Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Student skills investment to boost UK defence industry, published on 5 February 2026, whether any of the £80 million investment will be allocated to colleges and universities in Essex.

On 5 February the Ministry of Defence announced that, as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy skills package, it is directly investing £80 million into the Higher Education sector to increase the capacity on key defence-related courses and invest in new facilities and cutting-edge technology to ensure we have the skilled workforce the sector requires in the future.

This funding will be distributed by the Office for Students (OfS) as part of a Strategic Priorities Grant competition which all eligible Higher Education institutions in England will be able to apply for. OfS are an independent body running a fair and transparent competition. The competition opened on the 12 February with competition guidance published on their website. We welcome applications from colleges and universities across England including in Essex.