Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to establish Cadet units in Oldham; and whether he will make available funding, resources and organisational assistance to facilitate their formation in areas without Cadet units.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 September 2025 to Question 76173 to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Al Pinkerton).
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-09-09/76173
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what measures are in place to help increase defence supply chain apprenticeships in the North West.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As part of the Defence Industrial Strategy, we launched a £182 million skills package which includes initiatives that will support apprenticeships in the defence sector, including the North West. This includes the Graduate and Apprenticeship Clearing System, which will help those candidates who narrowly missed out on a apprenticeship with a defence prime to find other opportunities within the defence supply chain.
This will build on the successful apprentice ecosystem that exists in the North West, including BAE Systems’ Skills Academy at Samlesbury and the Submarine Academy for Skills and Knowledge in Barrow-in-Furness.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) water pumps and (b) generators his Department disposed of for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The number of water pumps and generators disposed of through the Defence Recycling and Disposals Team (DRDT) from January 2024 to date is as follows:
| Water pumps | Generators |
2024 | 1 | 103 |
2025 | 1 | 192 |
In line with Ministry of Defence policy, records related to disposals are retained for a period of seven years. Consequently, it is not possible to provide information on disposals through the DRDT prior to 2018. Additionally, due to the way information was recorded by the DRDT prior to September 2023, details on the total number of water pumps and generators disposed of between 2018 and September 2023 could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
It should also be noted that not all disposals are conducted through the DRDT. Identifying the total number of water pumps and generators disposed of through other routes would similarly exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Oldham, Chadderton and Royton are being considered for veteran support centres.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Applications are currently open for organisations to bid to become VALOUR recognised centres. The exact locations of centres will be dependent on the applications received, with consideration given to the geographic spread of centres. The programme guidance for applicants encourages them to consider how their bid will deliver more equity of access and consistency in service quality throughout the UK.
VALOUR recognised centres will facilitate in-person access to multiple services for veterans right across the UK. These centres will be required to meet high standards and provide timely data to the UK Government regarding the needs and experiences of veterans to inform future service improvements.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the closure of armed forces recruitment centres on enlistment in those areas.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence assesses that the wide variety of available recruitment engagement options it provides affords opportunity for candidates to enlist, regardless of the presence of an Armed Forces Careers Office (AFCO) in any given geographic location. The Armed Forces regularly review their recruiting activities and associated resource in accordance with the requirement.
Whilst AFCOs continue to provide core support to the Armed Forces' national recruiting activities, their geographic footprint across the UK is complemented by dedicated call centres and online recruiting operations. This ensures that members of rural or isolated communities have the same opportunity to apply to the Armed Forces as anyone else.
In addition, the Services conduct outreach engagement programmes across the whole of the UK, delivering events such as career fairs and roadshows, supported by online services and social media campaigns. These recruitment activities are further supported through strategic partnerships such as with JobCentrePlus, which provides additional face-to-face touchpoints with potential applicants.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps are being taken to expand the number of digitalised MOD history records held by government and third party organisations to support the study and research into military family history.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has a comprehensive programme to transfer its historical physical Service personnel records to The National Archives. The decision to digitise these records rests with The National Archives.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to expand support for armed forces cadet units in England.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 September 2025 to Question 76173 to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Al Pinkerton).
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been recruited by the armed forces from the Oldham Metropolitan Borough area in each year from 2010 to date.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The requested information is available for the past five years and is provided in the following table:
Intake to the Untrained Regular Force from Oldham Local Authority:
| 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
Tri-Service | 50 | 50 | 40 | 30 | 40 |
Notes:
1. The requested information is only held from 2014 onwards.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid bias, 5 or fewer is represented by '~', 0 is represented by '-'.
3. Due to limitations with the data sources, figures are approximate prior to rounding.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what strategies and programmes his Department has put in place to support people in Oldham wishing to serve in the armed forces following the closure of the local armed forces recruitment office.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Army provides excellent employment opportunities not just for the people of Oldham, but across the UK. As Britain's biggest provider of apprenticeships the Army offers chances not just for a job, but for a career and ongoing training supporting Her Majesty's Government's social mobility agenda too.
Since 2012 Army recruitment has been delivered in partnership with Capita, under the Recruiting Partnering Project. This has focussed on modern and convenient recruiting processes, including online tools and facilities. Applications to join the Army are initiated through the Army website and candidates receive extensive advice and support throughout the application process from recruiting advisors based at the Army National Recruiting Centre, Upavon. Similar processes and support are available to applicants for the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Face-to-face support and advice is available at the nearby Armed Forces Careers Office in Manchester.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will issue guidance on how local small and medium-sized enterprise businesses can benefit from defence supply chain procurement.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Ministry of Defence recognises the value of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to defence, and in 2015-16 direct spend with SMEs amounted to more than £700 million with nearly 5,000 different suppliers. Furthermore, we have taken positive action to provide SMEs increased access to the defence market.
In March 2016, a revised SME policy was published to make it easier for companies to work with defence. This revised policy, which applies throughout the supply chain, can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-policy-for-small-and-medium-enterprises.
Key revisions include:
A new supply chain champion and a supply chain advocate network, to provide single points of contact for suppliers;
A reduction in bureaucracy and red tape; and
An online resource for suppliers that explains our policy, advises how to target funding streams, and signposts opportunities.
Improvements have also been made to the Defence Contracts Online advertising service, which, alongside the Government's Contracts Finder portal, provides suppliers with free access to defence opportunities.