Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the merger of the Defence Electronics and Components Agency (DECA) and Defence Equipment and Support on (a) the number of staff employed by DECA in Wales, (b) DECA’s participation in the Sealand Support Services Limited joint venture and (c) DECA's other business operations (i) as of June 2023 and (ii) in the next three years.

Since merging with Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) in April 2023, the Defence Electronics and Components Agency (DECA) has continued to provide vital services across Defence.

The merger secures the long-term future for DECA, and will deliver significant business growth and investment over the next three years, together with increased learning, development, and career opportunities for the workforce as part of a larger organisation. DECA's workload and capacity are expected to increase across all business operations over the next three years, thereby sustaining current employment levels of around 380 personnel at its avionics and electronics centre of excellence at Sealand in North Wales and 70 personnel located elsewhere in the UK.

The merger has had no impact on DECA's participation in the Sealand Support Services Limited joint venture.

As a part of DE&S, DECA will continue to work as a partner to industry in providing best value solutions to Defence for the support of avionics, electronics, and other specialised components. This will be both through assigned work, as a strategically retained in-house capability where this represents value for money, and through open competition.