Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 94926 on Ajax Vehicles: Health and Safety, whether vehicles within the Ajax programme will be available for use prior to the a) conclusion and b) implementation of recommendations of that review.

On 22 November, during a routine training exercise, around 30 soldiers operating in Ajax reported being affected by noise and vibration exposure.

As a result, I directed the Army to pause all use of Ajax for training and exercising, while a safety investigation is carried out into the events. Those investigations are ongoing and I will update the House at an appropriate point.

I am putting in place a Ministerial led review into the Ajax programme, which will assess how effective the Department has been at implementing the actions of previous reviews, and seeking anything further that is required regarding safety.

It will be conducted by experts who are not part of the AJAX programme, including Malcolm Chalmers, to provide a more independent view. It will be overseen by me and report to the Defence Secretary. It will be conducted at pace, but it will not be rushed. We will have the Terms of Reference before Christmas.