Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of deploying the armed forces to assist with the effective running of public services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Defence routinely conducts contingency planning for a wide range of scenarios and we continue to engage with colleagues cross-government to help identify where we can best provide support to the UK's COVID-19 pandemic response. At present, there are no immediate plans for any large-scale deployments of the military. Defence is prepared to support other Government Departments, if required.