Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 61220 on Ministry of Defence: Public Expenditure, how many lines of activity in his Department were considered as part of the zero based review.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
At Spending Review 2025, the Government conducted the first zero-based review (ZBR) of department budgets in 18 years, with every line of spending scrutinised to ensure value for money.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59412 on Government Departments: Reviews, if his Department will publish the line by line review of its spending conducted for the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department is committed to meeting the 5% savings and efficiency target with Spending Review funding allocations agreed on this basis.
These funding allocations – informed by the findings of the zero-based review undertaken as part of the Spending Review – are the first step in a wider plan to finalise budgets for different projects and programmes, with any necessary savings decided through that process. The savings taken forward will be subject to the normal rigorous business planning processes, and in-year financial management.
The Defence Investment Plan will set out the details of the Department’s plans in the Autumn.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the 40 most expensive substitute (a) service family accommodation and (a) single living accommodation properties were by (i) monthly rental and (b) location in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Since 1 April 2022, substitute accommodation has been delivered under the Rented Living Accommodation Project (RLAP). Under RLAP, Mears Group provide both Substitute Service Family Accommodation (SSFA) and Single Service Substitute Accommodation (SSSA) including the occupation management of the substitute accommodation portfolio, repairs and maintenance.
For all substitute accommodation, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) pays a contractual rate in lieu of rental cost. The contractual rate is commercially sensitive, and its disclosure would prejudice Ministry of Defence's commercial interests and relationship with its contractor, Mears.
The 40 most expensive SSSA properties are all located in London.
For SSFA, the table below provides details of the 40 locations with the highest contractual rate for properties, by month, from April 2024 to March 2025:
Date | Location | ||||||||
| London | South East | Scotland / NI | Midlands | East | North-East Yorkshire / Humberside | South-West | North-West | Wales |
Apr 24 | 5 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
|
May 24 | 5 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
|
Jun 24 | 6 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
|
Jul 24 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
|
Aug 24 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
|
Sep 24 | 6 | 17 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
|
Oct 24 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
Nov 24 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
Dec 24 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
|
Jan 25 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
|
Feb 25 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 3 |
Mar 25 | 6 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
|
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2024 to Question 28652 on Ministers: Aviation, how much air passenger duty has been paid for ministerial travel on the RAF Envoy since 5 Jul 2024.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The total amount of Air Passenger Duty paid for Ministers who travelled on the RAF Envoy between 5 July and 31 December 2024 is £4,282.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many operational drones are held by the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Army.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Details of the number of Unmanned Aircraft Systems held by the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army are published in the UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations on gov.uk. The statistics for 2024 can be found at the following link: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2024 - Accredited official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the press release entitled UK to supply more than 10,000 drones to Ukraine, published on 7 March 2024, how many drones have been delivered; and what his planed timeframe is for the delivery of all 10,000 drones.
Answered by Leo Docherty
We are delivering the 10,000 drones to Ukraine as rapidly as possible. For operational security reasons we do not comment on the progress of our deliveries.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in what specialisms the Armed Forces are providing training to Iraqi Security Forces in Iraq.
Answered by James Heappey
UK training is focused on enhancing the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces in order to ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh. This includes training on policy and strategy, planning, cyber security, human rights and women's empowerment.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the armed forces are deployed in Iraq as of 29 January 2024.
Answered by James Heappey
Approximately 200 UK Service personnel were deployed on operations in Iraq as of Monday 29 January 2024.
On any given day figures can vary due to routine force rebalancing, rest and recuperation periods and relief in place.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) diplomatic and (b) military contribution the UK is making to the Global Coalition Against Daesh.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK remains committed to the Global Coalition Against Daesh and is the second largest contributor to Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.
As part of this military contribution, the UK provides support and funding for a range of initiatives across the region, including providing training, mentoring and professional military education to the Iraqi Security Forces. The UK has trained over 111,000 members of Iraqi Security forces, including over 21,000 of the Kurdish Peshmerga.
The UK also leads the Coalition’s counter-Daesh communications activity, working with Government and civil society partners.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Global Coalition Against Daesh in reducing the threat from terrorists in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria.
Answered by James Heappey
As a leading member of the Global Coalition, the UK will continue to provide military support to the Iraqi Security Forces and regional partners in order tackle the threat of terrorism from Daesh, including to the UK. This remains a priority for the international community.
Since 2014, the Coalition has helped liberate over 110,000 square kilometres of former Daesh territory and continues to provide essential support to the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish Security Forces at the request of the Iraqi Government. The Coalition also delivers essential aid to liberated communities, and the UK leads on the Coalition’s mission for countering Daesh propaganda.