Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former members of the regular Army have regular reserve recall liability in the event of a national emergency as of 1 April 2024.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

As at 1 January 2024 there were 22,676 Army Regular Reservists with recall liability under Section 22 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 96.

In addition, there are approximately 55,000 ex-Regular personnel as of March 2024 subject to recall under Section 68 of the RFA 96.

Notes/caveats:

1. The number of Army Regular Reservists with a recall liability can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.
2. The Army Regular Reserve comprises ex-Regular Army personnel who retain a workforce obligation to be called up for service in times of need.
3. This figure includes the serving component which comprises ex-Regular personnel who have applied to return to Army service on a fixed term Reserve commitment.
4. The second figure comprises of personnel who have completed their military service and retain a liability to be recalled for service in the event of national danger, great emergency or an actual or suspected attack on the UK.
5. This figure is a single Service estimate based on management information which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. The data as of March 2024 is the latest available.
6. The c55,000 includes ex-Regular Officers who retain a recall liability in perpetuity.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former members of the regular Army have regular reserve call out liability as of 1 April 2024.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

As at 1 January 2024 there were 22,676 Army Regular Reservists with recall liability under Section 22 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 96.

In addition, there are approximately 55,000 ex-Regular personnel as of March 2024 subject to recall under Section 68 of the RFA 96.

Notes/caveats:

1. The number of Army Regular Reservists with a recall liability can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.
2. The Army Regular Reserve comprises ex-Regular Army personnel who retain a workforce obligation to be called up for service in times of need.
3. This figure includes the serving component which comprises ex-Regular personnel who have applied to return to Army service on a fixed term Reserve commitment.
4. The second figure comprises of personnel who have completed their military service and retain a liability to be recalled for service in the event of national danger, great emergency or an actual or suspected attack on the UK.
5. This figure is a single Service estimate based on management information which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. The data as of March 2024 is the latest available.
6. The c55,000 includes ex-Regular Officers who retain a recall liability in perpetuity.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by how much (a) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits and (b) Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits will be reduced following the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 in each affected Department; and if he will publish in which Departments these savings will be made.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The government has committed to re-invest every penny that is saved from the cancelled phases of HS2 into alternative transport projects through Network North.

This means that every penny of the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 will be reinvested in the North; every penny of the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands leg will be reinvested in the Midlands; and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston will be spread across every other region in the country.

Departmental Expenditure Limits in 2024-25 are published at the relevant Estimates in the usual way. Departmental budgets beyond 2024-25 will be set as part of the next Spending Review.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the funding for Ukraine announced by the Prime Minister on 23 April 2024, what proportion of that funding will be used to replace UK (a) ammunition stocks and (b) vehicles.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The £500 million additional funding for Ukraine, announced on 23 April 2024 will be used to rapidly deliver urgently-needed ammunition, air defence, drones and engineering support. The drones will be procured in the UK and the funds will support a scale-up in domestic defence supply chains.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the funding to Ukraine announced by the Prime Minister on 23 April 2024, what proportion of that funding will be spent on equipment to be donated to the Ukrainian Government and forces.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The £500 million additional funding for Ukraine, announced on 23 April 2024 will be used to rapidly deliver urgently-needed ammunition, air defence, drones and engineering support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The drones will be procured in the UK and the funds will support a scale-up in domestic defence supply chains.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his latest estimate is of the (a) cost and (b) delivery timetable for the E& aircraft.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave on 30 April 2024 to the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois), to Question 23416; and on 29 April 2024 to the right hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle), to Question 23108.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which equipment programs within (a) the Army, (b) Strategic Command, (c) the Royal Air Force and (d) the Royal Navy have been deferred as part of the latest annual budget cycle round.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Department is reviewing its forward spending plans following the Government's announcement that defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP in 2030.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on establishing the National Cyber Force headquarters at Salmesbury.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The National Cyber Force (NCF) headquarters in Samlesbury is currently undergoing construction, with progress remaining on track to open in 2025. NCF is planning for several hundred personnel to be based there within the first 12 months.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what equipment programmes within the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army, (b) Strategic Command and (d) Royal Air Force were deleted following the most recent annual budget cycle round.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Department is reviewing its forward spending plans following the Government's announcement that defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP in 2030.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has plans to procure F35A aircraft.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) on 16 June 2023 to Question 188192.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on the Anglo-French Future Cruise-Anti-Ship Weapon programme.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Future Cruise / Anti-Ship weapon programme is in the third year of the assessment phase and joint Anglo-France work is designing novel technological advances in missile capability. Significant progress has been made on suitable candidate weapon systems to fulfil the Naval and Air requirements. At this stage of the programme, work is focused on reducing technical and schedule risk, prior to the potential Demonstration and Manufacturing phases, and preparations are underway to prepare towards Full Business Case. Additionally, progress is also being made to explore bringing Italy on board as a partner nation, with a Letter of Intent signed in June 2023.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with his German counterpart on ensuring that collaboration on the Boxer 155mm platform will not be subject to an export veto by the German (a) federal government and (b) parliament.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I have closely engaged with my German counterpart on the Boxer 155mm project, including consideration of future export prospects. The Prime Minister also discussed the project and the position on exports with Chancellor Scholz ahead of announcing the joint way ahead in Berlin on 24 April. Following the announcement, I also met with Secretary Zimmer in the Ministerial Equipment and Capability Cooperation(MECC) format on 8 May during which we discussed our plans to progress to the next stage of the programme.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether an annual budget cycle took place for the financial year (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The department runs an Annual Budget Cycle (ABC) every year.

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Found: — Rt Hon James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs Rt Hon Ben

Found: — Rt Hon James Cleverly, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs Rt Hon Ben