Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1812 on Defence: Employment, what plans does his Department have to help ensure a sustainable skills base for the defence sector.

The Defence Suppliers Forum (DSF) People and Skills Steering Group routinely meets on a quarterly basis. In the past twelve months the group met on the following dates: 13 November 2023, 5 September 2023, 11 July 2023 and 8 March 2023.

There are 18 members of the DSF Steering Group with representation across the sub groups from relevant policy and delivery areas of the MOD, as well as from strategic and mid-tier suppliers, trade associations and academia.

The Steering Group, as with all DSF Steering Groups, is held to account by the DSF Executive Group for the delivery of its agreed programme of work.

To help ensure a sustainable skills base for the defence sector, the People and Skills Steering Group is focussing on defining a Defence Enterprise Diversity and Inclusion Charter (planned for publication early 2024) and will define a mechanism for ‘Recycle Recruitment’ by the end of 2024. Discussions have also taken place on apprenticeships and encouraging the use of UCAS as a platform for candidates to apply for vacancies seamlessly and simultaneously with several organisations.

The group continues to focus on attracting and developing qualified engineers and has recently conducted a pilot study to identify if academic bodies would work with the Defence Enterprise.