Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has accelerated any defence programmes over financial year 2020-21, in order to ensure the resilience of defence companies and supply chains.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) ensured that throughout the pandemic orders have continued to be placed and suppliers paid as normal. In line with Government guidance, the MOD has to date paid £99.1 million in interim payments to ensure that critical defence outputs can continue uninterrupted. The MOD has engaged directly with more than 600 of its critical suppliers to enhance our understanding of supply chain resilience.

In addition, as part of the Treasury fiscal stimulus programme to drive further economic activity in the building sector, the MOD announced in July 2020 that almost £200 million of funding would be allocated to improve Service Family Accommodation and Single Living Accommodation across the defence estate. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation is accelerating delivery of this programme for completion in 2020/21.

We will continue to actively monitor the defence sector to understand the longer-term impact of Covid-19 on industry.