Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to replenish UK munitions stockpiles.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As announced in the Strategic Defence Review, we our investing £6 billion this Parliament in munitions to replenish our stockpiles. This investment includes £1.5 billion specifically to develop an “always on” munitions pipeline, building six new munitions and energetics factories to ensure we increase the capacity and resilience of our domestic munitions production.
I look forward to meeting the hon. Member to discuss her perspectives in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many appointments to ministerial private office have been made by exceptions to the civil service recruitment principles since July 2024; and how many transfers of civil servants from other departments by exceptions there have been since that date.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Between July 2024 and 03 November 2025 there were no appointments made by exception to Ministerial Private Offices among the delegated grades (below Senior Civil Servant (SCS) level). However, during this period there was one direct Ministerial appointment at SCS level, this was the Strategic Advisor to the Secretary of State and Head of Review and Challenge.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a reserve-style service as part of the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
SDR 2025 directs that “the future Cyber & EM Force should be a whole force endeavour, drawing heavily on reserves and civilians where expertise lies”. The future Cyber & EM Forces will be part of the Cyber & Specialist Operations Command. Planning to date is drawing heavily on our experience of using specialist cyber reserves and will seek to expand opportunities for reserve-style service; this is likely to include increasing the number of cyber specialist reserves, adjusting forms of military service (including expanding the Cyber Direct Entry scheme), and partnering differently with industry to leverage skills & capacity in wider workforce.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 2025 June to Question 57929 on Armed Force: Recruitment, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the accelerated recruitment process maintains rigorous standards in (a) training and (b) suitability assessments.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (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.
We are committed to maintaining the high standards of recruitment needed to build and maintain battle winning Armed Forces while still accelerating the recruitment process. The Services are improving training to recruitment personnel to maintain rigorous standards and ensure recruits become operationally effective quickly. Additionally, they are improving the digital exchange of medical information with civilian GPs. While specific numerical targets and timelines have not yet been formally published, we have initiated a series of reforms aimed at addressing challenges in these areas.
In addition, from 2027 the new Armed Forces Recruiting Service will provide a streamlined, single-entry point for prospective recruits, with the aim of recruiting from the broadest spectrum of society to attract the best talent into the Armed Forces. It will replace individual Service schemes and will modernise and improve how people join the Armed Forces. It will be a key enabler in building the future force, ensuring that the British Armed Forces remain equipped with skilled, motivated, and capable personnel ready to meet evolving global challenges.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57929 on Armed Forces: Recruitment, whether the Department plans to set out (a) specific targets and (b) timelines for improving recruitment and retention in each of the Armed Forces branches.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (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.
We are committed to maintaining the high standards of recruitment needed to build and maintain battle winning Armed Forces while still accelerating the recruitment process. The Services are improving training to recruitment personnel to maintain rigorous standards and ensure recruits become operationally effective quickly. Additionally, they are improving the digital exchange of medical information with civilian GPs. While specific numerical targets and timelines have not yet been formally published, we have initiated a series of reforms aimed at addressing challenges in these areas.
In addition, from 2027 the new Armed Forces Recruiting Service will provide a streamlined, single-entry point for prospective recruits, with the aim of recruiting from the broadest spectrum of society to attract the best talent into the Armed Forces. It will replace individual Service schemes and will modernise and improve how people join the Armed Forces. It will be a key enabler in building the future force, ensuring that the British Armed Forces remain equipped with skilled, motivated, and capable personnel ready to meet evolving global challenges.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57936 on Strategic Defence Review, whether the findings from the internal survey and call for evidence were published or summarised.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was informed by an unprecedented level of consultation. The findings from the internal survey and call for evidence informed the 'Review and Challenge' phase of the SDR; during which 27 panels, comprised of more than 150 experts, tested propositions relating to UK Defence between October and November 2024. The testing of findings continued throughout the 'decision-making and finalisation' phase between December 2024 and May 2025.
The output from the challenge and review rounds were included in the SDR published in June 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57936 on Strategic Defence Review, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the views of junior ranks and underrepresented groups within the armed forces were captured during the consultation process for the Strategic Defence Review 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Strategic Defence Review was informed by an unprecedented level of consultation. The call for evidence phase explicitly invited responses from serving military personnel. They were invited to respond to both the public call for evidence and an internal Departmental survey, which saw 800 responses.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 57936 on Strategic Defence Review, what proportion of the 1,700 people who responded to the call for evidence were (a) serving personnel and (b) veterans.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am unable to provide an exact proportion. However, during the call for evidence phase of the Strategic Defence Review serving personnel and veterans were encouraged to submit a response, of which approximately 800 responses came from within the Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces, and veteran community.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57929 on Armed Force: Recruitment, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the new gap year schemes in attracting recruits from underrepresented backgrounds; and how success will be measured.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Gap Year scheme is intended to provide a novel means of entry into the Armed Forces. This is an attractive voluntary employment scheme for school leavers, whatever their background. It will provide excellent military basic training that promotes teamwork, problem solving, and values. The training and experience gained will set up the individuals for life whether they decide to join the Armed Forces on completion or leave and have a civilian career. We will regularly assess the contribution the Gap Year makes to recruitment, including the background of those who engage, and the impacts on operational design. Full plans will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57928 on Armed Force: Deployment, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the impact of overseas postings on retention rates among service personnel; and whether financial incentives are being reviewed as part of that analysis.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence continuously analyses retention data through the use of tools such as staff surveys and exit interviews, to better understand the reasons why personnel leave Service. With this information we seek to improve the offer made to new and existing personnel to make a career in the Armed Forces the first choice for high performing candidates. Retention payments remain under constant review and are targeted where they provide the best value for recruitment, retention and the taxpayer.
Service personnel posted overseas may be eligible for a number of financial measures including Local Overseas Allowance designed to offset differences in the cost of living, X-Factor pay which compensates for the conditions faced by Service personnel, including the impact of isolation and separation from families and Unpleasant Living or Unpleasant Work Allowances for those deployed to particularly remote or operationally demanding locations.
The Ministry of Defence continually reviews and monitors the allowance package to ensure it remains appropriate for varying local economic circumstances through feedback from deployed Service personnel.