Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to ensure the Strategic Defence Review team engages fully with UK defence industry (a) primes and (b) SMEs.

The Strategic Defence Review will determine the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK Defence to meet the challenges, threats and opportunities of the twenty-first century. It will consider the state of the defence technological and industrial base, and the contribution of Defence to the Government’s growth mission.

The reviewers will consult widely, including with Parliament, the Defence community, academia, and industry including Primes and SMEs. Defence Ministers met with industry primes and SMEs as a priority in the first weeks of this new Government.