Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 23 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what criteria would need to be met to define an academic institution as part of the defence industrial base.

The Defence Industrial Strategy adopts a whole of society approach to the defence sector and redefines the UK defence industrial base to include academic institutions based on the contribution they make to defence Research and Development and the provision of skills and education needed in the workforce that defence relies upon.