Ministry of Defence

I can advise the hon. Member that JSP 767 does not exist.

Each Service has their own set of core values and standards that should be adhered to at all times. These can be viewed online:

• Royal Navy: https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/organisation/our-people/our-values
• Army: https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/about-the-army/values-and-standards/
• Royal Air Force: https://recruitment.raf.mod.uk/media/ig5dhw0z/20200703-raf_ap1_2019_rev_3_page_spreads.pdf

Minor Administrative Action guidance is contained in Joint Service Publication 833 (Minor Administrative Action) which sets out an individual’s rights during the process. This includes the right to review at a higher level than that at which it is initiated. In addition, a Service person who considers themselves to have been wronged in a matter relating to their service has the right to submit a Service complaint, seeking redress of individual grievance.

Service Complaints guidance is published within Joint Service Publication 831 (Redress of Individual Grievances (Service Complaints)). This includes a Complainant’s right to appeal if they disagree with the decision of their Service Complaint, and also how they can ask the Armed Forces Commissioner to investigate issues relating to the outcome of their complaint if they are dissatisfied. Furthermore, all Complainants and Respondents are entitled to the services of an Assisting Officer whose role is to support and help them throughout the process.

Defence remains committed to decisive, evidence-based action to protect our people and uphold the highest standards for everyone.

I can advise the hon. Member that JSP 767 does not exist.

Each Service has their own set of core values and standards that should be adhered to at all times. These can be viewed online:

• Royal Navy: https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/organisation/our-people/our-values
• Army: https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/about-the-army/values-and-standards/
• Royal Air Force: https://recruitment.raf.mod.uk/media/ig5dhw0z/20200703-raf_ap1_2019_rev_3_page_spreads.pdf

Minor Administrative Action guidance is contained in Joint Service Publication 833 (Minor Administrative Action) which sets out an individual’s rights during the process. This includes the right to review at a higher level than that at which it is initiated. In addition, a Service person who considers themselves to have been wronged in a matter relating to their service has the right to submit a Service complaint, seeking redress of individual grievance.

Service Complaints guidance is published within Joint Service Publication 831 (Redress of Individual Grievances (Service Complaints)). This includes a Complainant’s right to appeal if they disagree with the decision of their Service Complaint, and also how they can ask the Armed Forces Commissioner to investigate issues relating to the outcome of their complaint if they are dissatisfied. Furthermore, all Complainants and Respondents are entitled to the services of an Assisting Officer whose role is to support and help them throughout the process.

Defence remains committed to decisive, evidence-based action to protect our people and uphold the highest standards for everyone.

I can advise the hon. Member that JSP 767 does not exist.

Each Service has their own set of core values and standards that should be adhered to at all times. These can be viewed online:

• Royal Navy: https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/organisation/our-people/our-values
• Army: https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/about-the-army/values-and-standards/
• Royal Air Force: https://recruitment.raf.mod.uk/media/ig5dhw0z/20200703-raf_ap1_2019_rev_3_page_spreads.pdf

Minor Administrative Action guidance is contained in Joint Service Publication 833 (Minor Administrative Action) which sets out an individual’s rights during the process. This includes the right to review at a higher level than that at which it is initiated. In addition, a Service person who considers themselves to have been wronged in a matter relating to their service has the right to submit a Service complaint, seeking redress of individual grievance.

Service Complaints guidance is published within Joint Service Publication 831 (Redress of Individual Grievances (Service Complaints)). This includes a Complainant’s right to appeal if they disagree with the decision of their Service Complaint, and also how they can ask the Armed Forces Commissioner to investigate issues relating to the outcome of their complaint if they are dissatisfied. Furthermore, all Complainants and Respondents are entitled to the services of an Assisting Officer whose role is to support and help them throughout the process.

Defence remains committed to decisive, evidence-based action to protect our people and uphold the highest standards for everyone.

All of our Service personnel are expected to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and to adhere to the core values and ethos of the Armed Forces. There is no single piece of written guidance or briefing material to cover these expectations across all the single Services, however they are consistently embedded during Phase 1 training and are made explicitly clear through multiple policy documents.

The Ministry of Defence is eager to facilitate more engagement with Parliamentarians, and we are proactively doing so given the importance of Defence within the national conversation. Defence Ministers are committed to ensuring the Department is being more transparent and engaged with MPs from all parties, supporting visits to sites across the UK to meet our brave Service men and women.

Parliamentarians can seek approval to visit an establishment, including requests for media or photography in advance, and these are approved on a case-by-case basis noting security protocols and sensitivities. The most effective route remains to contact the Parliamentary Engagement Lead for the relevant Service in the first instance. Constituency MPs or MPs for immediately neighbouring constituencies may arrange visits directly with local establishments.

Global Counsel staff were not present at the Prime Minister’s visit to Palantir on 27 February 2025. The UK Defence Attache has not corresponded or met representatives of Global Counsel since July 2024.

The visit was part of the Prime Minister's trip to Washington. During this visit the Prime Minister listened to a short presentation about Palantir’s work, followed by a tour of the premises and an introduction to members of staff.

Any contracts for any firm go through the usual rigorous departmental processes and their decision makers.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has agreed efficiency targets with His Majesty's Treasury for 2026-27 and 2027-28, as set out in the Spending Review 2025 and the Departmental Efficiency Plans policy paper, published 11 June 2025.

Further efficiencies, were included in the Strategic Defence Review.

As part of routine financial management, the MOD continues to allocate resources effectively to meet departmental and operational priorities. The Department's final position for 2025-26 will be set out in the Annual Report and Accounts.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has agreed efficiency targets with His Majesty's Treasury for 2026-27 and 2027-28, as set out in the Spending Review 2025 and the Departmental Efficiency Plans policy paper, published 11 June 2025.

Further efficiencies, were included in the Strategic Defence Review.

As part of routine financial management, the MOD continues to allocate resources effectively to meet departmental and operational priorities. The Department's final position for 2025-26 will be set out in the Annual Report and Accounts.

The records exercise is nearing completion, and I shall update the House in due course. In parallel, as part of wider work, over 19,300 historic nuclear testing records are now publicly accessible having been transferred to the National Archives from the Merlin database.

Civil servants have access to a wide range of training through the Government Campus and Civil Service Learning (CSL), covering areas including leadership, policy, digital and project management skills. Key provision includes Civil Service Essentials, Line Management Induction, and specialised courses on security, policy‑making and communications. A recommended learning curriculum is published on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-civil-service-recommended-curriculum.

Defence also provides training for its Civil Service workforce through a range of internal programmes, including classified courses and profession and domain specific training, which are organised and delivered at a local level.

A comprehensive list of all training programmes within the scope of the question is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The department keeps legislation under review, considering operational readiness and wider priorities. Policy teams within the department are responsible for ensuring effective legislative practice within their area, including reviewing uncommenced legislation and bringing forward commencement regulations as required, drawing on expert legal advice to support their delivery.

As part of the Ministry of Defence’s close working relationship with HMT, the Chancellor and the Defence Secretary, as well as other Ministers and officials, regularly discuss many of the Department’s largest programmes. These discussions can include the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with his international counterparts on a range of issues.

We have always maintained that we remain open to others joining GCAP, however, the UK and GCAP partners, Italy and Japan, are focused on delivering this vital military capability at pace.

As part of the Ministry of Defence’s close working relationship with HMT, the Chancellor and the Defence Secretary, as well as other Ministers and officials, regularly discuss many of the Department’s largest programmes. These discussions can include the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with his international counterparts on a range of issues.

We have always maintained that we remain open to others joining GCAP, however, the UK and GCAP partners, Italy and Japan, are focused on delivering this vital military capability at pace.

As the hon. Member will recall from his time as a Defence Minister, the Ministry of Defence does not routinely publish forecast figures. The UK's defence spending figures for 2027-28 and 2028-29 will be published by NATO in due course.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to encouraging individuals to speak up and raise concerns where they believe wrongdoing has occurred or behaviour falls below expected standards.

Individuals are encouraged to disclose their identity and/or contact details to support appropriate safeguarding, assessment and investigation. However, a decision not to disclose identity or contact details does not prevent a concern from being assessed. Information relating to such cases is handled in accordance with confidentiality requirements and the Department will investigate the concern as far as is possible based on the information available.

Spend in relation to the Defence Nuclear Enterprise will be considered as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

The Government has made significant progress on Strategic Defence Reviw (SDR) implementation since it was published last June. Examples include:

CyberEM Command: The Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force (DCEM Force) was established on time and is now up and running, within the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (Nov 25). SDR Rec 51

MIS and DCIU: The Military Intelligence Services and Defence Counter-Intelligence Unit were launched on time, as part of major overhaul of Defence’s intelligence organisations amid increasing threats to the UK and to keep Britain ahead of hostile states and terrorists (Dec 25). SDR Rec 54 & 56

Nuclear deterrence: The Prime Minister announced at the NATO Hague Summit (Jun 25) that the UK will purchase 12 new F-35A fighter jets and join NATO’s dual capable aircraft nuclear mission. SDR Rec 30

Atlantic Bastion: The UK’s groundbreaking Atlantic Bastion programme was unveiled (Dec 25), which will make Britain more secure from Russian undersea threats in the North Atlantic through a transformation of the Royal Navy and its submarine-hunting capabilities into an advanced hybrid force. SDR vision: Hybrid Navy

UKDI: UK Defence Innovation was launched (Jul 25) to streamline the delivery of innovation technology to Armed Forces personnel through rapid investment, with an annual budget of £400m. SDR Rec 07a

Defence Exports: The UK Defence and Security Exports function was transferred from Department for Business and Trade to MOD (Jul 25); all staff have completed their migration to MOD systems. 2025 was the highest year for UK Defence exports in 40 years including landmark deals with Norway, worth £10bn (T26 frigates; Aug 25), and Türkiye, worth £8bn (Typhoons; Oct 25). SDR Rec 12

DIS: The Defence Industrial Strategy was published (Sep 25) to take forward the SDR’s vision for radical reforms, growth, innovation, industrial resilience and warfighting readiness – backed by nearly £800m this parliament. SDR Rec 3 & 8

Always on munitions: Defence announced a new programme to build factories of the future (Nov 25) with at least 13 potential sites identified to manufacture munitions and explosives in the UK to create an always on capability. This is backed by £1.5bn of new investment in this parliament and creating over 1,000 British jobs. SDR Rec 29

Housing: The Defence Housing Strategy 2025 (Nov 25) set out £9bn of investment over the next decade to upgrade 40,000 Forces’ family homes. An ambitious programme of work to urgently fix 1,000 military homes was completed ahead of schedule (Dec 25). The programme of housing improvements, known as Raising the Minimum Standards, has seen significant work take place at service family homes across the UK. Legislation to establish a specialist arm’s length defence housing service is in the Armed Forces Bill, now in the Commons. SDR Rec 60

Gap Year: Plans to launch the new Armed Forces ‘Gap Year’ Foundation Scheme were announced (Dec 25) to give young people in the UK new opportunities to experience military service. SDR Rec 16

The Ministry of Defence has set an ambitious target to increase direct and indirect spending by 50% compared to FY 23/24 baseline. This increase in total spend would equate to £2.5 billion total spend increase with Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to £7.5 billion by May 2028.

This information can be found at MOD trade, industry and contracts: 2025 - GOV.UK.

As part of routine financial management, the Ministry of Defence continues to allocate resources effectively to meet departmental and operational priorities. The total Ministry of Defence budget this financial year stands at £65.5 billion.

The agreement allowing the US to use UK military bases is for specific and limited defensive action.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. All UK operational support to allies and partners is carefully considered to ensure legality.

A summary of the government’s legal position was published on gov.uk on 1 March 2026.

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

We have deployed significant air defence assets to the region since January. This includes extra jets, radars, HMS Dragon, counter drones systems and over 500 additional British personnel as part of our significant air defence team.

This is a comprehensive layered air defence capability. It would not be appropriate to comment on any assessment which may be utilised by our adversaries.

In line with the Humble Address motion agreed on 4 February, any information relevant to this and other questions regarding Mr Mandelson's appointment to, employment in, and withdrawal from, his posting as His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States will be published according to the process and provisions set out in the motion.

This information is not held in the format requested for Amey and VIVO. Complaints from families are received and managed by Pinnacle’s National Service Centre. Amey and VIVO do not record or manage these complaints from families.

Between 23 March 2026 and 06 April 2026, Pinnacle received 16 complaints concerning the length of time taken to complete an urgent repair task.

This information is not held in the format requested for Amey and VIVO. Complaints from families are received and managed by Pinnacle’s National Service Centre. Amey and VIVO do not record or manage these complaints from families.

Between 23 March 2026 and 06 April 2026, Pinnacle received 16 complaints concerning the length of time taken to complete an urgent repair task.

The Department can confirm that, since July 2024, the department has signed a total of 1,398 major contracts. Ministry of Defence (MOD) contract records do not distinguish between sustainment or refresh (i.e. follow-on) contracts. Consequently, we can only provide the number of new contracts initiated since 5 July 2024.

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. All UK operational support to allies and partners is considered in terms of legality.

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. All UK operational support to allies and partners is considered in terms of legality.

The agreement allowing the US to use UK military bases is for specific and limited defensive action against missile facilities in Iran which were involved in launching strikes at regional allies and ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

For operational security reasons, we do not offer comment or information relating to foreign nations’ military operations.

A UK-Israel military cooperation agreement, which incorporates a range of defence engagement activity, was signed in December 2020. Whilst the UK Ministry of Defence regularly reviews cooperation with Israel, the agreement remains extant.

We keep maritime activity in UK territorial waters under constant review. We will not provide a running commentary or get into details of our decision-making process as this could compromise our ability to successfully take action against sanctioned ships, only benefitting our adversaries.

The Security and Defence Partnership agreed with the European Union in May 2025 is an example of this Government delivering on its manifesto commitments to strengthen European security, support growth, and reinforce NATO.

We will continue to prioritise engagement and cooperation on the issues that are most important in helping to safeguard European security and prosperity – all in support of this government’s NATO First defence policy as set out in the Security and Defence Review.

The Security and Defence Partnership outlines the possibility for establishing an Administrative Arrangement between the UK and the European Defence Agency. Officials remain in discussions with the EU to explore this.

Any potential future UK commitment – financial or otherwise – will ensure value for taxpayers and support wider defence priorities.

The agreement allowing the US to use UK military bases is for specific and limited defensive action.

Permissions to utilise UK military bases by foreign partners are considered on a case-by-case basis. All UK operational support to allies and partners is carefully considered to ensure legality.

HMS Dragon is a sovereign UK deployment to protect the interests of the UK, and the interests of our allies in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Royal Navy routinely operates alongside partners and allies, enabling the deconfliction of maritime and aviation assets to be embedded within routine operating procedures.

Full details remain classified to ensure UK operational advantage.

HMS Dragon is a sovereign UK deployment to protect the interests of the UK, and the interests of our allies in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Royal Navy routinely operates alongside partners and allies, enabling the deconfliction of maritime and aviation assets to be embedded within routine operating procedures.

Full details remain classified to ensure UK operational advantage.

I refer the hon. Member to my response to question 106653 on 27 January 2026.

The New Medium Helicopter (NMH) contract includes the provision of four Flight Simulation Training Devices (FSTDs). These will be housed at RAF Benson, along with associated training infrastructure.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with his international counterparts on a range of issues.

We have always maintained that we remain open to others joining GCAP, however, the UK and GCAP partners, Italy and Japan, are focused on delivering this vital military capability at pace.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr Obese-Jecty) on 16 April 2026 to Question 124427.

Subsequent to the establishment of the Defence Office for Small Business Growth in January, the Department is currently working to deliver full operating capability by the end of this year.

This activity is being aided by engagement with a pathfinder group of SMEs to ensure we are addressing the needs of smaller and non-traditional suppliers. As part of this work, we will develop a range of metrics to measure the impact of the Office.

The Defence Investment Plan (DIP) will provide a comprehensive overview of the Department's forward investment priorities across equipment, infrastructure, people, and supporting capabilities.

I can confirm the Ministry of Defence has placed orders for Aster, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles, Lightweight Multirole Missiles and Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System missiles since 5 July 2024. Deliveries of Common Anti-Air Modular Missiles, which are used by the Land Ceptor system, continue under an extant contract. As a former Defence Minister, the hon. Member will understand that I am withholding further details, including quantities ordered and delivered, for reasons of operational security.

I can confirm the Ministry of Defence has placed orders for Aster, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles, Lightweight Multirole Missiles and Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System missiles since 5 July 2024. Deliveries of Common Anti-Air Modular Missiles, which are used by the Land Ceptor system, continue under an extant contract. As a former Defence Minister, the hon. Member will understand that I am withholding further details, including quantities ordered and delivered, for reasons of operational security.

I can confirm the Ministry of Defence has placed orders for Aster, Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles, Lightweight Multirole Missiles and Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System missiles since 5 July 2024. Deliveries of Common Anti-Air Modular Missiles, which are used by the Land Ceptor system, continue under an extant contract. As a former Defence Minister, the hon. Member will understand that I am withholding further details, including quantities ordered and delivered, for reasons of operational security.