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.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Oral Statement on 26 March 2025 entitled Spring Statement, Official Report, whether any programmes in existence prior to 26 March 2025 will be included in the 10% committed to be spent on novel technologies from the MOD equipment budget.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, including directing at least 10% of our equipment procurement annually on novel technologies, which will be set out in the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.
That will include a mixture a significant number of existing defence programmes which are already at the cutting edge, as well as new initiatives like directed energy weapons, AI and autonomous platforms.
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, 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: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the work carried out at MOD Bicester; how many of his Department’s personnel are stationed there; and who owns the site.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Bicester site is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) via the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. There are a number of different units and organisations located in Bicester performing a wide range of tasks and services, and as such there is no overall assessment of the effectiveness of the work carried out at Bicester. If the right hon. Member has an area of particular interest, I would be happy to provide further information.
There are currently 183 MOD civilian personnel and 725 trade trained Armed Forces personnel located at MOD Bicester.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are currently participating in 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: 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: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-commissioned officers ranked Staff Sergeant or above, have left the Army in the last 3 years, broken down per year.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Figures for outflow of non-commissioned officers ranked Staff Sergeant or above can be found below.
Army Trade Trained Regular Non-Commissioned Officer Outflow, Staff Sergeant to Warrant Officer 1 | ||
Financial Year (FY) | Numbers Outflowing | Outflow Rate |
2022-23 | 1,250 | 12.6% |
2023-24 | 1,148 | 11.8% |
2024-25 | 1,091 | 11.2% |
| ||
Notes/Caveats