Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 5 of the Defence Suppliers' Forum publication entitled Collaboration Charter, published on 22 November 2023, what (a) operational and (b) industry lessons (i) have taken place and (ii) are planned to take place.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD)-Industry charter is our first step in delivering the Defence Command Paper Refresh’s intent of building a new partnership with industry and builds on ongoing work to bring industry earlier into the capabiltiy development cycle. The charter was only signed in November 2024 and with Industry we are working through the implementation plan. We have made progress already by establishing classified workshops over the last 18 months, including one on Ukraine lessons, and by inviting industry to particate this year in our Planned Force Testing event for the first time. Going forward there will be further Head Office led quarterly classified workshops to share operational challenges and lessons. We will assess the effectiveness through engagement at the Defence Suppliers Forum and by visibly seeing a fundamentally different approach and behaviours between MOD and Industry.