Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that UK operational readiness is unaffected by military assistance to the covid-19 response in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.

Defence has taken prudent steps to assure the continued delivery of all its critical outputs. Measures have been put in place to protect critical Force Elements, ensuring that UK operational readiness remains unaffected by military assistance to COVID-19. This includes in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, where Defence has provided three military planners to support the Staffordshire Local Resilience Forum.