Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has an agreed target spend with SMEs.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has set an ambitious target to increase direct and indirect spending by 50% compared to FY 23/24 baseline. This increase in total spend would equate to £2.5 billion total spend increase with Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to £7.5 billion by May 2028.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many contracts his Department has entered into in each of the last five years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This information can be found at MOD trade, industry and contracts: 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the maternal mortality rate was in England in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th April is attached.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to help ensure the protection of UK citizens who visit holy sites in Jerusalem.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 20 April in response to Question 124464.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many major contracts which have been signed by his department since July 2024 were a) sustainment or refresh contracts or b) new procurement contracts.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department can confirm that, since July 2024, the department has signed a total of 1,398 major contracts. Ministry of Defence (MOD) contract records do not distinguish between sustainment or refresh (i.e. follow-on) contracts. Consequently, we can only provide the number of new contracts initiated since 5 July 2024.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to negotiate an administrative agreement with the European Defence Agency.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Security and Defence Partnership agreed with the European Union in May 2025 is an example of this Government delivering on its manifesto commitments to strengthen European security, support growth, and reinforce NATO.
We will continue to prioritise engagement and cooperation on the issues that are most important in helping to safeguard European security and prosperity – all in support of this government’s NATO First defence policy as set out in the Security and Defence Review.
The Security and Defence Partnership outlines the possibility for establishing an Administrative Arrangement between the UK and the European Defence Agency. Officials remain in discussions with the EU to explore this.
Any potential future UK commitment – financial or otherwise – will ensure value for taxpayers and support wider defence priorities.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in each of the last 10 years, how many members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have died while a) undertaking training or b) while on active service.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
One member of the Royal Fleet Auxillary is recorded as dying on duty by accident or injury in the past 10 years; this occurred in 2019.
All on duty deaths are investigated by the appropriate body such as the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch, Defence Accident Investigation Branch, or civilian police where necessary.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps they are taking to increase the amount of UK made steel used in procurement contracts overseen by their Department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government Commercial Function (GCF), based in the Cabinet Office, published its strategy document for 2026 to 2029 on 7 April 2026, which is available at the following link:
Driving economic growth is a key pillar of this strategy, in line with Government policy, capitalising on the industrial strategy targets to create jobs in the United Kingdom, and a key part of the strategy is market shaping and making use of the collective buying power of the Government to drive UK economic growth and resilience.
One of the first steps will be for the GCF to work with the commercial directors across the Government in four pilot sectors, namely shipbuilding, steel, artificial intelligence, and energy infrastructure, to identify key data requirements, and to pilot underpinning market shaping assessments for each. The Cabinet Office will be publishing a Procurement Policy Notice specifically on UK steel transparency later this year.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase reserves of helium within the NHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is closely monitoring the impacts of the Middle East conflict on the medical supply chain, including on the supply of helium. We have engaged with industry and received assurance on the stability of continued helium supply through contingency planning and sourcing through multiple global routes. We will continue to monitor the supply of helium and other medical products to mitigate any potential impacts on patient care.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which officials in her Department have the authority to (a) override vetting decisions of appointments made within her Department and (b) provide access to secret or top secret information to people that have not obtained the required clearances through vetting, and where do they derive their authority to make these decisions.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Prime Minister's statement to the House on 20 April and his answers to the questions raised in response.