Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 90 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, who will lead the Home Defence Programme.

Defence plays a leading role in the development of the Cabinet Office-led cross-Government Home Defence Programme, overseen centrally by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. As set out in the National Security Strategy and the Resilience Action Plan, this coordinates civil and military preparations across the whole of Government for some of the most serious risks we could face, including communicating, empowering and engaging with all tiers of resilience actors to ensure that all sectors are prepared for and able to respond to the most catastrophic of risks. A broad range of Government Departments are engaged in supporting this work. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK, informed by and reflecting the recommendations from Government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy and Resilience Action Plan.