Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the underspend and overspend was for (a) Capital Departmental Expenditure Limit and (b) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limit for the (i) Royal Navy, (ii) Army and (iii) RAF as at 1 November 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Following Defence Reform, the Capital and Resource Expenditure Limits for the front line commands are managed across the Military Strategic Headquarters instead of individually.
The Ministry of Defence applies controls and routine financial management to ensure resources are allocated effectively to meet operational priorities. As such, financial data for the Military Strategic Headquarters will be available in the 2025-26 Annual Report and Accounts in the usual way.
As the public would rightly expect, this Government is committed to securing value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost in (a) time and (b) resource to (i) the Army and (ii) his Department of dealing with problems with the Ajax vehicle.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On 22 November, during a routine training exercise, around 30 soldiers operating in Ajax reported being affected by noise and vibration exposure.
Out of an abundance of caution, and in line with our safety protocols, the exercise was halted within 30 minutes so that those affected could receive appropriate medical care.
Importantly, none of the symptoms were severe enough to require hospitalisation.
As a result, I directed the Army to pause all use of Ajax for training and exercising, while a safety investigation is carried out into the events. Those investigations are ongoing and I will update the House at an appropriate point.
Furthermore, I am putting in place a Ministerial led review into the Ajax programme, which will assess how effective the department has been at implementing the actions of previous reviews, and seeking anything further that is required regarding safety.
It will be conducted by experts who are not part of the AJAX programme, including Malcolm Chalmers, to provide a more independent view. It will be overseen by me and report to the Defence Secretary.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, What times scale he has been given for the noise and vibration issues with the Ajax vehicle to be resolved.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On 22 November, during a routine training exercise, around 30 soldiers operating in Ajax reported being affected by noise and vibration exposure.
As a result, I directed the Army to pause all use of Ajax for training and exercising, while a safety investigation is carried out into the events. Those investigations are ongoing and I will update the House at an appropriate point.
I am putting in place a Ministerial led review into the Ajax programme, which will assess how effective the Department has been at implementing the actions of previous reviews, and seeking anything further that is required regarding safety.
It will be conducted by experts who are not part of the AJAX programme, including Malcolm Chalmers, to provide a more independent view. It will be overseen by me and report to the Defence Secretary. It will be conducted at pace, but it will not be rushed. We will have the Terms of Reference before Christmas.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where were the Army's MAN Logistic Support Vehicle built; and what is the age of the vehicles.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The vehicles were manufactured under the responsibility of MAN Truck & Bus UK (MTB UK). The base was produced at MAN’s facilities in Germany and Austria, with UK-specific modifications integrated by MTB UK and specialist subcontractors within the UK. The age of the vehicles is approximately 18 years, entering service in 2007/8.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his estimate is for carrying out the necessary repairs for the fleet of MAN Logistic Support Vehicles; and how long will it be before the whole fleet is back in service.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Repair analysis is ongoing; however, initial estimates indicate that all vehicles will be returned to full use by early 2026 in accordance with formation priorities.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what amount of financial savings the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army, and (c) Royal Air Force have been asked to make in financial years (i) 2025-26 and (ii) 2026-27.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided to him in response to his Question 93654 of 24 November 2025.
The Ministry of Defence applies in-year controls across the Department to manage performance against the Defence budget and these controls are subject to continuous review.
This approach is part of normal good financial management and ensures that resources are allocated effectively to meet operational priorities.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Fair Funding Review will ensure that the most deprived areas of the country will receive the biggest increases in funding.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government published the local government finance policy statement Local government finance policy statement 2026-27 to 2028-29 - GOV.UK and government response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 on Thursday 20 November which set out the government’s plans to introduce a fairer and evidence-led system, that will realign funding with need and deprivation.
The government has used the most robust and up to date evidence available. On this basis, we are now using data from the recently published 2025 Indices of Multiple Deprivation in our assessment of need.
We expect that by 2028-29, the top 10% most deprived authorities will see a significant increase in their Core Spending Power per head, compared to the least deprived.
We will publish provisional local authority allocations at the upcoming provisional multi-year Settlement in December. Proposals and allocations will be subject to consultation and the usual Parliamentary process.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what amount of financial savings the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army, and (c) Royal Air Force have been asked to make in (i) 2025-26 and (ii) 2026-27.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence applies in-year controls across the Department to manage performance against the Defence budget and these controls are subject to continuous review.
This approach is part of normal good financial management and ensures that resources are allocated effectively to meet operational priorities.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by what date he expects to have a full fleet of Ajax armoured vehicles.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On current plans, Full Operating Capability for the Armoured Cavalry Programme is expected to be achieved by the end of 2029.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, How many housing development applications refused by local authorities have had decisions subsequently been overturned by planning inspectors in each year since 2015.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The table below shows housing development applications refused by local planning authorities and subsequently overturned on appeal, as well as total housing development appeal decisions made by the Planning Inspectorate between the years 2015 and 2025:
Year | Total overturned | Housing development decisions |
2015 | 1,977 | 6,793 |
2016 | 2,621 | 9,063 |
2017 | 2,192 | 7,928 |
2018 | 2,018 | 7,256 |
2019 | 2,091 | 8,625 |
2020 | 1,466 | 6,618 |
2021 | 1,443 | 5,933 |
2022 | 1,392 | 5,492 |
2023 | 1,480 | 5,847 |
2024 | 1,561 | 6,353 |
2025 | 1,243 | 4,532 |