Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with his (a) US counterpart and (b) counterparts in the Caribbean Community on countering Chinese strategic influence in the region.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government will take a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. We will co-operate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must.
The UK recognises that deepening our cooperation with partners is needed to strengthen collective security and push back against behaviour that undermines international law or seeks to coerce or create dependencies. The Ministry of Defence has had a number of productive conversations with the US and partners in the Caribbean Community.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of (a) piracy, (b) terrorism, (c) proxy activity by state adversaries and (d) other security threats in the Indian Ocean; and what steps he is taking to ensure UK forces on Diego Garcia are prepared to help tackle those threats.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK actively contributes to initiatives that counter security threats in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This is achieved bilaterally through Maritime Domain Awareness programmes and counter terrorism activities, and multilaterally through organisations such as the Combined Maritime Force, which actively support Maritime Security operations, including counter-piracy and counter-terrorism. Although dislocated geographically from the main threat areas, the base on Diego Garcia could be used as a logistics hub or staging area to support such activities.
Under the agreement with Mauritius we will retain full control over Diego Garcia with robust provisions to keep adversaries out. These include unrestricted access to and use of the base for the UK and US; a buffer zone around Diego Garcia; a comprehensive mechanism to ensure no activity in the other islands threatens base operations; and a ban on the presence of any foreign security forces. This will ensure the long term secure and effective operation of the base well into the next century.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK has been invited to participate in the Regional Security System in the Caribbean; and whether his Department plans to support its operations.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK has not been invited to participate in the Regional Security System. The Ministry of Defence works closely with our partners and allies in the Caribbean, including directly with the Regional Security System. This has included the provision of capacity building and key leader engagement with Caribbean Chiefs of Defence and the Regional Security System Executive Director.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has received representations from his US counterpart on the proposed transfer of sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Secretary of State for Defence speaks regularly with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on a wide range of security issues, including the long-term, secure and effective operation of the base on Diego Garcia. We welcome US support of the UK proceeding with the proposed treaty with Mauritius, as well as the President's recognition of the strength of the deal.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has taken steps to create a sovereign hypersonic missile capability.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Building on previous research and development, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has established a Programme Team - Team Hypersonics (UK) - to cohere MOD, industry and academia around the development of a sovereign hypersonic offensive strike capability.
Team Hypersonics (UK) has established the Hypersonic Technologies and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF). This bespoke £1 billion Commercial Agile Route to Market is the mechanism to facilitate a spiralled approach to technology development through to a sovereign capability. Over 120 suppliers including defence primes, small and medium enterprises (SME) and academic institutions are now signed up. Hypersonics is included in UK contribution to AUKUS Pillar 2, collaborating trilaterally to increase the pace of innovation alongside our allies as part of the Hypersonic Flight Test and Experiment Project Arrangement (HyFLiTE).
With these enablers in place, the testing of critical sovereign-designed and manufactured missile sub-system technologies continues, including a novel hypersonic propulsion system. Several contracts have been awarded and several invitations to tender have been released to develop a range of technologies. These contracts and future ITTs will allow the development of technical demonstrators and onwards into a capability.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to reduce the procurement time of new surface fleet assets for the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy are committed to accelerating the pace of procurement. In a period of ever-increasing technological advancement, the ability to harness new capabilities and leverage innovation at pace is critical to the Navy as a credible, modern and capable force. Accelerating procurement is recognised across Defence, forming an important outcome within the Defence Industrial Strategy, and is being considered as part of the Security Defence Review. The establishment of the National Armaments Director Group as part of Defence Reform also seeks to energise the military-industrial relationship to drive pace into procurement.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to increase security of subsea infrastructure between the United Kingdom and continental Europe.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Subsea cables are critical to UK telecommunications digital infrastructure, and the Government are committed to maintaining and enhancing their security. This is a whole-of-Government effort including the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, alongside industry and international partners.
The Royal Navy plays a critical part in this RFA Proteus. the UK's first Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship (MROS), is now operational and using its leading-edge technology to monitor underwater infrastructure in areas of UK sovereign interest.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help prevent personnel reduction in the armed forces.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The current Government inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention from the last administration. We have made a series of announcements to improve Armed Forces recruitment and retention since July 2024.
To increase recruitment into the Armed Forces, recent policies have included a 35% pay increase for new recruits; one of the largest pay increases in the last 20 years for existing personnel; scrapping over 100 outdated medical policies; the implementation of a new military direct-entry cyber pathway; and setting an ambition to make a conditional offer of employment to candidates within 10 days, and a provisional training start date within 30 days. These activities and their impacts will inform the development of the Armed Forces Recruitment Service which is being implemented to further improve the speed with which highly motivated and capable people can join our Armed Forces.
To support retention of Armed Forces personnel, the Armed Forces pay increase represents a significant investment in our people, and we have gone further in announcing a £30,000 financial incentive to a cohort of tri-Service Air Engineers as well as an £8,000 retention payment for a cohort of Army personnel. These measures support the retention of key skills and personnel in Defence through appropriate financial recognition. Furthermore, in recognising the significant sacrifices that our military families make in serving our nation, we have protected the integrity of the Continuity of Education Allowance, repurchased the Service Family Accommodation estate from Annington Homes and extended Wraparound Childcare to families serving overseas which will potentially save up to £3,400 annually for Service families.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the security of subsea infrastructure between the UK and Canada.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Subsea cables are critical to UK telecommunications digital infrastructure, and the Government are committed to maintaining and enhancing their security. This is a whole-of-Government effort including the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, alongside industry and international partners.
The Royal Navy plays a critical part in this RFA Proteus. the UK's first Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship (MROS), is now operational and using its leading-edge technology to monitor underwater infrastructure in areas of UK sovereign interest.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has taken recent steps to increase naval co-operation between the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy have strengthened their naval cooperation through joint exercises, personnel exchanges, and collaborative projects such as the deployment of HMCS Ville de Quebec with the Carrier Strike Group and the development of the Global Combat Ship platform.