Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to recommendation 15 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, how many recommendations he plans to make by October 2025 to help tackle (a) structural, (b) behavioural and (c) leadership barriers to the creation of a more (i) representative and (ii) meritocratic workforce by June 2026.

Raising our Standards has been established by Defence to address structural, behavioural, and leadership barriers. This work is key to operational delivery, recruitment, retention and driving forward an inclusive and safe culture. Raising our Standards has planned initiatives under five pillars: communications and influencing behaviour change, data and analytics, 100% action when tackling unacceptable behaviours, streamlined education and training, and developing world-class leaders.

In response to recommendation 15 of the Strategic Defence Review regarding independent oversight of implementation, Raising our Standards is working to implement a refreshed External Challenge Panel by October 2025.