Baroness Goldie

The current number of Defence Attachés (as of September 2024) who reside in host countries and lead Defence Sections in UK Embassies and High Commissions are 91. The numbers for the years 2022 and 2023 are:

Year Number of Defence Attachés

2022 87

2023 89

Note: The UK Defence Attachés for the Russian Federation and Yemen have been temporarily relocated due to local circumstances and conduct their duties from other locations.

Yes, the current intent is to retain a persistent forward presence with HMS TAMAR and SPEY in the Indo Pacific. The ships regularly engage in activities with Southeast Asian states, including participation in military exercises, maritime activity with the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and defence and diplomatic engagement.

The Test and Evaluation (T&E) Transformation Programme will conclude its first phase in March 2025. The focus of the second phase will be establishing the foundations of a modern T&E enterprise that is fit for the future, as set out in the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) recently published paper on the future of T&E:

Test and Evaluation (T&E): Future Advantage Through Evaluation (FATE) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The T&E Transformation programme is currently collecting feedback from the Front Line Commands, defence industry and other organisations to inform the detailed design of its second phase, which is planned to commence in April 2025 subject to internal MOD approval.

The Department, through its contractors, continuously renovates, refurbishes, improves, and maintains its estate, including accommodation.

With regards to Service Family Accommodation (SFA):

In Financial Year (FY) 2023-24, the Department invested £578 million on maintaining and improving SFA, including £220 million which was spent on remediating damp and mould in c4,000 homes, refurbishing c1,000 long term empty homes, replacing doors and windows in c3,000 homes, providing c1,100 homes with External Wall Insulation, c1,000 homes with replacement kitchens and bathrooms, and upgrading heaters and boilers in c1,500 homes.

In FY2024-25, £619 million is to be spent on maintaining and improving SFA, including £180 million to improve insulation in c600 homes, remediate c1,000 long-term damp and mould homes and refurbishing 200 long-term empty homes. Circa 1,700 minor damp and mould packages are planned, and 30 homes will receive upgraded heating.

With regards to Single Living Accommodation (SLA):

In FY 2023-24, £37.8 million was spent on improvements to SLA, with another £3.2 million spent on SLA Safe & Legal compliance works.

During FY2024-25 expenditure of £41 million is planned to improve the condition of SLA including refurbishment, heating upgrades and room conversions to additional bedspaces. £7.5 million has also been ringfenced for internal improvements to SLA condition and heating. In addition, £14.3 million of Safe & Legal compliance works are planned. Further to this, a further £66.6 million of SLA expenditure is planned for FY2025-26.