Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Official Statistics MOD regional expenditure with industry 2024/25, what assessment he has made of the impacts of a 6% reduction in defence spending on industry in Scotland, and if he will take steps to cancel this reduction.

The Ministry of Defence does not recognise this figure of a 6% reduction in defence spending on industry in Scotland.

We recently published our Defence Investment Plan, which is backed by £298 billion of investment over the next four years. Scotland will continue to benefit from this increased investment through key programmes and infrastructure projects. These include the delivery of the Type 26 and Type 31 frigate programmes, as well as the improvements at RAF Lossiemouth and investment through Project Royal Oak for HMNB Clyde.