Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve skills in the defence workforce.

Alongside the Defence Industrial Strategy, we announced a £182 million skills package, encompassing a range of initiatives to increase skills across the UK.

This includes launching five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges across England and our intention to do so in Wales and Scotland; providing more funding to universities and colleges to increase capacity on defence-focused Higher Education courses; and supporting mid-career professionals upskill to work in the UK’s leading defence sector.