Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to publish a detailed breakdown of the Ministry of Defence's financial losses due to fraud and economic crime.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department has historically used academic models to identify potential fraud risk exposure, if no action were taken. We are working to produce more accurate estimates based on improved understanding of our fraud risk across significant areas of spend.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to give a single senior official authority over different parts of the Ministry of Defence responsible for combating financial losses due to fraud.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Head of Fraud Defence acts on behalf of the Department where the Ministry of Defence is potentially the victim of economic loss.
The fraud transformation plan we are working up will deliver more integrated ways of working, with clearer accountability across the Department, leveraging the changes under Defence Reform.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce losses of public funding to fraud during defence procurement and (b) increase the amount of funding recovered from those losses.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department has robust financial and commercial controls governing procurement, including single source regulations as set out in the Defence Reform Act 2014. In addition, we have introduced Initial Fraud Impact Assessments for major Defence programmes to identify, assess and mitigate fraud risks from the outset.
The Department has increased recoveries through the use of data analytics technology, leading to the prevention and recovery of £6.4 million last financial year 2024/25. We are continuing to expand our use of AI to support the prevention, detection and recovery of losses from fraud and error.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has budgeted for contingency funding for the development phase of the Global Combat Air Programme.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the Department will allocate the defence budget over the next 10 years, including for the Global Combat Air Programme.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure United States' military aircraft operating from UK military sites are operating in line with international law.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Any United States' operation from a base in the UK is considered on a case-by-case basis, and this includes appropriate consideration of the legal basis for any proposed activity.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding his Department has allocated for the maintenance and improvement of buildings and other infrastructure used by the cadet forces.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
As part of our plan to increase the cadets by 30% by 2030 we are looking at the cadet estate. Investment in the defence estate is long overdue and investment decisions more broadly on the defence estate will be made as part of the Defence Investment Plan.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans are currently in temporary accommodation or rough sleeping; and what progress has been made against government targets to reduce this.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
There are a number of measures and metrics used to capture veteran homelessness and rough sleeping, including metrics on temporary accommodation. However, it is important to note that none of these will capture every single case and with the transient nature of homelessness, the overall picture of veteran homelessness and rough sleeping is not complete.
However, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government does capture and report the number of households presenting to Local Authorities who are either experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This data includes households rough sleeping and in temporary accommodation, as well as capturing other household status. The most recent annual data release is for 2024-25 and shows that there were 2,180 veteran households at risk of or experiencing homelessness in England. This is 0.7% of all households in England and is steady with the previous year.
This Government is clear that one veteran rough sleeping is one too many. That is why we have committed an additional £12 million to ensure the continuation of the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme. Op FORTITUDE will also be extended, putting the service that has already supported over 1,000 veterans on a sustainable footing. These programmes will deliver three years of support services across the UK for veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
This is in addition to the Government’s National Plan to End Homelessness. The Ministry of Defence contributed to this strategy including committing to ensuring that all councils are aware of service provision in their area to support veterans at risk of homelessness.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking with the Cabinet Office to codify civilian assistance to military authorities for home defence, as recommended in the Strategic Defence Review.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Cabinet Office is leading work to develop plans for civilian assistance to the military, as a key component of the Home Defence Programme. The Cabinet Office-led programme, in which Defence plays a key role, provides layers of defence, security, and resilience planning, and coordinates civil and military preparations for some of the most serious risks we could face. Work is ongoing between the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office, and other Whitehall Departments to understand the support requirements for Defence in a crisis or conflict scenario.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to improve the physical security of (a) military sites and (b) other sites of strategic importance including critical national infrastructure.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement laid before the House on 27 November.
Defence is taking decisive action to strengthen security across our estate, reversing years of under-investment and focusing our resources on our highest priority sites. We have delivered urgent physical enhancements, introduced advanced surveillance technology such as the Immediate Threat Mitigation Solution, and we are investing in digital transformation to modernise our approach, including MOD adoption of the Critical National Infrastructure Knowledge Base. Enhanced vigilance, updated guidance, and improved reporting have made it easier for personnel and industry partners to report incidents, while successful recruitment campaigns are increasing our policing and guard capacity.
Our multi-layered security approach combines technology, workforce, and physical security to protect our people and assets. The upcoming piloting of Restricted Airspace above strategic sites and significant investment in remotely piloted aerial systems further enhance our ability to deter and respond to threats.
Defence will use all available levers to take swift action wherever and whenever security is threatened and will not hesitate to pursue prosecution where criminality is suspected. Safeguarding the Defence estate remains a key priority, and we will continue to relentlessly pursue improvements to ensure we deliver the highest standards of security and resilience for our estate.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any organisations have been removed from the list of Armed Forces Covenant signatories due to non-compliance since November 2022.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Since November 2022, two organisations have been removed from the list of Armed Forces Covenant signatories due to concerns over non-compliance. Due to confidentiality, we are unable to disclose the names of the organisations.