Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support service personnel with SEND children.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave on 3 September 2025 to Question 73617 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner).
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the number of working days of armed forces personnel lost due to dental issues in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The number of working days Armed Forces personnel were absent owing to dental issues is not centrally recorded by the Department.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of poor dental health among (a) applicants, (b) recruits and (c) armed forces personnel on the UK's defence capability.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence is committed to maintaining a dentally fit force to enhance force generation and operational capability. The Defence Medical Services conducted a full Oral Health Needs Assessment in 2023 which delivered an overview of the oral health needs of the Defence population, including applicants, recruits and Armed Forces personnel.
A large proportion of applicants and recruits come from deprived communities where poorer oral health is seen. For applicants who do not meet the minimum dental entry standards, recruitment partners may offer limited financial assistance towards the cost of dental treatment to bring the applicant to the minimum entry standard. If an applicant requires minor remedial dental work, the applicant may be able to join and the treatment provided during basic training; however, this treatment cannot impact basic training.
For recruits and Armed Forces personnel, Defence Dentistry provides an occupationally focused service. Treatment delivered throughout Phase 1 and 2 of training normally addresses most dental issues; however, feedback from dental centres indicates a deterioration in the dental health of recruits, which could be attributed to difficulties in accessing NHS dental care.
To monitor dental fitness, Armed Forces personnel are assigned a NATO classification (or Dental Fitness Class). NATO Category 2 patients require minor interventive treatment or treatment aimed at preventing disease and NATO Category 3 patients require treatment for conditions which are likely to result in issues within a year if left untreated. These categories of patients are a priority for treatment.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's timetable is for implementation discussions on (a) establishing an Administrative Arrangement with the European Defence Agency and (b) ensuring the UK’s participation in projects that fall under the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation mechanism.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Security and Defence Partnership agreed with the European Union on 19 May 2025 is an example of this Government delivering on our 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 that possibilities for establishing an Administrative Arrangement between the UK and the European Defence Agency (EDA) will be explored. The Security and Defence Partnership also sets out how the UK and the EU are committed to strengthening cooperation on military mobility issues, including through the UK’s participation in PESCO project Military Mobility.
Officials remain in discussions with the EU to identify practical ways to advance cooperation in these areas. Any UK commitment – financial or otherwise – will ensure value for taxpayers and support defence goals.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the 10 most common medical conditions that kept British armed forces personnel from being deployed in the latest year for which data is available.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The following table provides information held by the Ministry of Defence on all principal cause of downgrading for Medically Not Deployable (MND) UK Armed Forces personnel as at 1 September 2025:
Table 1: Medically Not Deployable (MND) UK armed forces personnel1 by principal ICD-10 cause code group2, numbers and percentages3 as at 1 September 2025
| Number | % |
Total Medically Non Deployable | 13,113 |
|
All ICD-10 coded Medically Non Deployable | 12,399 | 100 |
1. Musculoskeletal disorders (M00 - M99) and Injuries (S00 - T98) | 5,376 | 43 |
2. Mental and behavioural disorders (F00 - F99) | 2,747 | 22 |
3. Factors influencing health status (Z00 - Z99) | 942 | 7 |
4. Clinical and laboratory findings (R00 - R99)5 | 614 | 4 |
| 426 | 3 |
| 409 | 3 |
| 398 | 3 |
| 276 | 2 |
| 235 | 1 |
| 233 | 1 |
| 194 | 1 |
| 178 | 1 |
| 128 | 1 |
| 107 | <1 |
15. Blood disorders (D50 - D89) | 48 | <1 |
| 39 | <1 |
| 33 | <1 |
| 16 | <1 |
DMICP description not codable in ICD-10 | 321 |
|
No board information on DMICP | 393 |
|
1 Figures provided are for full time trained (Royal Navy and RAF)/trade trained (army) and serving against
requirement personnel.
2 Principal read code and description recorded at medical board was converted to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems Tenth Revision (ICD-10) coding scheme.
3 All percentages are of the number of cause coded Medically Not Deployable downgrades.
4 Pregnancies reported within the ‘Factors influencing health status’ ICD category include all healthy pregnancies. Any downgradings related to complications with pregnancy are included within the ‘Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium’ category.
5 Clinical and laboratory findings include symptoms and abnormal clinical findings - such as irregular heartbeat and abdominal pain - which are ill-defined and may not have a diagnosis that can be elsewhere classified.
Personnel graded as MND are not fit to deploy on Operations; however, they may be deployable on UK based exercises. Personnel graded MND as at 1 September, and included in this response, may not have been scheduled to deploy and the medical condition may not have prevented deployment.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on talks with the EU on joining Security Action for Europe.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK and the EU are already working constructively to implement and build on our landmark Security and Defence Partnership. In order to effectively deter against increased aggression, we need to strengthen our shared defence industrial base to ensure Europe is able to secure the critical capabilities needed at the necessary speed, scale and value for money. As part of these efforts and recognising the important role that the UK’s world-leading defence industry already plays for European security, this Government is taking forward discussions on a bilateral participation agreement with the EU for enhanced cooperation under the SAFE instrument.
While we will not pre-empt the outcome of discussions with our European partners, this Government would only agree to a deal if we were satisfied it provided value to the UK and UK industry. Discussions with our EU friends continues and we will update the House in due course of progress in the usual ways.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel were categorised as NATO dental fitness Category (a) 2, (b) 3 and (c) 4 on the basis that they needed dental care or treatment in order to be fully deployable in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The following table provides the numbers of UK Armed Forces personnel categorised as NATO Category 2, 3 and 4, as at 1 April each year from 1 April 2015 to April 2025:
NATO Category | 2 | 3 | 4 |
2015 | 10,096 | 8,015 | 28,767 |
2016 | 9,893 | 6,948 | 22,478 |
2017 | 9,496 | 6,081 | 19,435 |
2018 | 10,409 | 6,306 | 23,712 |
2019 | 9,966 | 6,421 | 18,066 |
2020 | 10,005 | 7,261 | 19,927 |
2021 | 13,237 | 13,523 | 43,947 |
2022 | 13,318 | 12,348 | 26,962 |
2023 | 11,451 | 10,687 | 23,358 |
2024 | 17,221 | 12,283 | 21,699 |
2025 | 21,461 | 13,742 | 20,870 |
Personnel categorised as NATO Category 2 and 3 are those who require either preventative or interventive treatment to achieve optimal dental fitness.
Personnel categorised as NATO Category 4 are those who require a periodic dental examination, have an undetermined dental status, or have missing or incomplete dental records.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Strategic Defence Review 2025, if he will set out (a) a timeline and (b) interim milestones for increasing the number of active reserves by 20 per cent.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is hugely grateful for the contribution made by our Reserve Forces, who provide the UK with the ability to meet the threats we face at home and overseas, in a cost-effective way. The Military Strategic Headquarters, in partnership with the Military Commands, is leading ongoing work to plan the increase in the number of Reserves by 20 per cent, when the financial situation allows. It is too early in the process to set out a defined timeline and associated milestones to achieve this target.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many candidates applying to join the armed forces were turned down on the basis of poor dental health in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force operate individual recruitment schemes and data on candidates who have been unable to join the Armed Forces for dental reasons is recorded separately for each Service. Data is provided for the period as held in accordance with medical record retention policies.
For the Royal Navy, 17 candidates have been placed ‘Medically On-Hold’ since June 2025. Following dental treatment, six of the 17 candidates have since been assessed as medically fit to join the Royal Navy.
Historic data on candidates to the Royal Navy who have been placed ‘Medically On-Hold’ for dental reasons is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
For the British Army, the following table provides the number of candidates who were rejected at medical review for dental reasons:
Total Medical Failures | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Dental Only | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 7 | 4 |
Dental + Other Conditions | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
For the Royal Air Force, the following table provides the number of candidates who were coded for dental failures:
Years (completion date) | Dental fail |
2018 | 1 |
2019 | 5 |
2020 | 5 |
2021 | 5 |
2022 | 2 |
2023 | 5 |
2024 | 21 |
2025 | 13 |
Total | 57 |
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce holdover wait times for trainees.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Holdover wait times for trainees vary across the single Services and it is not a universal picture; however multiple steps are being taken to reduce wait times across all three Services. Force growth and training have been prioritised, with training pipelines experiencing increased productivity with additional military, civil service and contractor workforce provisioned to deliver optimal sequencing.
The efficiency of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) continues to improve, with a consistently reducing number of trainees in holdovers, and the duration of holdovers also reducing significantly.
Holdovers in UKMFTS Aircrew training pipelines are monitored through established tri-Service governance structures, particularly the Aircrew Pipeline Management Group (APMG) and Aircrew Pipeline Steering Group (APSG), both chaired by RAF 22 Group. These forums enable early visibility of emerging constraints and have directly contributed to reductions in both the number and duration of holdovers across UKMFTS.