Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of whether the North East of England continues to lag behind other regions of the United Kingdom in the number of defence-related manufacturing and industrial jobs; and what steps his Department is taking to increase defence employment and investment in the region.

The North East is an important part of the UK defence industrial base. The MOD expenditure with industry in the region rose from £187 million in 2024-25 to £198 million in 2025-26, a 6% increase after accounting for inflation.

Of this total amount, £96 million was spent with small and medium-sized enterprises.

We are supporting further investment and jobs through the North East Regional Defence and Security Cluster (RDSC), linking industry, academia and Government. We are also investing in skills in the region, with over £9 million combined invested to Durham, Newcastle and Teesside universities, through the Defence Strategic Priority Grant competition and Durham, Newcastle and Northumbria becoming founding members of the Defence Universities Alliance.