Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 57 of his department's Strategic Defence Review, published 2 June 2025, what progress has been made on a pivot to outcomes-based partnerships with start-ups, scale-ups and spinouts.

The Ministry of Defence is already implementing the Strategic Defence Review commitment to pivot towards outcomes-based partnerships with start-ups, scale-ups and spinouts through the establishment of UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), which launched in July 2025.

UKDI is bringing together Defence innovation activity into a single system focused on solving clearly defined Defence problems and accelerating successful innovations into operational capability.

This approach places greater emphasis on outcomes rather than processes by linking innovators directly to Defence needs, supporting the development of minimum viable capabilities, and ensuring that promising technologies have a clear route to adoption within Defence programmes.