Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made in the transfer of military graves maintained by the Ministry of Defence to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Since the Chancellor's 2015 Autumn Statement announcement concerning the renovation and maintenance of over 6,000 graves of Service personnel, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has carried out a considerable amount of work to drive this project forward; a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) governing the project has been developed and is currently being considered by all parties, including the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and HM Treasury colleagues. The MOD has also provided the CWGC with data for over 6,000 graves to enable the CWGC to conduct a scoping exercise and identify the locations it will assume responsibility for.

We expect the MOU to be finalised shortly, after which the CWGC will submit a costings report to MOD for consideration. Once the scoping exercise has concluded and all parties are satisfied with the terms of the proposed transfer, the CWGC will be invited to take over maintenance responsibilities.