Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has considered sites in the Northeast of England for the location of the six new munitions factories.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) committed to build at least six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently developing a plan to deliver this commitment alongside our wider Defence Industrial Strategy, delivering long-term investment to boost UK growth and generating skilled UK jobs and export opportunities. The MOD is carefully considering arrangements for those factories including their potential locations, and more detail will be set out in due course. It is currently considered to be premature to discuss specific proposals or sites until the necessary preparatory work has concluded.