Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, further to PQ 10559, which third-party arrangements with external agencies has his department entered into in the past three years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department can confirm that it has entered into three arrangements with external agencies within the last three years.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with regard to the records review exercise conducted into the MoD's blood testing programme on nuclear service personnel, what assessment he has made about why the UK Supreme Court was not made aware of it during previous relevant litigation.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Supreme Court heard an appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal on the question as to whether the lead claimants were barred from bringing claims under the Limitation Act 1980. As an appeal court, it does not receive or consider new evidence and considers the evidence provided to the trial court. For the purposes of the hearing in the High Court, the MOD disclosed around 12,000 documents, totalling around 225,000 pages. The disclosure exercise was targeted at documents relevant to the limitation point, and both the High Court and the Court of Appeal found that the MOD had gone beyond what it was ordered to provide. Accordingly, no assessment of this issue has been made.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library of the House of Commons a copy of the seven page report of recommendations produced as a result of his department's recent review of nuclear test veteran historical record, which was published in July.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The reports of the records exercise were published on 15 July 2026. The exercise was a factual study, the reports of which did not make recommendations. Ministers are considering any next steps on matters concerning nuclear test veterans, taking into account representations made by the community. The House will be updated as and when any further decisions are made.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the costs of the agreement with Mauritius on the British Indian Ocean Territory were accounted for in the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Discussions regarding the Chagos treaty are ongoing and any future decisions will be managed as part of the Department's usual financial planning processes.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department were on permanent home working contracts in 2025.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
As at 31 December 2025, 203 Ministry of Defence individuals within the core workforce had their work location listed as either 'tasked from home' or 'home-based' on MyHR, the Civilian HR management computer system, indicating that they had a home-based contract. This represented 0.41% of a total core workforce of 50,026.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on activities relating to Pride Month 2026.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department monitors the amount of food waste generated by its offices each month.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Information relating to the amount of food waste generated by Ministry of Defence offices each month is not held centrally.
Waste, including food waste is tracked across large parts of the Defence Estate through established waste management and sustainability reporting systems. Data on food waste is gathered from facilities management and catering providers to support broader environmental reporting and the Greening Government Commitments.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, other than special advisers if his Department has appointed anyone from outside the civil service since July 2024.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
Since July 2024, the Ministry of Defence has made 178 Public Appointments and 61 Direct Ministerial Appointments. These figures represent appointments made during the period and includes individuals whose appointments have subsequently ended following the expiry of their term, resignation or other departure from office.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was to the public purse of upgrading Britain's air defence radar network due to interference from offshore wind farms.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government has signed a £95 million contract with BAE Systems to deliver technologically advanced radar that secures the coexistence of air defence and offshore wind, enabling the government to protect both national and energy security, while promoting good jobs and growth across the country.
The Ministry of Defence has agreed to fund this contract, with financial support from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Funding was allocated at the Spending Review 2025 and has not been diverted from wider RAF or Air Defence budgets.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department uses numerical reasoning tests as part of the recruitment process for its graduate recruitment scheme.
Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)
The Ministry of Defence employs a range of assessment methods across its recruitment programmes, including numerical reasoning as part of the recruitment process for the Defence Commercial Graduate Programme.