Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on delivering the Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon capability into service.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) commits £490 million to directed energy weapons (DEW) over the next four years. The UK is a world leader in research on Radio Frequency weapons and continues to invest in developing systems. Last year, the UK successfully completed a trial of a radio frequency DEW demonstrator mounted on a British Army vehicle. This deployment with Army personnel enabled the Ministry of Defence to gather operational experience and inform the development of future systems. These trials included the first use of DEW by the Army to counter drone swarms during live testing against targets.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his Department’s policy to extend the use of DragonFire technology to land-based applications.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As announced in the Defence Investment Plan, the Ministry of Defence will invest £490 million in Directed Energy Weapons, including DragonFire. The programme continues to make excellent progress, building on successful trials and demonstrating the UK's world-leading expertise in directed energy weapons.
With the transition to a Hybrid Navy and modernisation of our Armed Forces, we are exploring how DragonFire could be utilised in a range of operational environments.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department has allocated to the development of DragonFire in each of the financial years (i) 2026-27, (ii) 2027-28, (iii) 2028-29 and (iv) 2029-30.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Following the publication of the Defence Investment Plan, the Ministry of Defence has allocated £490 million for the development of Directed Energy Weapons, including the DragonFire programme, across the period up to and including financial year 2029-30. Funding is managed across the programme as a whole, and the year-by-year spend on DragonFire will be balanced within the available budget against other directed energy projects.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on delivering the first DragonFire weapon system into service with the Royal Navy by 2027.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 July 2026 to Question 17420.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 59818 on Defence: Public Expenditure, what percentage of GDP will be spent on (a) NATO-qualifying defence spending and (b) the Ministry of Defence budget in each of the financial years (i) 2026-27, (ii) 2027-28, (iii) 2028-29, (iv) 2029-30 and (v) 2030-31, to two decimal places.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is increasing defence spending. We have ended the hollowing out and underfunding of our Armed Forces that we inherited.
The Defence Investment Plan confirmed that UK NATO-qualifying defence spending will reach 2.6% of GDP in 2026-27 and 2.7% of GDP in 2027-28, 2028-29 and 2029-30.
At the Budget, the Chancellor committed to setting a target for defence spending to reach 3% of GDP by 2030, and we are committed to fully funding the Defence Investment Plan and meeting our NATO commitment of 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support is available to fire and rescue authorities in responding to wildfires caused or exacerbated by excess vegetation.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are making almost £1.95 billion available to standalone fire and rescue authorities in England through the Local Government Finance Settlement, with spending decisions based on local risk. Following the Prime Minister’s Wildfire Resilience Summit on 23 October, we also announced up to £45 million for England’s frontline wildfire capability ahead of the 2027 season, including specialist teams and lightweight, wildfire-specific protective equipment. This is on top of £97 million already announced for National Resilience assets and equipment, including a pilot national wildfire response capability.
We are also developing nationally coordinated aerial firefighting capabilities, improving forecasting and risk information with the Met Office, and supporting prevention through £25 million for peatland restoration and land management measures to reduce vegetation and fuel loads. England’s first Wildfire Action Plan will bring together prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to publish a Wildfire Strategy and Action Plan for England; and if that strategy will include targets for reducing vegetation fuel loads.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will publish a Wildfire Action Plan for England, setting out action to strengthen wildfire prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. Following the Wildfire Summit on 23 October 2026, we will work across government and with fire and rescue services, land managers and other partners to develop the detail of the plan.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to mitigate the risk of wildfires in England in 2027.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following the Prime Minister’s Wildfire Resilience Summit on 23 October, we are taking practical action to strengthen preparedness ahead of the 2027 wildfire season. We have announced up to £45 million of additional funding for England’s frontline wildfire capability, including specialist wildfire teams and lightweight, wildfire-specific protective equipment. This is on top of the £97 million already announced to upgrade National Resilience assets and equipment, including a pilot national wildfire response capability.
We are also developing a nationally coordinated aerial firefighting capability, working with the Met Office to improve wildfire forecasting and risk information, and strengthening prevention through £25 million for peatland restoration and support for land management measures. These measures will be brought together through England’s first Wildfire Action Plan, covering prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were employed by Suffolk Constabulary between (a) 2019 and July 2024 and (b) July 2024 and the most recent date for which figures are available.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size of the police workforce in England and Wales, on a bi-annual basis, as at 31 March and 30 September each year in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
Data for this release is collected at Police Force Area (PFA) level as a snapshot at 31 March and 30 September only. As such, data for Suffolk in July 2024 is not available.
The latest information covers the situation as at 31 March 2026. Information on the number of police officers broken down by PFA, at the end of each financial year (31 March) from 2007 to 2026 can be found in the ‘Police Workforce Open Data Table’ here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a58d48c7eb057103bd945ba/open-data-table-police-workforce-220726.ods.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many firefighters were deployed to tackle wildfires on land managed by the RSPB in 2026.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) does not hold data on the number of firefighters that were deployed to tackle wildfires on land managed by the RSPB in 2026.
MHCLG collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England through the Fire and Rescue Data Platform (FaRDaP). This includes information on the number of wildfires, with breakdowns by fire and rescue authority, month and outdoor location type, as well as information on the number of and types of fire and rescue service appliances used at wildfire. Provisional data on wildfires has been published in an ad hoc data release covering 1 April 2010 to 31 August 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.
However, MHCLG does not hold data on the number of firefighters deployed to individual incidents, nor any information on land ownership or management for locations deployed to.