Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to explain the whole-of-society approach to defence as outlined in the Strategic Defence Review 2025 to the wider public.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The whole-of-society approach to deterrence and defence sets out how Government, businesses, and the public all play a part in strengthening our national defence and resilience. This addresses the risks we face, including threats below and above the threshold of an armed attack.
The Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, in which Defence plays a key role, has begun this work by starting to familiarise the public with their role in national security and resilience.
The Ministry of Defence is already delivering on reconnecting Defence with society. For example, an extra £70 million funding has been allocated to kickstart the cadet growth programme, expanding the cadet forces by 30% by 2030, and will continue to work to strengthen civilian-military links with communities and industry. This was a Strategic Defence Review recommendation.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to lead a national conversation on defence as recommended in the Strategic Defence Review 2025; and, if so, who will be leading it.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the noble Lord to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Armed Forces (Al Carns DSO OBE MC MP), in the House of Commons on the 2 December 2025 to the hon. Member for South Suffolk (Mr Cartlidge) in response to Question 93395.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many ministers attended the commemoration of 50 years of Continuous At Sea Deterrence held at HM Naval Base Clyde (Faslane) on Friday 5 July.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
No Ministers attended the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Continuous at Sea Deterrent held at HM Naval Base Clyde on 5 July. This event, held at the home of the deterrent, was designed to focus on the families and personnel of the deterrent enterprise. The principal national commemorative event took place on 3 May in Westminster Abbey and was attended by the Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP, the then Secretary of State for Defence, and the Rt Hon Liam Fox MP, the then Secretary of State for International Trade. I also had the pleasure of attending.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the lifetime of the Vanguard-class submarines can be extended beyond the previous published date of 2018 to the 2030s referred to in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we have assessed that we can safely manage and maintain the Vanguard boats until Successor submarines are introduced into service in the early 2030s.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the (1) composition, (2) ownership, and (3) reporting line, of each of the two new bodies to be created to supervise the delivery programme of the successor nuclear deterrent.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm9161), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will establish a new team headed by an experienced commercial specialist to act as the single sponsor for all aspects of the defence nuclear enterprise, from procurement to disposal, with responsibility for submarines, nuclear warheads, skills, related infrastructure and day-to-day nuclear policy.
We will strengthen our arrangements for the procurement and in-service support of nuclear submarines, establishing a new delivery body with the authority and freedom to recruit and retain the best people to manage the submarine enterprise. Options for the new organisation will be developed and assessed for a decision in 2016. The MOD will remain in control of the Successor submarine programme.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the estimated cost of the nuclear deterrent successor programme has increased.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry undertakes. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether additional categories of expenditure have been added to the defence budget which were not included in the defence budget in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to Questions HL1238 and HL1239 to the noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead on 20 July 2015.
Asked by: Lord Robertson of Port Ellen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether elements of defence-related intelligence have been added to the defence budget.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
No security and intelligence agency funding has been added to the defence budget, apart from routine transfers which are published in main and supplementary estimates.
The funding for the Defence Intelligence organisation remains funded from the defence budget.
As confirmed in the Summer Budget, the Government is committed to meeting the properly- measured NATO pledge to spend 2% of national income on defence every year of this decade. This will include public spending that supports the Ministry of Defence and the contribution made by the secret intelligence agencies.