Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 27513 on Defence: Bank Services, how many smaller defence suppliers have raised concerns with his Department on difficulties in (a) opening a bank account and (b) otherwise accessing finance since 1 January 2020.

The issues that smaller defence suppliers can face in opening a bank account and accessing finance have been raised with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) on multiple occasions since 1 January 2020, both directly and via trade associations and higher tier partners. It is not possible to quantify the number of companies who have relayed these concerns.

This Government recognised these issues in the Defence Industrial Strategy’s Statement of Intent and the MOD continues to consult widely with defence and financial services stakeholders on tackling these barriers, so that we have a better, more integrated, more innovative and more resilient defence sector.