Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many advance payments have been made to defence contractors during the COVID-19 pandemic by (1) total value, and (2) number of recipients.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been working closely with its suppliers during the Covid-19 pandemic to support them at this difficult time. In accordance with Government procurement guidance, the MOD has to date approved interim payments of £124 million to ensure that critical defence outputs can continue uninterrupted. £86 million of this was to 31 UK suppliers. The remainder have been made under Foreign Military Sales arrangements.

The MOD has also engaged directly with more than 600 of its critical suppliers to enhance our understanding of supply chain resilience.