Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Type 26 frigates and (b) P-8 Poseidon aircraft will be assigned to Atlantic Bastion and when will they begin operations as part of AB.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

Atlantic Bastion (AB) is Defence’s plan to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and NATO against the persistent and growing underwater threat. AB is not an operation; it is a plan to transition to a hybrid Navy, combining both crewed and uncrewed underwater systems. The details of this ambition are subject to the Defence Investment Plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Department has commissioned any further independent reviews of the Ajax programme since 2023.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

We have three ongoing reviews into Ajax currently underway:

• Defence Accident Investigation Branch (DAIB)
• Army Safety Investigation Team (ASIT)
• Ministerial-led Review

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any major equipment programmes have been subject to formal ministerial directions in the last ten years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Since 2011 ordinarily all Ministerial directions are published, unless the matter must be kept confidential.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average delay has been for major battlefield capability programmes commissioned since 2014.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

We inherited considerable delays and cost overruns on a large number of defence procurement projects. We are working to address those through measures set ot in the Defence Industrial Strategy. Further announcements will come as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Ministry of Defence projects within the Government Major Projects Portfolio have been delivered on time and within their initial approved budgets in the last ten years; how many current projects in that portfolio are not forecast to be delivered on time or within their initial approved budget; and what proportion of the total number of active projects this represents.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

We inherited considerable delays and cost overruns on a large number of defence procurement projects. We are working to address those through measures set ot in the Defence Industrial Strategy. Further announcements will come as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of major defence programmes have exceeded their original cost estimates in the last ten years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

We inherited considerable delays and cost overruns on a large number of defence procurement projects. We are working to address those through measures set ot in the Defence Industrial Strategy. Further announcements will come as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has established an oversight mechanism to monitor delivery of the Atherton Report recommendations.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Of the House of Commons Defence Committee's report ‘Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life’, Defence has accepted 33 recommendations, partially accepted a further four recommendations and noted 13 points which were conclusions rather than recommendations. Three of the Committee’s recommendations were not implemented; these related to timelines for Service Complaints appeals and civilian jurisdiction.

All the actions Defence committed to have been delivered and are being evaluated. Most recently in November, Defence published the results of the first tri-Service survey to fully understand the experiences of personnel and perceptions of sexualised behaviours, including harassment, in the Armed Forces. Work continues to improve Service life for women in the Armed Forces beyond the Atherton Report. New initiatives are being developed to better prepare female Service personnel for arduous training roles as well as bringing a gender perspective to the future development of existing equipment and uniform. We also continue to drive for continuous improvement in addressing unacceptable behaviours, including an ongoing review of our Zero Tolerance policies and establishing a new Tri-Service Unit for handling of serious complaints independent of the military chain of command.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recommendations from the Atherton Report have been fully implemented to date.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Of the House of Commons Defence Committee's report ‘Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life’, Defence has accepted 33 recommendations, partially accepted a further four recommendations and noted 13 points which were conclusions rather than recommendations. Three of the Committee’s recommendations were not implemented; these related to timelines for Service Complaints appeals and civilian jurisdiction.

All the actions Defence committed to have been delivered and are being evaluated. Most recently in November, Defence published the results of the first tri-Service survey to fully understand the experiences of personnel and perceptions of sexualised behaviours, including harassment, in the Armed Forces. Work continues to improve Service life for women in the Armed Forces beyond the Atherton Report. New initiatives are being developed to better prepare female Service personnel for arduous training roles as well as bringing a gender perspective to the future development of existing equipment and uniform. We also continue to drive for continuous improvement in addressing unacceptable behaviours, including an ongoing review of our Zero Tolerance policies and establishing a new Tri-Service Unit for handling of serious complaints independent of the military chain of command.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential economic merits of UK access to the Security Action for Europe fund.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

We will only sign agreements that are in the national interest and provide value for money for the UK taxpayer.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recommendations from the 2023 Defence Committee report on the Ajax programme have been implemented to date.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

It is unclear which report the hon. Member is referring to. The Defence Committee reported findings following an inquiry into the work of Defence Equipment and Support in 2023; however, no recommendations were made regarding the Ajax programme.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average tenure has been for Senior Responsible Owners of major procurement programmes since 2015.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The average time served in post as a Senior Responsible Owner for defence major programmes listed on the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) for each Financial Year from 1 April 2015 is:

The average tenure is impacted by churn in the GMPP as new programmes join and those in the final stages of delivery leave.

The department recognises the importance of continuity in programme leadership and is working to improve this.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which major defence programmes currently lack a full-time Senior Responsible Owner.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The time commitment required from a Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) depends on the scope, scale and complexity of the project. We follow National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) guidance and have full-time SROs on the most challenging projects.

In agreement with NISTA, we have identified the 15 most challenging of our Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) projects that require a full time SRO.

The remaining 33 projects currently in the GMPP, are led by SROs who may lead more than one project or have additional responsibilities.

The role of the SRO - whether civilian or military – is to provide leadership, while day to day management of programmes is the responsibility of the Programme Director.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many major procurement programmes have capability gaps due to the speed of their delivery.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence takes a rigorous approach to manage risks arising from capability gaps, ensuring that we are able to deliver defence's strategic and operational tasks. It is important to guard against the threat of adversary data aggregation of gaps in UK military capability, so it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual cost was of the (i) HM Forces Railcard and (ii) Veterans Railcard in 2024.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The HM Forces and Veterans Railcards are managed by the Rail Delivery Group.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on whether levels of PFAS in sewage biosolids from wastewater plants are being investigated in Phase 4 of the Chemical Investigations Programme.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Sewage sludge is the by-product of the wastewater treatment which can applied to agricultural land as a fertiliser. Whilst this practice supports the circular economy, the Government recognises that sludge spreading is not without risk.

To better understand these risks from chemicals, Defra officials are engaging with industry and independent researchers under the water industry-funded Chemicals Investigation Programme (CIP). PFAS in sludge was investigated in phase 3 of CIP (CIP3) with reports available online: CIP3 Information. Further sludge investigations are now being run in the current phase 4, they include CIP4 Groundwater, Soil and Biosolids Investigation and CIP4 - Chemical Investigations Programme - Phase 4 - Sludge Investigation.

This work will help inform possible and future measures to mitigate PFAS pollution. The Department discusses the progress of this work on a frequent basis.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on external consultants supporting the A-7 Wedgetail programme since its inception.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

To date, external consultancy spend on E-7 Wedgetail is £1.27 million and was spent in the 2017-18 financial year.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of inflation on capital procurement programmes over the last five years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence prepares its cost forecasts with inflation estimates included. However, the higher levels of inflation experienced following Covid-19 and the start of Russia's war against Ukraine has increased costs to Defence, as inflation increased above the levels anticipated by previous forecasts.

In 2022, under the last Government, the Department published an evidence paper on the 'Drivers of Defence Cost Inflation', which is available online.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many flying hours have been completed on VIP-configured RAF aircraft in each year since 2019.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question 17070 which provided the requested information from 2019 – 5 March 2024.

Annual flying hours by aircraft type for the RAF’s Command Support Air Transport (CSAT) fleet, together with the Voyager aircraft in support of Op VESPINA (Flights for Head of State or Head of Government on State business only) when not performing its primary air-to-air refuelling role are given in the table below. They are rounded to the nearest 10 hours.

*Left service 31 December 2024

** To 30 November 2025

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many RAF personnel are assigned to support VIP fleet operations.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

There are eight personnel in the Command Support Air Transport (CSAT) tasking team, responsible for tasking the Envoy and Voyager aircraft in support of Op VESPINA (Flights for Head of State or Head of Government on State business only).

CSAT operations are further supported by a wide network of personnel who plan, engineer, fly, cost and enable these operations. This includes, 32 (The Royal) Squadron, which operates the Envoy; 10 and 101 Squadrons, which operate Voyager during Op VESPINA when not performing its primary air-to-air refuelling role.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many consultancy contracts with his Department have overrun or required extensions within the last five years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many consultancy contracts are currently in place in relation to major air capability programmes.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to assess the potential impact of (a) microplastics and (b) PFAS contaminants in agriculture soil on human and wildlife health.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) keeps a close observation of emerging evidence of the risks microplastics and PFAS may pose.

The EA is working with Defra and collaborating with the water industry on a suite of microplastic and sludge investigations. One water industry investigation through the Chemicals Investigation Programme is currently looking at the movement of microplastics and chemicals from biosolids spread on land to soils.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many missions flown by VIP-configured RAF aircraft since 2019 have been classified as operational, diplomatic, or domestic travel.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence does not categorise Command Support Air Transport (CSAT) missions under the classification of operational, diplomatic or domestic travel.

The majority of CSAT tasks are operational or in support of operations with Operational Command Support activity being the top priority.

Separately, RAF Voyager aircraft can be utilised in a VIP role under Op VESPINA though their primary role remains air-to-air refuelling. Op VESPINA is undertaken subject to availability.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with his German, Italian and Japanese counterparts on Germany potentially joining the Global Combat Air Programme.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As partners we have maintained that we remain open to other partners joining. The UK and our GCAP partners, Italy and Japan, are focused on delivering this vital military capability at pace.

Convention on Cluster Munitions and preventing UK involvement in their production

UK arms export licensing and conflict in Sudan

Winter NHS corridor care

Changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief in the Autumn Budget 2025

Russian shadow fleet

Palestinian children in Israeli military detention

Safeguarding pubs, brewers and one million jobs

Fly-tipping and illegal waste dumping by criminal gangs

UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement

Armed Forces Training Contract and Elbit Systems

Found: • Alistair Carmichael: Global Plastics Treaty • David Mundell: Future of Terrestrial TV • James MacCleary