Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nights were spent in hotels by Departmental staff in financial year 2024-25 by the star rating of the hotel.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All business/duty hotel accommodation booked by Ministry of Defence (MOD) staff must be made using the Global Business Travel (GBT) online booking tool. The GBT tool does not record the star rating of hotels, but MOD policy stipulates that bookings must align with the Department’s Hotel Capitation Rates.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost to the public purse is of the Afghanistan Response Route to date.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As set out previously, as of July 2025, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) assessed the total cost of the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) to be approximately £400 million. The Department anticipates a further £450 million in forecasted expenditure related to ARR resettlement activity, bringing the projected overall cost of the ARR scheme to £850 million.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants employed by their Department work in roles primarily focused on (a) transgender policy, (b) diversity, (c) equity and (d) inclusion; and at what annual salary cost.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence does not routinely collate information on specific words contained within role descriptions; collating this information would come at disproportionate cost.
The Department’s accounts are published annually and made public; there are no plans to provide a further breakdown of the data to include, among other things, an estimate of expenditure relating to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Feasibility studies are an essential tool to avoid committing funds to unsuitable projects and their use is considered as part of routine project management.
As this is not centrally held, it is not possible to provide this information without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
On the 30 September 2025, 94 individuals were recorded on Ministry of Defence (MOD) HR systems with an ongoing sick absence of six months or longer for Mental Disorders as defined by the World Health Organisation International Classification of Diseases.
The MOD HR systems do not break down this down but include Anxiety, Depression and Stress within the description.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of diverting spending on foreign aid towards establishing a veterans support network including (a) guaranteed fast-track treatment and mental health support, (b) ring fenced housing priority funds for veterans in every local authority and (c) an employment fund to retrain and reintegrate people leaving the armed forces.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government is completely dedicated to recognising our veterans and is keenly aware of the debt that we as a country owe to them for their service and sacrifice. Just this week we launched a new cross government Veterans' Strategy to fundamentally reset how we, as a nation think about these remarkable men and women. At its heart is VALOUR, a new national programme designed to make it easier for veterans across the UK to access the care and support they deserve, with £27 million in VALOUR development funding programme to deliver support hubs across the country for veterans who need them.
In England, NHS England provides Op COURAGE, providing a broad range of specialist mental health wellbeing care and support for service leavers, reservists, and veterans. Op RESTORE provides specialist care and support to veterans who have physical health problems as a result of their time in the Armed Forces. Separate provision is available for veterans living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
For veterans in need of housing support, existing regulations state they must be given 'additional priority' status when there is an urgent housing need. We also changed the law to exempt all veterans of the Regular Armed Forces from local connection tests when applying for social housing in England. We recently committed an additional £12 million to vital homelessness services through the Reducing Veteran Homelessness programme, and awarded £4.5 million to organisations supporting hundreds of veterans across the UK, to ensure there is a sustainable supply of veteran accommodation in the long term. Moreover, we have extended Op FORTITUDE, the single referral pathway for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness, which has already housed over 1,000 veterans.
For employment support, the Ministry of Defence-hosted Career Transition Partnership provides support for those within two years before and after leaving service. Op ASCEND is the employment pathway for veterans, available from two years post-service. As of 13 June 2025, Op ASCEND has already successfully engaged over 420 employers and supported over 4600 veterans and family members.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
A full Departmental response could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The majority of Departmental advertising expenditure is undertaken by the three branches of the Armed Forces to aid recruitment. Generic advertising expenditure outside of this remit is not held centrally. The most recent available information on tri service recruitment advertising can be found here: Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament and here Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department cited (a) national security and (b) public interest exemptions under the Data Protection Act 2018 in relation to the Afghan data breach disclosed in 2021.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) reported several personal data incidents to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2021, under the previous administration, in which individuals seeking Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) support were identified to each other by the sender using the “to” rather than the “bcc” email field.
When MOD engaged with the ICO in relation to these incidents, the Department highlighted the national security context and the ICO accepted the urgent and pressurised circumstances under which the incidents occurred, although they decided that a monetary penalty notice was still justified. The MOD cooperated extensively with the ICO in addressing these incidents, recognising the severity of what happened and working to improve compliance going forward.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personal data breaches were reported by his Department to the Information Commissioner’s Office in each year since 2020; and how of those resulted in enforcement action.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
22 personal data incidents have been reported by the Ministry of Defence to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) since 2020.
Three of those resulted in enforcement action.
The personal data incidents reported to the ICO are listed in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts:
Financial Year | Number of personal data incidents reported to the ICO | Incidents resulting in enforcement action |
2020-2021 | 7 | 0 |
2021-2022 | 12 | 3 |
2022-2023 | 2 | 0 |
2023-2024 | 1 | 0 |
The Annual Report and Accounts for 2024-2025 has not yet been published. This report will include an additional incident identified in 2023 which happened in February 2022 but was not reported previously due to an injunction being in place.