Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) service and (b) service family accommodation properties there are in East Wiltshire, by property type.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
There are 313 permanent Single Living Accommodation Blocks across 17 Ministry of Defence Establishments in East Wiltshire. These consist of 10,577 rooms of which 10,465 are single en-suite and 112 are multi-occupancy with shared ablutions.
There are 4,753 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in East Wiltshire, the table below shows the total split by Property Type:
Type | Bedrooms/Rank | SFA Total |
Type 1 | 4+ bedrooms (Officer SFA) | 4 |
Type 2 | 4+ bedrooms (Officer SFA) | 20 |
Type 3 | 4 bedrooms (Officer SFA) | 161 |
Type 4 | 4 bedrooms (Officer SFA) | 304 |
Type 5 | 3 bedrooms (Officer SFA) | 365 |
B Type | 2 bedrooms (Other Rank SFA) | 772 |
C Type | 3 bedrooms (Other Rank SFA) | 2583 |
D Type | 4 bedrooms (Other Rank SFA) | 537 |
DS Type | 4+ bedrooms (Other Rank SFA) | 7 |
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which companies have been awarded contracts for the (a) provision, (b) maintenance and (c) refurbishment of service family accommodation properties in East Wiltshire constituency; and if he will publish details of the nature and scope of those contracts.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
No contracts have been awarded for the provision of Service Family Accommodation properties in the East Wiltshire constituency as the Ministry of Defence has not purchased any new properties.
VIVO Defence Services under the Regional Accommodation Maintenance Services Contract for the South West have the responsibility for maintenance and refurbishment of Service Family Accommodation properties in the East Wiltshire constituency.
Details on the nature and scope of the contract as awarded can be found in Contracts Finder at the following link:
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many homes his Department owns in East Wiltshire constituency; and how many of those (a) have Ministry of Defence tenants, (b) have private tenants and (c) are vacant.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
As of 4 July 2025, there are 4,739 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in East Wiltshire that are owned by the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
Of the 4,739 SFA properties:
a) 3,717 SFA are occupied by Service families.
b) 317 SFA are sublet to private tenants.
c) 705 SFA are vacant. 307 of these are available to be occupied (177 have been allocated to Service families to move into) and 398 are classed as void unavailable and therefore currently unavailable to be occupied.
The MOD is currently undertaking an extensive review of its entire estate, including how the department will make best use of the properties that have been reacquired from Annington, and which homes and locations can most benefit from investment to be brought back online, refurbished, and renovated for the use of Service families.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the Defence spending uplift on the Challenger 3 programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Funding for specific programmes is considered as part of the Department's annual budget setting process. The Strategic Defence Review will report in the first half of next year and will set out recommendations on capabilities.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the defence spending uplift on the Hydra 400 jet-propelled drone development programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
There is not, and has never been, a dedicated Hydra 400 programme in the Army. The capability was assessed in early 2024, and the Army has no current plans to pursue it further.
Work continues to develop the Army's strike capabilities. As part of this ongoing work, the Army will refine the concept for a layered approach to deliver strike capabilities at the Battlegroup, Brigade and Divisional levels.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Strategic Defence Review on the Hydra 400 jet-propelled drone development programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
There is not, and has never been, a dedicated Hydra 400 programme in the Army. The capability was assessed in early 2024, and the Army has no current plans to pursue it further.
Work continues to develop the Army's strike capabilities. As part of this ongoing work, the Army will refine the concept for a layered approach to deliver strike capabilities at the Battlegroup, Brigade and Divisional levels.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects that the initial operating capacity of Ajax armoured fighting vehicles will be delivered.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Armoured Fighting Vehicle AJAX Programme trials continue to progress and remain ongoing. Reliability Growth Trials (RGT) are ongoing and on schedule to complete by December 2026.
Regarding the Armoured Vehicle Programme (AJAX) Initial Operating Capability, I refer the hon. Member to the answer that the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry gave to Question 438 dated 22 July 2024, which remains extant.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Strategic Defence Review on the Challenger 3 programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Challenger 3 programme is an important programme and is on schedule to achieve Initial Operating Capability in 2027 and Full Operating Capability in 2030.
The Strategic Defence Review will guide future capability development priorities, to ensure the United Kingdom is both secure at home and strong abroad - now and for the years to come.
The Reviewers will report regularly on progress to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Defence and will make their final report to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Defence Secretary - with recommendations - in the first half of 2025.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Army Board on the future of the Hydra 400 jet-propelled drone development programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
There is not, and has never been, a dedicated Hydra 400 programme in the Army. The capability was assessed in early 2024, and the Army has no current plans to pursue it further.
Work continues to develop the Army's strike capabilities. As part of this ongoing work, the Army will refine the concept for a layered approach to deliver strike capabilities at the Battlegroup, Brigade and Divisional levels.
Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - East Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Army Board on the future of the Challenger 3 programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
During his visit to Army HQ on 19 September, the Secretary of State for Defence met members of the Army Board and discussed a range of issues including the Army's Equipment Plan supporting the Army's modernisation.
The Challenger 3 programme remains an important programme and remains on schedule to achieve Initial Operating Capability in 2027 and Full Operating Capability in 2030.