Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to strengthen the UK’s preparedness, in coordination with NATO allies, for threats to the security of NATO members in the Baltic region.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
In coordination with NATO allies, we have committed to strengthening preparedness and deterrence to counter threats to the Baltic region, ensuring that our forces remain capable, credible, and ready to respond to any threat to Alliance security.
This is demonstrated through the UK’s lead as framework nation for NATO’s multinational battlegroup in Estonia and contribution of surveillance aircraft to NATO’s BALTIC SENTRY, which protects critical national infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
Additionally, and in line with our NATO Article 3 commitments, the UK is the framework nation for the Joint Expeditionary Force, which has demonstrated the UK’s leadership, preparedness and responsiveness to security threats in the High North and Baltic.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that military veterans can report sexual abuse to their local police force in the first instance, regardless of where the alleged abuse occurred in the UK.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
A military veteran may report an alleged sexual offence to either their local police force in the UK or the Defence Serious Crime Command. Where it is an offence that may be dealt with in either the civilian criminal or Service Justice Systems, decisions are made on a case-by-case basis as to whether a civilian police force or the Defence Serious Crime Command should investigate the matter, taking into account the views of the victim.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the private sector organisations given advance sight of the Strategic Defence Review prior to its publication.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As the hon. Member will be aware, the Secretary of State for Defence has been determined to reset the relationship between Parliament and the Ministry of Defence, increasing transparency and openness. The Department sought to reflect this determination for the publication of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), and to build on the approach made for previous defence reviews.
On the day of the launch, we offered embargoed copies of the SDR to key stakeholders, including the House of Commons Defence Committee, certain industry representatives and others. This was done in good faith, reflecting the contribution by stakeholders to the first-of-its-kind review.
The list of industry representatives that read the SDR in this manner is below:
Group 1 | ||
MBDA |
| Thales |
Leidos |
| Rolls-Royce |
Airbus Defence & Space |
| BAE Systems |
Leonardo |
| Babcock |
Lockheed Martin |
| ADS |
Boeing Defence UK |
| techUK |
QinetiQ |
| MakeUK |
Group 2 | ||
Adarga Ltd |
| Lockheed Martin |
ADS |
| Make UK |
Airbus |
| MDBA |
Anduril |
| Microsoft |
Asia Group |
| Mitre |
Atlas-Elektronik |
| Newton Europe |
Babcock |
| Nortal |
BAE Systems |
| Northrup Grumman |
Boeing |
| Palantir |
Callen-Lenz |
| QinetiQ |
Capewell |
| Raytheon |
CGI |
| Rheinmetall |
Chemring |
| Rolls Royce |
Decision Analysis Services |
| SAAB |
DXC |
| Serco |
Elbit Systems |
| Society of Maritime Institutes |
Fujitsu |
| Spirit Aerosystems |
General Dynamics |
| TechUK |
Ginkgo Bioworks |
| Tetra Tech |
Hanwha |
| Thales |
Helsing AI |
| The MTC |
HVM Catapult |
| UK DSC |
L3 Harris |
| Ultra Maritime |
Leidos |
|
|
Leonardo |
|
|
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with Babcock on increasing the number of welding apprenticeships on UK based defence contracts.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This Government recognises the vital role Defence, and its skilled workforce, play not only in our national security but also to the economic prosperity and growth of the United Kingdom. We must work with the UK defence sector to boost skills, build rewarding careers and bring prosperity to all nations and regions.
As part of the Department's assessment of supply chain risks, the Ministry of Defence regularly monitors the availability of suitably qualified and experienced personnel needed in the delivery of our Defence programmes. The Department also has regular engagement with its suppliers to ensure the availability of the critical skills required, and the demand for craft skills, including welders, is recognised across the defence sector. This has been reflected by the launch of a new apprenticeship welding school in Bristol by Babcock earlier this year, providing a skills boost to the region and UK defence.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the media organisations given advance sight of the Strategic Defence Review prior to its publication.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As the hon. Member will be aware, the Secretary of State for Defence has been determined to reset the relationship between Parliament and the Ministry of Defence, increasing transparency and openness. The Department sought to reflect this determination for the publication of the Strategic Defence Review, and to build on the approach made for previous defence reviews.
On the day of the launch, we offered embargoed copies of the Strategic Defence Review to key stakeholders, including the House of Commons Defence Committee, media organisations and others. This was done in good faith, reflecting the contribution by stakeholders to the first-of-its-kind review.
We therefore invited the Defence Correspondents Association and several additional outlets to cover UK national media.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to increase the provision of real time information on a) civilian and b) emergency services air traffic to military jets during low altitude training exercises.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The primary measure in open airspace remains airmanship and the 'see and avoid' principle. There are a range of measures already in place to provide additional real time information on civilian air traffic during low level training. This includes communication with Air Traffic Control and the Low Flying Booking Service, datalinks, information from aircraft transponders and increasingly sophisticated on-board sensors and surveillance equipment.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria were used to determine which (a) private companies and their representatives and (b) media organisations and journalists received advance sight of the Strategic Defence Review.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We invited the Defence Correspondents Association and several additional outlets to cover UK national media.
We also invited companies and associations who are part of the joint Ministry of Defence-Cabinet Office Strategic Partnering Programme, alongside a larger set of key industry stakeholders.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve systems for delivering oxygen to battlefield trauma casualties without making use of pressurised cylinders; and what estimate he has made of when this will be available for frontline use.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) deploys oxygen concentrators under certain circumstances to deliver oxygen without pressurised cylinders.
The Defence Investment Plan will set out any further funding available to support the wider roll out of oxygen concentrators to deliver oxygen to battlefield trauma casualties.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any military officers have been sent to Israel for the purposes of monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
No. A small number of UK planning officers have embedded in the US-led Civil Military Coordination Centre (CMCC), including a 2* deputy commander, to ensure that the UK remains integrated into the US-led planning efforts for Gaza post-conflict stability. This team is not monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza. The UK continues to work with international partners to support the Gaza ceasefire to see where the UK can best contribute to the peace process.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials were investigated under their Department's disciplinary processes in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In this instance, ‘disciplinary process’ has been defined as a misconduct and discpline case and ‘officials’ as Civil Servants. The table below shows the total number of misconduct cases over the last five years.
Financial Year | Number of Misconduct cases |
2020-21 | 151 |
2021-22 | 151 |
2022-23 | 209 |
2023-24 | 304 |
2024-25 | 334 |
The total numbers of misconduct cases that had full investigations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.