Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps are being taken to help address skills shortages and engineering deficits within the domestic defence workforce.

Addressing critical skills shortages is key to ensuring the UK defence sector has the workforce required now and in the future. The £182 million Defence Industry Skills package is strengthening the pipeline into defence careers and expanding training in strategically important disciplines, including engineering.

This Government is proud to have invested in skills for the first time as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy. This includes £50 million for five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (DTECs) in England, which will equip students aged 16 and above with the technical skills required for critical defence roles. We also intend to launch two DTECs in Scotland, one in Wales, and we are working with the Northern Ireland Executive on similar skills initiatives as part of the NI Defence Growth Deal.