Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Centre for Media Monitoring's review of the BBC's reporting on the conflict in Gaza, published on 16 June 2025.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has not carried out a formal assessment of the potential implications of this report for its policy.
The Government’s position is that editorial decisions are ultimately for the BBC, and that its editorial independence from Government is vital. This principle protects the BBC from political interference so that it can report impartially, hold all politicians to account and be a trusted source of information for everyone.
The BBC’s duty to provide accurate and impartial information is particularly important when it comes to coverage of highly sensitive issues such as the conflict in Gaza. As the external independent regulator of the BBC, Ofcom is responsible for ensuring BBC coverage is duly impartial and accurate under the Broadcasting Code and BBC Charter.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to extend his definition of national security to include (a) airport infrastructure, (b) broadband, (c) food, (d) energy and water infrastructure and (e) climate security.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National Security Strategy 2025, published on 24 June, sets out the UK’s approach to national security. It states that we will enhance the resilience of our critical national infrastructure, as well as how we continue to address the challenges of a changing climate. The definition of national security used by the Government is necessarily broad to ensure an appropriate response to the evolving threats faced by the British people.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the planned increase of £13.4 billion in annual defence spending by the 2027-28 financial year includes previously announced funding of (a) £150 million for national security and (b) £4.5 billion for the Single Intelligence Account in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Prime Minister announced in February 2025 that NATO-qualifying defence spending will increase to 2.6% in 2027. This will be achieved through an increase in funding from a reduction in the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget from 0.5% to 0.3% Gross National Income, and, in line with practice among our allies, recognising the contribution of our intelligence and security services to the defence of our nation.
The inclusion of other departmental spending that falls under NATO qualifying defence spending definitions will continue to be periodically reviewed in line with NATO guidance.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 59132 on Intelligence Services: Finance, whether the provision of 2.5% of GDP on defence spending includes spending on the increase to the Single Intelligence Account.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Prime Minister announced in February 2025 that NATO-qualifying defence spending will increase to 2.6% in 2027 through a reduction in ODA funding, and, in line with practice among our allies, recognising the contribution of our intelligence and security services to the defence of our nation. The SIA budget will be fully NATO qualifying from 27-28.
The inclusion of departmental spending that falls under NATO qualifying defence spending definitions will continue to be periodically reviewed in line with NATO guidance.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the deliverability of the X-Links project with Morocco.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is considering – without commitment – the viability and merits of the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project, a private sector-led proposal for a large-scale renewable energy project between the UK and Morocco.
As part of this consideration, we are actively assessing a range of issues including the project’s deliverability and technical viability, value for money, legal issues and the project’s alignment to wider government policy. This work continues at pace, and we will provide an update on our considerations in due course.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many spouses of deceased armed forces personnel have been contacted for repayment after accidental overpayments of their spousal armed forces pension.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
In line with most pension schemes, it is often unavoidable that an overpayment may occur following the death of a pension recipient. This is due to the timing of the individual's passing and the understandable delay in the pension scheme authority receiving the notification of death. Such overpayments are common and are typically recovered either directly from the recipient's bank account or from the estate of the deceased.
Requests for repayment can be initiated by a family member, a friend of the deceased, the deceased's legal representative, or neighbour who has completed the Gov.uk 'Tell Us Once' online form.
In the last Financial Year (2024-25), 1,003 outstanding 'Late Notification of Death' cases were raised under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. However, whether the beneficiary of an estate is a spouse or other recipient is not centrally recorded and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the UK Defence Innovation fund will be spent on Scottish based companies.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The exact amount of funding to be awarded to Scottish based companies by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) cannot be determined as UKDI is yet to be launched. Historically, Scottish based companies have been significant contributors to defence innovation. We expect this trend to continue with the establishment of UKDI, which aims to foster economic growth throughout the UK as a core objective.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to inform Parliament of the outcome of the (a) Defence Industrial Strategy, (b) Defence Diplomacy Strategy, (c) Defence Housing Strategy, (d) Defence Estate Optimisation programme and (e) a dedicated Defence Strategy for the financial services sector.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In line with usual protocols, Defence Ministers will inform, engage and communicate with Parliament the outcomes of all Defence Strategies and programmes once they have been internally agreed.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This will form part of discussions ahead of the NATO Summit at the end of June. As these proposals are subject to agreement of all NATO Allies, including the UK, it would not be appropriate to comment at this time.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the (a) £7bn of funding for military accommodation and (b) the £1.5bn investment for rapid work on forces family housing will be spent in Scotland.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking an extensive review of its entire military accommodation portfolio, 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.
The Defence Housing Strategy, to be published later this year, will set out wider plans to improve the standard of Service family homes. The sites that will be refurbished are being worked through carefully, with the ambition to fairly make improvements across the devolved nations within the UK. It is too early to say where funding will be spent.