Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there has been a change in the number of his Department's (a) personnel and (b) assets in the Indo-Pacific region since 16 March 2021.

Following the commitments made in the Defence Command Paper in support of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt, the period since 16 March 2021 has seen an increase in both MOD personnel and MOD assets permanently deployed to the Indo-Pacific region.

This increase in personnel supports the expansion of the UK’s Defence Network, including the establishment of a British Defence Staff for Oceania, in Canberra and Defence Advisor and Attaché posts in Fiji and the Philippines respectively.

Over the same period, the number of assets in the region has also increased. Following the conclusion of the Carrier Strike Group deployment, HMS Spey and Tamar were permanently stationed in the region at the end of 2021.