Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

How many times the National Security Advisor has been requested to appear in front of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy since his appointment.

The National Security Adviser appeared in front of the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy in a private session in November 2025 and has offered to do so again. As the Government has said, the longstanding practice is that Special Advisers currently in post do not give public evidence to Select Committees and this is done instead by Ministers or Officials.

What his planned timetable is for determining the spending that will count towards the 1.5% of GDP to be spent on resilience and security.

NATO has already agreed the definition of 1.5% as spend “to inter alia protect critical infrastructure, defend networks, ensure civil preparedness and resilience, innovate, and strengthen the defence industrial base”. Officials are currently working through proposals and plans for meeting our obligations will be set out in due course.

How many times the National Security Council Sub-Committee (Resilience) has met since July 2024.

It is a long-established precedent that information about Cabinet and its Committees, including the discussions that have taken place, how often they have met and attendance, is not normally shared publicly.

How many times the National Security Council Sub-Committee (Nuclear) has met since July 2024.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2026 to Question 114022 on Extradition, what the (a) country and (b) date was for each of the extradition requests received from Category 2 Type B countries.

The numbers of requests from each Category 2 Type B country received between 5th July 2024 and 23 February 2026 (the date of question 114022), where they number more than 5 requests are listed below. The total requests received in the timeframe, which was given in response to question 114022, was 64:Brazil – 12Iraq – 7Nigeria – 7Kosovo – 6In accordance with our policies, and after careful consideration, we are not releasing the information on extradition requests received between 5th July 2024 and 23 February 2026, from Category 2 Type B countries where five or fewer requests have been made. Likewise, we are unable to break down the figures above any further due to the same considerations. The disclosure of such data may lead to the identification of an individual request which might prejudice ongoing law enforcement proceedings.Please note that this information is taken from local management information and has not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.

If he will set out the level of combat search and rescue capability of the Royal Marines Joint Personnel Recovery.

The Ministry of Defence does not routinely comment on combat search and rescue capabilities for reasons of operational security.

What assessment he has of the potential threat posed to British-flagged ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz by the CM-302 anti-ship missile supplied to Iran by China.

The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with the Government of Ukraine on the sharing of knowledge and insights to ensure that our support meets Ukraine's priority requirements and that the Armed Forces of Ukraine is responding effectively to the evolving threat, including from drones and energy weapons.Due to operational security, we do not comment on specific capabilities.

With reference to his Department's Pre-Procurement Notice entitled Strategic Defence Review - Energetics Investment Information Notice, published on 2 April 2026, when will the feasibility studies (a) commence and (b) conclude.

We plan to confirm value for money and affordability criteria by no later than the beginning of quarter 3 2026. Feasibility studies are planned to be contracted in April 2026, and to conclude in August 2026.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many times the Soft Power Council has met; and on what dates.

Available information about the Soft Power Council can be found on GOV.UK, including details of the dates of all its meetings to date and records that cover the issues discussed at each meeting. The Soft Power Council is attended on a voluntary basis by its members, and has no separate office or other fixed overheads.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2026 to Question 122231 on Energy: Prices, what estimate he has made of the proportion of demand made up of liquified natural gas imported from Qatar by 2035.

The Department has not made an assessment as to the proportion of demand that Qatari LNG will account for in 2035. LNG will continue to play an important role in the UK’s gas supply mix and it is the Department’s view that this will continue to arrive from a range of different countries.

With reference to his Department's Pre-Procurement Notice entitled Strategic Defence Review - Energetics Investment Information Notice, published on 2 April 2026, by what date does he plan to confirm the (a) value for money and (b) affordability criteria.

We plan to confirm value for money and affordability criteria by no later than the beginning of quarter 3 2026. Feasibility studies are planned to be contracted in April 2026, and to conclude in August 2026.

What assessment has he made of the potential threat posed to British-flagged ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz by the Sunflower-200 kamikaze drone supplied to Iran by China.

The Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with the Government of Ukraine on the sharing of knowledge and insights to ensure that our support meets Ukraine's priority requirements and that the Armed Forces of Ukraine is responding effectively to the evolving threat, including from drones and energy weapons.Due to operational security, we do not comment on specific capabilities.

What assessment has he made of the potential impact of the adoption of the (a) 6.02mm x 41mm round and (b) AK22 rifle in Russian military service on British Army body armour.

The Ministry of Defence routinely assesses emerging and evolving small‑arms threats as part of its ongoing responsibility to protect Service personnel. The specific threats against which UK body armour is designed to provide protection are held at a higher security classification and therefore it would be inappropriate for me to provide specific details. However, I can confirm that UK body armour requirements are kept under constant review to ensure they continue to reflect the most dangerous and prevalent threats our personnel are likely to face while conducting their duties.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Soft Power Council has submitted (a) reports and (b) formal advice to her Department since January 2025.

Available information about the Soft Power Council can be found on GOV.UK, including details of the dates of all its meetings to date and records that cover the issues discussed at each meeting. The Soft Power Council is attended on a voluntary basis by its members, and has no separate office or other fixed overheads.

What progress he has made in integrating the Aster 30 missile into the Mk41 Vertical Launching System (VLS).

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question 123067, tabled on 23 March 2026:https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-03-23/123067

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the adoption of the EREBUS system on the speed of defensive aid suite integration.

EREBUS is a UK‑developed flight test capability enabling realistic testing of Defensive Aid Systems before installation on frontline aircraft. Developed by Dstl with UK Industry, it reduces integration risk and cost, supports rapid upgrades, strengthens international collaboration, and helps maintain world‑leading air‑protection capabilities. EREBUS has the potential to significantly accelerate the adoption of Defensive Aid Suites by de‑risking system integration and performance at every stage of the development cycle.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost was of the Soft Power Council in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26; and what the estimated cost is for 2026-27.

Available information about the Soft Power Council can be found on GOV.UK, including details of the dates of all its meetings to date and records that cover the issues discussed at each meeting. The Soft Power Council is attended on a voluntary basis by its members, and has no separate office or other fixed overheads.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, when in 2026 does she expect to publish a list of regulatory priorities for alternative methods to help guide investment for development, qualification and validation accelerating the regulatory acceptance of alternative methods.

The delivery of the commitment to publish a list of regulatory priorities for alternative methods sits with NC3Rs.NC3Rs, working with its Regulatory Sciences Forum, is developing the publication, including its overall structure and the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of alternative methods. As set out in the strategy, we expect the list of priorities for regulatory development and validation to be published by the end of 2026.The Government will publish a delivery update, alongside key performance indicators on progress across all elements of the strategy, later in 2026.

What progress the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has made in developing AI triage decision-making in battlefield military medicine in conjunction with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

As reported in the press, experts from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) are collaborating with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) using hardware and methodologies developed under DARPA's In the Moment (ITM) fundamental research programme. AI systems do not naturally align with humans and the ITM programme aims to develop technologies to enable such alignment. Battlefield medical triage is a research use case within this wider programme. In October 2025 Scientists from Dstl and their US counterparts at DARPA ran pioneering UK trials to understand whether medical staff would trust and delegate triage decisions to AI systems aligned with their own priorities.The trials showed that having an aligned AI increased the likelihood of delegation, potentially allowing triage to be carried out more quickly and ultimately helping medical staff treat more casualties with the integration of trusted AI. Further trials will take place later this year.

By what date will he establish the joint road map with France to develop the successor to the Meteor missile.

The United Kingdom and France have agreed to undertake a joint study for the development of next‑generation air‑to‑air weapon concepts. The content and precise timing for any future roadmap to replace Meteor will be informed by the outcomes of this analysis.