Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 106 of his Department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, how he plans to achieve the ambition for the Royal Navy to get the mix of high-low capabilities while moving towards a more powerful but cheaper and simpler fleet.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy is implementing a Hybrid Navy concept which will integrate crewed, uncrewed and autonomous systems, enabling affordable mass to complement its high-end warfighting capabilities. This will be delivered progressively through experimentation, spiral development and closer integration with industry, ensuring that investment is focused on capabilities that provide the greatest operational effect and value for money.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 53 of his department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what new funding models have been identified to make defence innovators a more attractive proposition for private capital.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Delivering on commitments set out in the SDR, DIS, and the DIP, we will publish a Defence Finance and Investment Strategy later this year to set a clear framework for how Government and responsible private capital can work together in support of security, resilience and growth.
To inform the Strategy, the MOD announced a sprint to explore how private investment can be leveraged to drive innovation and growth across the defence sector. Supported by HM Treasury, the Office for Investment, UK Government Investments, public financial institutions and private investors, the MOD has identified a pipeline of investable opportunities and funding models through which private capital could accelerate priority capabilities.
This work will help establish a long-term framework with clearer priorities, improved routes for investor engagement, and more modern delivery models, which will attract private capital at scale, support defence innovators and supply chains, and strengthen resilience across the UK.
Working with the Defence Investors’ Advisory Group (DIAG) and wider stakeholders, we will ensure that investment opportunities are presented in a detailed form and are suitable for risk, investment and compliance committees for each type of private capital with individual opportunities being taken forward where there is clear value for money for the taxpayer, operational need, and deliverability. This will ensure the DFIS reflects market realities and is capable of unlocking investment at scale.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 50 of his department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what progress has been made by his Department to a) protect digital spend as a no-fail priority and b) embed a culture of constant innovation with a target of minimum annual shift of 10% expenditure from current to next-generation capabilities on its enterprise digital platforms and services.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Investment Plan sets out how the Department is investing to deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review, including significant investment in the Digital Backbone, the Digital Targeting Web, artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities and other next-generation technologies.
Work is underway to implement the Review's digital recommendations, including improving oversight of digital expenditure, developing the pan-Defence digital operating model and supporting the continuous improvement of Defence digital services. This will enable the Department to prioritise critical digital investment and progressively replace legacy systems with modern, cross-Defence platforms.
The Department is also developing the arrangements required to measure and assure progress against the target to shift a minimum of 10% of relevant expenditure annually from current to next-generation enterprise digital capabilities.
Progress against the Defence Investment Plan will be reported to Parliament through the Department's annual delivery update.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 56 of his department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what progress his department has made in regularly revisiting key priorities, cutting projects that are not delivering and ensuring headroom in the budget for emerging themes.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The department’s research priorities remain agile, based around responding to the problem set provided by the MSHQ to the National Armaments Director whilst sustaining critical science and technology capabilities required for Defence – and routinely halting projects as circumstances dictate. The NAD Group's move towards a portfolio approach will improve this agility, allowing new work addressing emerging priorities to be commissioned and funding reallocated at greater pace, with an appropriate headroom held at portfolio level.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made since the publication of the Strategic Defence Review in seeding early-stage research.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As part of the NAD Group's move towards a portfolio approach, a greater emphasis on early-stage research is being delivered, allowing it to be commissioned in a simpler manner and with greater linkage to military problems. This complements both the additional £400 million for UK Defence Innovation, and the launch of the Defence Universities Alliance.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 28 of his department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what countries his department considers as emerging middle powers.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Strategic Defence Review set out the case for transformation, including growing multipolarity and strategic competition, this included the reference to ‘middle powers.’ The Defence Diplomacy Strategy published in March 2026 sets out our intention for UK Defence to be more deliberate, targeted and coherent in deepening its international relationships with allies and partners to support defence and wider foreign policy. However, any detailed assessments beyond this of the United Kingdom's interests, relationships and the international security environment are necessarily classified and held internally within the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 115 of his Department’s Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what progress he has made on reviewing storage and other standards to remove regulations that place unnecessary constraints on training and impose significant unnecessary cost in the lifecycle of highly expensive weapons.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As recommended by the Strategic Defence Review, Defence is reviewing standards, regulations and processes to remove unnecessary burdens that can constrain delivery, increase costs and slow the development, support and training associated with military capability. This work is focused on simplifying and streamlining requirements, removing duplication and unnecessary process, and clarifying which standards are mandatory, while maintaining appropriate safety, security and operational requirements.
Any changes will be targeted and risk-based, with appropriate governance and assurance. Safety, security and statutory requirements will continue to apply where they are essential to protecting personnel, equipment and operational effectiveness.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 7 of his department’s Defence Industrial Strategy, published 8 September 2025, what progress has been made on supporting members of the Armed Forces and workers in other industries to move into the defence sector.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The £182 million Defence Industry Skills package contains a number of initiatives that can support members of the Armed Forces and workers in other industries to move into the defence sector.
This includes scoping a Defence Skills Passport, which would create a digital record of an individual’s skills that will help to support smoother movement into and within the defence sector. Defence Apprenticeship Units will help those at the mid-career stage to upskill in specific areas relevant to jobs in the defence sector. The Destination Defence campaign, meanwhile, will raise awareness of the breadth of career opportunities within the defence sector.
The MOD continues to work cross-government and with industry to develop and progress these initiatives.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 13 of his department’s Defence Industrial Strategy, published 8 September 2025, how many of the extra 1,000 jobs generated in supply chains have been created.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 19091 on 2 September 2026.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-07-15/19091
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 77 of his Department’s Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what progress he has made on drawing on cross-government and external expertise, especially in academia and industry.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are multiple teams across Defence working to deliver this recommendation.
The Secretary of State's Office of Net Assessment and Challenge (SONAC) are leading on co-ordinating the delivery of this outcome. They have conducted an internal review of barriers to engaging expertise, including a survey of nearly 300 officials and national security experts. They are implementing a plan to remove these barriers, including increasing the number of security cleared external experts, increasing the numbers of forums for engagement and improving the way external expertise is integrated into Defence decision making.
Across Defence there are initiatives to cohere and improve engagement with external experts. The Office of the Chief Scientific Advisor, alongside the Growth and Missions team, launched the Defence Universities Alliance in July, connecting 35 universities with the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces to boost defence technology research and specialist skills.
The Defence Nuclear Organisation continues to run the Nuclear Deterrence Fund which supports research that furthers our understanding of nuclear deterrence issues. The fund is designed to stimulate wider UK expertise in the field and to generate a research base to support nuclear deterrence policymaking.