Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve the (a) resilience and (b) sustainability of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise; and what estimate he has made of the (i) current and (ii) future workforce requirements to support the nuclear deterrent.

The Government has an unwavering commitment to ensuring the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) is resilient and sustainable through significant investment in our infrastructure, people and places.

This includes recapitalising critical elements of our infrastructure, modernising our naval bases and manufacturing processes, and working with industry partners to safeguard the DNE supply chain for the future. Our investment in Barrow-in-Furness, through the Plan for Barrow, recognises its crucial role in supporting and sustaining the DNE.

The Nuclear Skills Plan is aiding the growth of the UK defence nuclear workforce to meet the skills demand across the sector, with the DNE workforce set to expand from around 47,600 to around 65,000 by 2030.