Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nights were spent in hotels by Departmental staff in financial year 2024-25 by the star rating of the hotel.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All business/duty hotel accommodation booked by Ministry of Defence (MOD) staff must be made using the Global Business Travel (GBT) online booking tool. The GBT tool does not record the star rating of hotels, but MOD policy stipulates that bookings must align with the Department’s Hotel Capitation Rates.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servant positions within the Ministry of Defence were gapped as at (a) 5 July 2024 and (b) 1 February 2026.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In line with recommendations from the Strategic Defence Review the Ministry of Defence aims to reduce Civil Service costs by at least 10% by 2030. To achieve this, the Department is employing a range of workforce levers to facilitate a measured and sustainable approach to workforce reductions. As part of this process, all Civil Service vacancies are being reviewed. Until this work is complete, it is not possible to provide specific numbers of posts vacant or not being actively recruited at the dates requested.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 48851 on Reserve Forces: Finance, what assessment he has made of the level of available reserve service days; and what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of reserve service days, including for 3 Division.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Armed Forces continually review Reserve Service Days (RSD) to ensure that the Reserve Forces meet operational requirements.
The Army is currently conducting a review of Army Reserve tasks, including those for 3 (UK) Division, through the Field Army’s Force Commitments Exercise which will assess the funding required to support planned activities and to forecast the number of RSD needed for Financial Year 2026-27.
In addition, the Royal Air Force has no current plans to alter the current commitment of RSD per person, whilst the Royal Navy is undertaking work to expand funded training, increase deployment opportunities, and improve short notice tasking for the Maritime Reserves.
Asked by: Calvin Bailey (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to (a) publish for pre-legislative scrutiny and (b) introduce the Defence Readiness Bill in (i) 2026, (ii) 2027, (iii) 2028 and (iv) 2029.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence is currently working to develop Defence Readiness measures to ensure the Government has the powers it needs to keep the UK safe in crisis or conflict, as recommended in the Strategic Defence review. The introduction of legislation, and the scrutiny of it, will be conducted when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 107727 on Unmanned Air Systems: Higher Education, how many of the (a) civilians and (b) soldiers enrolled on the undergraduate drone degree does he expect to participate on the British Army's small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems training pathways.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Centralised training in small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS) is delivered by the Land Warfare Centre, with distributed training subsequently provided by individual units within the Field Army.
As of February 2026, 282 personnel are currently participating in the British Army’s centralised sUAS training pathways. Exact figures for those currently undertaking distributed training are not available as these figures are not held centrally.
Looking ahead, we have currently made available 915 spaces for centralised training and expect around 2,000 personnel to undertake distributed training in future financial years.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel will participate in the British Army's small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems training pathways in each remaining financial year of the current Parliament.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Centralised training in small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (sUAS) is delivered by the Land Warfare Centre, with distributed training subsequently provided by individual units within the Field Army.
As of February 2026, 282 personnel are currently participating in the British Army’s centralised sUAS training pathways. Exact figures for those currently undertaking distributed training are not available as these figures are not held centrally.
Looking ahead, we have currently made available 915 spaces for centralised training and expect around 2,000 personnel to undertake distributed training in future financial years.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2026 to Question 101383 on Government Actuary's Department: Freedom of Information, what is the evidential basis for the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry's statement that the £34,702 million figure by the Government Actuary's Department was incorrect.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is incorrect to present the nominal costs as the true amount, and to ignore the effects of inflation and the changing value of money on the real costs of a deal that lasts 99 years.
The figures published by the Government Actuary's Department clearly show that they had also calculated a net present value of £3.4 billion, by using the OBR forecast inflation rate along with the Social Time Discount Rate set out in the Green Book. The Government gave a detailed breakdown of this methodology in the explanatory memorandum we published alongside the Treaty in May 2025.
This is standard practice for any long-term Government deal. It ensures the figures are realistic, comparable, and not artificially inflated by adding up future payments without considering the time value of money.
These figures also have been verified and confirmed by the Office for Statistics Regulation and Office for Budget Responsibility.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants have left the Ministry of Defence via the targeted voluntary exit scheme since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Since 5 July 2024, the Ministry of Defence has instigated one targeted voluntary exit scheme; this was launched on 6 Jan 2026. This scheme is Department-wide but targeted at certain professional cohorts and forms part of our response to workforce planning objectives set out in the Strategic Defence Review. This scheme is ongoing and the number of exits will not be known until later in the year. Since 5 July 2024, there have been 39 voluntary exits which can be attributed to localised workforce change activities and not via a targeted scheme such as that currently in operation.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what NATO intelligence functions are based at RAF Wyton.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
No NATO intelligence functions are based at RAF Wyton.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the specified operational locations which qualify service personnel to receive the Operational Allowance.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Service personnel on deployed operations in the following Specified Operational Locations qualify for the payment of Operational Allowance:
Chad (all locations)
Egypt (Sinai only)
Iraq (all locations)
Mali (all locations)
Somalia (all locations)
South Sudan (all locations)
Democratic Republic of Congo (Goma only)
Lebanon (Naquora only)
Lebanon (Beirut only) – backdated for period 6 September 2024 to 27 November 2024 only
Red Sea (within operational areas) – backdated to 23 May 2025
I am withholding the names of some locations for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.