that we need.

The previous Government set up procurement processes with a singular focus, which was awarding contracts to the lowest bidder. That may seem sensible on the surface, but in fact, it has stifled British growth and ultimately cost the taxpayer more. To give an example from Middlesbrough, a local company was forced to step in and finish works that were initially being done by a contractor in south-east Asia, which had been chosen purely because it was the cheapest at the time. Time and time again, we have seen Conservative Governments make decisions on industrial policy that erode our manufacturing base, see jobs disappear overseas and weaken British industry. That Middlesbrough business was there to pick up the pieces and finish the job, but the delay was wholly unnecessary. It ended up costing the British taxpayer more than if we had simply built in Britain from the start.

We need an approach that prioritises British values over mere price. This is about not just securing the cheapest deal but ensuring that every pound we spend strengthens our national security. We must grow our sovereign capacity and put British business first, and support our local economies in the process.

It is also time that we took a more intelligent and long-term approach to defence procurement—one that does not cost us more and builds the kind of capacity that we need here at home, especially in the current global climate. For industries to invest and grow, and train apprentices and support communities, we need to move away from short-term projects and annualised budgets. Businesses need long-term clarity. That will give them stability to plan for the future with confidence.

One SME I spoke to feels that the industrial strategy will help with that, but we can do more to give further confidence to the supply chain, especially through rapid and clear decisions on projects and support for the up-front capital investments that they need to make. This is about investment not only in specialised equipment, but in people. In our region, the jobs in this industry are high-skilled, well-paid and secure, and many of the manufacturers invest strongly in skills and apprentices.

Defence Procurement: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Alan Strickland Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered SME participation in defence procurement.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I recognise that procurement is not usually a topic that gets pulses racing, but the threats posed to the UK and our allies certainly should. Central to our ability to rise to these challenges is using the defence industrial strategy to unleash the inventiveness, ingenuity and creativity of British industry.

I will cover three things: our need to respond to the changing face of warfare; adopting a proactive entrepreneurial approach to acquiring the defence supplies we need; and the practical steps we can take to place small and medium-sized enterprises innovation in the service of our national defence.

I turn first to our need to respond to the changing face of warfare. Technology has been rapidly altering the nature of warfare at a pace rarely witnessed before. We see this most clearly in Ukraine, where drone technology has rewritten the rules of modern conflict. Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and the resulting war have shown us the incredible speed at which military technology is advancing. Reconnaissance drones paint detailed maps of occupied territory, helping to guide unmanned attack drones in strikes on Russian vehicles and equipment. The role of this technology is now so important that a dedicated branch of the Ukrainian military has been established to deploy it. Here at home, I have seen first hand the RAF’s latest unmanned air systems as part of an armed forces parliamentary scheme visit.

Drones, artificial intelligence and rapidly evolving satellite technology are being used to redefine all aspects of conflict, from the battlefield to the information war, to who controls space. Amid those significant and growing global threats, it is vital that Britain is at the forefront of developments to ensure that we can defend not only ourselves, but our allies and interests across the globe.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing today’s debate on SME participation in defence procurement. Having run my own start-up construction business in bonnie Scotland many years ago, I can appreciate full well that small and medium-sized enterprises are not given their due and rightful importance by Government structures, and more generally. The Government’s own Green Paper notes there is a need

“to address issues that inhibit or prevent growth in the defence sector”.

Does my hon. Friend agree that defence contract opportunities must be made more accessible to SMEs in order for us to support their growth and continue innovation?

[Alan Strickland]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. He is absolutely right: across the economy with the Government’s growth mission, defence must be a crucial sector, but as he has said, too often SMEs are shut out by bureaucratic processes, which I will be keen to talk more about.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham Stringer (in the Chair)]

Order. This debate is for an hour and is well-subscribed, so I ask hon. Members to be brief in their interventions.

[Alan Strickland]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. He is absolutely right that the commitment of Ministers and the defence industrial strategy to sovereign supply must include all parts of our United Kingdom, including the excellent capabilities in Northern Ireland.

Being war-ready for conflicts we cannot predict that will use technology that has not yet been invented, means giving our military the agility and capability to adapt to this changing landscape. Changing the way in which we think about defence procurement is central to this. My second point is around adopting a proactive, entrepreneurial approach to acquiring the defence supplies we need.

[Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way and for securing this important debate.

Universal Quantum is an SME based in Haywards Heath, in my constituency, which builds utility scale quantum computers. It already works in partnership with leading organisations and investors in the field. Does the hon. Gentleman agree the Ministry of Defence should ensure emerging technologies, such as quantum computing, that are being spearheaded by SMEs like Universal Quantum are part of its procurement strategy?

[Alan Strickland]

I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. I agree. As she rightly says, warfare is developing very quickly and high-tech solutions, of the excellent type she described in her constituency, must absolutely be part of that.

When I talk to innovative SMEs at the Durham University spinout science park in my constituency, it is clear we need to think differently about defence procurement. NETPark in Sedgefield is home to more than 40 cutting-edge firms, many of which supply major defence companies and our allies across the globe. They include Kromek, which invented new ways of detecting radiation and biological weaponry; Filtronic, which manufactures satellite components; and Graphene Composites, which produces ultra-light ballistic shields. Their experiences suggest that we need to do more to remain globally competitive. As other hon. Members have rightly said, too often small businesses can feel that UK defence procurement focuses on process at the expense of outcomes and can stifle bottom-up inventiveness with top-down bureaucracy.

Our allies show us how we might do this differently. The United States Defence Department takes a broader approach to encouraging and funding military innovation. SMEs are encouraged to approach the Government directly with ideas for new products or with potential technologies they are developing and to showcase tech solutions to problems that may not have even been considered yet by officials. In turn the US Defence Department and its research agency, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, proactively seek out innovative small companies that offer new ideas and technologies that contribute to tackling future military challenges.

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for securing today’s debate. Is he suggesting that the Ministry of Defence needs to completely change its culture and processes in the way it liaises with these important and innovative companies? Certainly that appears to be the issue in my constituency, where there are many very innovative SMEs.

[Alan Strickland]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I absolutely agree. In my previous life in the housing and the charity sector, I have interacted with Government procurement across Departments. There is a challenge with culture across Whitehall, as my hon. Friend says, of often struggling to deal with the realities of innovative and agile small firms.

The approach I described means the US spends around a quarter of its entire military budget directly with SMEs, much higher than the comparable figure for the UK. The UK Defence and Security Accelerator does good work in directly using SMEs to fill technology gaps. However Northern Defence Industries, representing more than 300 companies, has called on the MOD to do more to facilitate open call competition. That would allow SMEs to showcase their defence products directly to Government, without having to wait for specific procurement projects and tenders to be opened.

I strongly welcome the intention of Defence Ministers to use the defence industrial strategy to drive engagement with non-traditional contractors, including SMEs. We have a real opportunity to change the way Government think about procurement and a real chance to grow the culture, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) referred, that gives us the wartime pace of innovation that we need. Just as Churchill’s groundbreaking military technology labs did during the second world war, let us use the resources of the British state to harness the inventiveness and ingenuity offered by our world-leading science and tech companies.

Turning finally to the practical steps we can take to place SME innovation in the service of our national defence, one of the key things we could look at is the reliance across Government on the prime contractor model. In practice this means that the Ministry of Defence often uses large contractors to work with SMEs further down the supply chain rather than engaging with them directly. For some years it has been common across Government, under all parties, to shift to working with smaller pools of larger suppliers. That has some obvious benefits, such as reducing the number of contracts that officials need to manage, transferring financial risk and outsourcing much day-to-day contract management, but there is also evidence that the approach can have its downsides, particularly in squeezing out smaller, innovative suppliers. When I worked in the charity sector, strengthening the prime contractor approach in delivering the Work programme led to a number of innovative charities with a real track record of getting people into jobs being unable to work with Government in the future.

So what can be done? Where possible, let us try to reserve complex framework contracts for large projects that genuinely need them, reducing the proportion of tenders available only to prime contractors. Where large contracts are required, can we look at these to see whether we can break them down into smaller components that are more accessible to SMEs? Secondly, where working through a prime contractor is the right answer, could we strengthen the requirements for them to engage with SMEs proactively and simplify contract arrangements? Thirdly, could we open up opportunities for the Ministry of Defence to contract directly with SMEs by removing red tape and doing so with an agile and entrepreneurial mindset? If businesses at NETpark can be direct suppliers to DARPA, the US Defence Department, NASA and other allied Governments, I am confident that, through the defence industrial strategy, we too can open up more opportunities for SMEs.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Gateshead South) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. To simplify the point he is making, we should all remember that from small acorns great oaks grow, and even big companies in my constituency such as Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems will have started at some point as an SME. What he is suggesting today would help those SMEs that we all have in our constituencies maybe one day to grow into those grand great oaks.

[Alan Strickland]

My hon. Friend makes a really important point. Considering that we have shop-bought drones making such a difference in Ukraine and that technology is being used in all sorts of ways, my hon. Friend is absolutely right that we need to hunt out and support the small, innovative businesses doing very different and distinctive work in constituencies around the country.

It has been a privilege to set out some of the challenges faced by our innovative SMEs and how the defence industrial strategy can address them. I look forward to welcoming the Minister to my constituency soon for a business roundtable to discuss these issues in more detail. I strongly welcome the Government’s putting growth at the heart of the new defence industrial strategy. The defence sector supports one in 60 jobs in the UK, the majority of which are outside London, so this is a real and tangible way of spreading growth, skills and opportunity to all corners of our country. More than that, if we can improve the way we work with SMEs, it will allow us to build an ironclad, sovereign supply of vital defence equipment. Not only will that provide jobs and drive growth but it will protect us from global shocks in the supply chain.

Warfare is changing, and we must change with it. Global production is threatened, so we must ensure sovereign supply. As the threat grows, so must our defence manufacturing base. I look forward to working with Defence Ministers on this important strategy and to further contributions from hon. Members of all parties in this debate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Alan Strickland]

I thank the Minister for her strong leadership on this vital issue. We have discussed these matters on a number of occasions and I know the Minister is committed to really driving this priority through the defence industrial strategy and the wider strategic defence review, which I strongly welcome.

I also thank hon. Members around Westminster Hall for what I think has been a strong shared sense of purpose about the importance of tapping in to our innovative small businesses to meet the challenges we face. We have heard about the real pride in defence contractors around the country from the hon. Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord), my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) and my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer). We have heard of the importance of ensuring that economic growth across the country is driven by the defence industry from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim (Jim Allister). We have also heard really important points about payments from the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans). I thank the Minister and everybody who has taken part today.

We have all acknowledged that the global threat is growing, becoming more complex and evolving much more quickly. There has been broad agreement that part of the answer is ensuring that we can open up more opportunities to small, nimble, agile high-tech SMEs across the United Kingdom which can be at the forefront of helping us and our allies to meet this challenge.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered SME participation in defence procurement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Strickland Excerpts

Monday 6th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Luke Pollard]

It is vital that we continue to support Ukraine and build our industrial capacity in the United Kingdom and across the NATO alliance to ensure that Ukraine can fight not only tonight but tomorrow. Part of that is about increasing the industrial supply of not just UK manufacturers but indigenous manufacturers within Ukraine itself. Building that greater industrial capacity is something that the Government take seriously. That is why the Secretary of State and the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry have published the outline of the defence industrial strategy. We will continue to work with partners at both national and international level—and additionally at a regional and local level—to ensure that we have the industrial capacity and skills required to restock our own supply and continue to support Ukraine.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

10. What steps he plans to take through the defence industrial strategy to increase support for defence sector SMEs.

[The Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry (Maria Eagle)]

We are delivering for defence, boosting spending by £3 billion in real terms this coming financial year. I hope that more of our procurement spend can go to SMEs. The defence industrial strategy will set the conditions to unlock the full potential of SMEs, to seize future opportunities and ensure the growth and resilience of our defence manufacturing base, providing more good jobs in every nation and region.

[Alan Strickland]

The North East Technology Park in Sedgefield is home to many innovative defence businesses, producing satellite technology and biological and radiation detection equipment that is used by our allies across the world. Those businesses proudly contract directly with the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, NASA, the American Defense Department and other allied Governments, but too often they struggle with MOD procurement rules, which exclude SMEs. Will the Minister meet me and NETPark businesses to discuss how to remove the red tape that hits small businesses in my constituency and across the country that are designing and producing innovative defence supplies?

[Maria Eagle]

First, I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend and his North East Technology Park businesses as soon as possible. The Government recognise that SMEs face particular challenges, which I want to address. Through the defence industrial strategy we will reduce barriers to entry and foster a more diverse community of suppliers, including non-traditional SMEs and those that are developing future technologies. We will also send a clear market signal about our preference to grow onshore production capability.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Strickland Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[John Healey]

I urge the hon. Lady to look back in the record at the answer that I have given two or three times already to this House.

[Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)]

T4.   I thank the Secretary of State for Defence for his decisive action to safeguard the Octric semiconductor factory in Newton Aycliffe in my constituency, protecting jobs and, crucially, the sovereign supply of this vital defence component. Will my right hon. Friend meet with me to discuss how we can expand the jobs, apprenticeships and opportunities at this fantastic high-tech facility?

[The Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry (Maria Eagle)]

The MOD will continue to invest in the company’s people to ensure that the facility has a sustainable future. Octric’s leadership team is currently finalising its future resource plan, which will cover the need for new high-tech roles such as engineers and scientists to ensure that the facility is best placed to develop new technology and meet defence needs. I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend about that.