Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Simmonds and Luke Pollard

Monday 16th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con)]

My constituent, Vijay Odedra, has been telling me how his small business, CapnoTrainer, has been working with the Royal Navy to improve the fighting capacity and resilience of our sailors. While we wait for the defence investment plan, will the Secretary of State tell us what steps he has in mind to harness the innovation in our small and medium-sized enterprise sector?

[Luke Pollard]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman promoting a defence SME. There are defence SMEs in every constituency that do a good job. We created the Defence Office for Small Business Growth to support more SMEs in gaining defence contracts and to increase the direct spend that the Ministry of Defence has with them. I am very happy to meet him to discuss the SME that he mentions.