Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Defence

Oral Answers to Questions

Alex Chalk Excerpts
Monday 23rd April 2018

(6 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Tobias Ellwood Portrait Mr Ellwood
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The hon. Lady asks a detailed but important question. There are 3,000 staff who are paid the national minimum wage, and I will certainly look into the details regarding the cleaners, because there seems to be a discrepancy in the answers she has been given. I will resolve to sort that out for her.

Alex Chalk Portrait Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con)
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Cyber-security experts at GCHQ in my constituency are at the frontline of our nation’s defences as never before, and although they did not join up for the money, their skills are much in demand in the private sector. Does my right hon. Friend agree that paying our cyber-experts fairly has never been more important to national security?

Tobias Ellwood Portrait Mr Ellwood
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My hon. Friend raises an important point, which we are looking at in case we require transferable skills from other units. There are two approaches: we can either grow the skill set from the start, or we can outsource and look to working with other companies. When it comes to cyber-security, it is important that we have the talent to allow us to ensure that our cyber offensive and our cyber defensive are very strong. To that end, we need to ensure that we pay people the correct salaries.