Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence Procurement of 8 June 2021, Official Report, column 823, on the Ajax Programme, how many projects the Senior Responsible Owner referred to is responsible for.

As I stated in my written statement on 6 September, we have identified the need for a full time, dedicated Senior Responsible Owner for AJAX who will preferably be able to see the project through to completion and a short-list of candidates is currently under consideration.

The current Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the Armoured Cavalry Programme (including AJAX) is the Army's Director Support. This position oversees in-service land equipment and was previously also SRO for the Armoured Infantry Programme, including the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme.