Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the security and continuity of the UK food supply chain is factored into national homeland resilience planning.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food security is national security. The Food Sector is one of the UK’s thirteen Critical National Infrastructure sectors. We work closely with the Cabinet Office and other Lead Government Departments to ensure food supply is fully incorporated as part of national resilience planning and emergency preparedness.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what oversight the Cabinet Office maintains over foreign direct investment screenings to help protect sensitive domestic assets.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 21 July 2026 responsibility for investment screening and the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act passed from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (CDL) in the Cabinet Office to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. The powers and requirements under the NSI Act – including the statutory timelines, set processes, and legal tests for using the NSI Act – all remain the same.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the National Security Strategy, published 24 June 2025, what long-term fiscal adjustments have been modeled to support economic security.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government considers the implications of national security, economic resilience and economic security as part of its overall approach to fiscal policy, spending decisions and public investment.
The National Security Strategy, published on 24 June 2025, set out the Government's approach to strengthening the UK's security and resilience, including the commitment to increase spending on national security to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035.
Decisions on taxation, public spending and investment are taken through the normal fiscal event and Spending Review processes, consistent with the Government's fiscal framework.
Through these processes, the Government is supporting economic security and resilience, including through our public finance offer, with Public Finance Institutions and interventions working together to direct more investment at strategic sectors and supply chains. This includes the expansion of the National Security Strategic Investment Fund, which invests into advanced dual-use technology companies to support the National Security and Defence community and start-ups across the country.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is taking to help insulate UK supply chains from structural volatility.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade has established and launched a new Supply Chain Centre. The Centre’s mission is to ensure that the UK has a secure supply of the inputs it needs and that businesses are equipped for sustained growth. That’s both for now and in a potentially increasingly disrupted and uncertain future.
The UK government is working with businesses, industry groups and partners across government and internationally to monitor impacts and respond to supply chain disruptions and volatility, including those caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
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 110 of his Department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, how his Department prioritises investment in surveillance drones and counter-drone systems.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Uncrewed Systems Centre (DUSC) considers the potential application of uncrewed systems across military applications, including surveillance. Through the Defence Investment Plan Project CORVUS is investing £310 million of new investment in the Army’s long-range surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, including the next generation of uncrewed aerial systems to replace legacy Watchkeeper drones. Furthermore, it is investing £310 million in the new Uncrewed Systems Centre, including the recently opened DroneTEX facility, to coordinate all output with industry, partners, and allies.
In addition, Defence is investing a further £240 million in an enhanced counter-drone system, providing effective detection and defeat of emerging drone threats. Given the rapid pace of technological development and the evolving drone threat, Defence prioritises flexible and adaptable counter-drone capabilities that can be updated through spiral development and supported by operational learning.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what specific measures are being taken to harden critical national infrastructure against sub-threshold attacks.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government's first responsibility is to keep the country safe, and strengthening the resilience of the UK's Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is a key element of our National Security Strategy and wider domestic resilience agenda. The Government is taking a range of measures to strengthen CNI against the full spectrum of threats, including sub-threshold activity.
The Government's 2025 Resilience Action Plan sets out an ‘all-hazards approach’ to building national resilience, including for CNI, and is supported by the National Security Strategy, Strategic Defence Review and 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy.
We work closely with CNI operators to improve security, preparedness and resilience across all CNI sectors. We have carried out a range of work to build awareness of the threats we face and the steps that businesses can take to strengthen their security and resilience. As part of this, we recently announced that the Security Minister will chair a threat briefing with industry bodies representing CNI.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what lessons his Department has learned from the war in Ukraine; and what impact that war has had on procurement models.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is learning extensively from Ukraine, particularly the need for a much faster 'learn and adapt' cycle and the ability to analyse real time data to drive rapid changes in capability and tactics though rapid innovation. This continues to inform UK Defence Policy. As such, we are strengthening collaboration between operators, scientists and industry to accelerate our innovation activity to satisfy Defence requirements.
The war in Ukraine has also demonstrated the importance of speed and technical innovation for UK defence procurement. Our new segmented approach to procurement and accelerated commercial pathways, set out in the Strategic Defence Review, will enable us to get programmes onto contract faster. Through UK Defence Innovation, we will accelerate the delivery of cutting-edge, front-line-ready capabilities, enabling the rapid acquisition and integration of available technologies to strengthen military capability and deliver decisive operational advantage on the battlefield.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the Total Efficiency Commitment is split between the (a) 2026-2026, (b) 2027-2028, (c) 2028-2029 and (d) 2029-2030 financial years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As set out in Table 21 of the Annex to the Defence Investment Plan, the Department's total efficiency commitment of £10.7 billion is profiled across the four-year period as follows:
Financial Year | Total (£, billion) |
2026-27 | 1.4 |
2027-28 | 2.6 |
2028-29 | 3.5 |
2029-30 | 3.2 |
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the email from the hon. Member for South Shropshire dated 19 May 2026 with case reference SA44124.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers and officials are in regular contact with elected representatives across the country.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the current level of out-of-hours dental care provision in South Shropshire.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department.
Responsibility for commissioning National Health Service dental services, including urgent and out-of-hours dental care, sits with integrated care boards (ICBs). For the South Shropshire constituency, this is the Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin ICB. Further information on the ICB’s urgent dental care services can be found at the following link:
https://www.shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs.uk/your-health/where-to-get-advice-and-help/dentists/