Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he last held discussions with Scottish Ministers on Defence Technical Excellence Colleges in Scotland.

On 12 March 2026, as part of the Scotland Defence Growth Deal, we announced our stated ambition to establish two Defence Technical Excellence Colleges, aligned to support the defence clusters in the East and West of Scotland. This was contingent on the Scottish Government providing match-funding for our £10 million investment.

On the same day, together with the Secretary of State for Scotland, I wrote to Scottish Government ministers seeking this commitment. We are still awaiting their response.