Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to recommendation 48 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on reviewing (a) storage and (b) other standards to remove regulations.

I refer the hon. Member to the response my noble friend, the Lord Coaker, gave on 24 July to Question HL9399.

I would also like to add that Astra, established in 2020, is the Royal Air Force's (RAF) approach to grassroots innovation. It focuses on adopting and adapting technology to address challenges, questioning restrictive policies and processes, and incrementally improving practices to enhance operational effectiveness. Over the past two years, Astra initiatives have delivered significant benefits, including saving approximately 250,000 workforce hours annually, while improving key areas such as aircraft availability, sustainability, and operational readiness. The Astra team, along with the rest of the RAF, remains fully committed to delivering Recommendation 48 of the Strategic Defence Review.