Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cyber tech businesses in Cheltenham are able to access funding through new defence innovation organisation.

UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) will equip Britain’s Armed Forces with cutting-edge tech faster. It will support the growth of high-tech businesses across the UK – including in Cheltenham, capitalising on new ideas, supporting them rapidly through development and exploitation.

To achieve these aims UKDI will be given a ringfenced budget of £400 million this year. The Spring Statement also confirmed that the Ministry of Defence will spend at least 10% of its equipment procurement budget on novel tech including dual-use technologies such as uncrewed and autonomous systems and AI-enabled capabilities. This will benefit the UKs cyber tech industry.

UKDI will be closely linked to the DE&S and DASA teams which have recently been involved in rapid procurement activities and currently give businesses across the UK access to funding.

UKDI will be operational by July 2025 and work is ongoing to confirm the detailed design of the organisation.