Every parliamentary written question tabled by Ben Obese-Jecty this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1,861–1,880 of 4,561 · this parliament
What recent progress he has made in establishing the Defence Energy and Capability Resilience Centre of Excellence.
The Defence Energy and Capability Resilience Centre of Excellence (DECX) will be established from the start of the next financial year.
With reference to page 76 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in establishing the Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme.
The Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme (DSCCP) is a review of Defence supply chain capabilities that will deliver a step-change improvement in how Defence understands, designs and manages the MOD’s industrial ecosystem to deliver benefits throughout the end-to-end supply chain. The DSCCP was established as a programme in September 2024, following a period of discovery and design it is now in year two of delivery. It is delivering a suite of end-to-end supply chain capabilities, covering; risk modelling, supplier management, supply chain architecture, resilience policy, and scenario planning.
Pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 72364 on Electronic Patient Records, what assessment his Department has made of the digital maturity of the North-West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2025 to Question 81534 and on 22 October 2025 to Question 82444.
With reference to page 75 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, if he will make an assessment of the lessons learned from the first joint wargame undertaken by his Department with industry.
Wargaming, such as the December 2024 Industry Wargame, helps the Ministry of Defence, industry, and wider society identify and address risks, enhancing operational resilience and ensuring mission continuity in contested environments. The exercise yielded critical insights across multiple areas essential for surging capacity and scaling to full warfighting readiness. Achieving this requires strengthening strategic collaboration with industry and international partners, alongside further developing enablers such as appropriate legislation, financial frameworks, specialist skills development, and digital transformation. Considerable progress is already underway, including work on a Defence Readiness Bill, the formation of a dedicated scenario planning and modelling capability, accelerated digital system upgrades for secure information sharing, and cross-Government efforts to access vital defence skills.
What recent progress he has made in establishing the Defence Office for Small Business Growth.
Planning for the new Defence Office for Business Growth is well underway. The operating model has been produced following wide ranging consultation with industry. The Office will provide services to both small businesses and MOD teams, which will focus on growth and shaping the defence industry landscape to develop resilient supply chains. The detail of how the service will operate, including scope and launch date will be released shortly and it is expected that initial operating capability will be achieved in spring 2026.
What his planned timetable is for the appointment of the National Armaments Director.
The National Armaments Director (NAD) was appointed on 13 October 2025 and started the role on 14 October 2025. The hon. Gentleman met him on 27 October in the House and I hope he found it useful.
With reference to page 72 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in piloting the provision of a high fidelity virtual test range.
As set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, our Test and Evaluation Transformation programme is piloting the provision of a high-fidelity virtual test range, focused on the evaluation of UK equipment in the most demanding operational environments. This project will pave the way for the UK Defence enterprise to rapidly test, innovate and integrate systems against the most demanding operational use-cases.Since publication of the Defence Industrial Strategy, the project’s technical approach has been tested through the largest and most ambitious multinational trial ever undertaken on a virtual range of this type. This successfully validated the technical direction of the project and work is underway to establish the facilities needed to expand access to the pilot by the summer of 2026.
Whether her Department's proposed change in the point of eligibility for Indefinite Leave to Remain would apply to (a) current and (b) former non-UK armed forces (i) personnel and (ii) their families.
We will be consulting on the new earned settlement rules later this year.The Government remains committed to supporting current and former serving personnel and their families; ensuring that they do not face any disadvantage due to their service.
How much and what proportion of his Department's expenditure was with UK-based businesses in the latest period for which data is available.
In 2024-25, The Ministry of Defence global expenditure with industry (including direct payments to industry, foreign governments and via Foreign Military Sales with the US) was £38 billion. Of this, £32 billion (84%) was for work taking place in the UK.
How much and what proportion of his Department's expenditure was with small and medium sized enterprises in the latest period for which data is available.
The information is published annually. The most recent data can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-statistics-with-industry-202425/mod-regional-expenditure-with-industry-202425#mod-expenditure-with-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises The latest publicly available figures were released in September 2025 and cover the 2024-25 financial year period. 4% (£1.2 billion) of MOD direct expenditure with UK industry was with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in 2024-25.
If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of spending a proportion of the funding increase for to the Connect to Work programme in Huntingdonshire on people in that area.
Connect to Work funding will cover all of England and Wales. Huntingdonshire is part of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area for Connect to Work. Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority are the Lead Authority (Accountable Body) for this area, working in partnership with Cambridge County Council and Peterborough City Council. The Combined Authority’s Delivery Plan is currently in the final stages of approval, with funding expected to be announced shortly. We understand that the Connect to Work service for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is expected to be open for participants in early 2026.
With reference to the press notice entitled New police powers to protect communities from disruption caused by protests, published on 5 October 2025, what assessment she made of the potential impact of the use of these powers on the removal of the protest site at MBR Acres.
On 5 October, the Home Secretary announced that police forces will be granted new powers to put conditions on repeat protests. If a protest has taken place at the same site for weeks on end, and caused repeated disorder, the police will have the authority to instruct organisers to hold the event somewhere else. Anyone who breaches the conditions will risk arrest and prosecution.Whether these offences apply in any given circumstance is a decision for the police. The use of these powers and the management of demonstrations are an operational matter for the police.
What the average procurement cycle time to delivery was in the latest period for which data is available.
The Defence Industrial Strategy set out average times to contract for major projects (such as tanks, frigates and aircraft) of six years, and for pace-setting modular upgrades (such as comms, sensors and weapons upgrades) of three years. We have set targets to reduce these averages to two years and one year respectively, and a target of three-month cycles for rapid commercial exploitation.The introduction of this segmented approach to procurement, with associated timescale targets, is a key element of our acquisition system reforms. This initiative, and our move to a portfolio-driven approach, will drive greater to increase pace and agility in delivery. Our support to Ukraine has shown the pace at which we can deliver.
What critical national infrastructure sites there are within Huntingdon constituency.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we are targeting exploitative drug dealing gangs while breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade.Between July 2024 and June 2025, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 2,300 deal lines closed, 6,200 arrests (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,100 deal line holders), 3,200 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 600 knives seized.While the majority of county lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police, we recognise that this is a national issue which affects all forces, which is why we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate a national law enforcement response.NCLCC’s most recent Strategic Assessment found that Cambridgeshire was one of the top five importing areas for county lines in 2023/24. County Lines Programme taskforces regularly conduct joint operations with importer forces such as Cambridgeshire Constabulary. We also have a dedicated fund which provides local forces, including Cambridgeshire Constabulary, with additional funding to tackle county lines.
With reference to page 72 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in launching the Range of the Future programme.
To improve the long-term productivity and capacity of both MOD and commercially operated UK test ranges, the Defence Industrial Strategy announced the launching of a ‘Range of the Future’ programme at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. This programme will work with SMEs, range operators and regulators to derisk T&E technology and make ranges more available, affordable, and capable of supporting the next generation of Defence capability A project is underway within DSTL to lead the work to scope out the programme, plan how it will be delivered in partnership with UK industry and identify its priorities and operating model. Whilst the formal programme is developed, DSTL are actively engaging with the UK T&E enterprise, including recently supporting a hackathon for the UK T&E Community of Interest.
With reference to the press release entitled Government delivers thousands more school-based nursery places, published on 4 September 2025, how many and what proportion of the extra school-based nursery places will be in Huntingdon constituency.
High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity, give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. The government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, supporting school led provision and private, voluntary and independent providers and childminders operating from school sites.Phase 1 is already delivering results, with £37 million successfully awarded to 300 primary phase schools creating up to 6,000 new childcare places. Applications were assessed based on a range of factors.No applications for Huntingdon were awarded. However, building on phase 1, phase 2 of the school-based nursery programme launched on September 4, with a stronger focus on supporting families from disadvantaged areas. Primary schools and maintained nursery schools, including those in Huntingdon, have until 5pm on 11 December to apply for up to £150,000 from a £45 million fund, with capacity to deliver at least another 300 new or expanded school-based nurseries, offering up to 7,000 more places from September 2026.
With reference to the press notice entitled Record number of gang leaders charged for county lines offences, published on 8 October 2025, how many of the deal lines were in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) Huntingdon constituency.
County Lines is the most violent model of drug supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we are targeting exploitative drug dealing gangs while breaking the organised crime groups behind this trade.Between July 2024 and June 2025, law enforcement activity through the County Lines Programme taskforces has resulted in more than 2,300 deal lines closed, 6,200 arrests (including the arrest and subsequent charge of over 1,100 deal line holders), 3,200 safeguarding referrals of children and vulnerable people, and 600 knives seized.While the majority of county lines originate from the areas covered by the Metropolitan Police Service, West Midlands Police, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Yorkshire Police, we recognise that this is a national issue which affects all forces, which is why we fund the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) to monitor the intelligence picture and co-ordinate a national law enforcement response.NCLCC’s most recent Strategic Assessment found that Cambridgeshire was one of the top five importing areas for county lines in 2023/24. County Lines Programme taskforces regularly conduct joint operations with importer forces such as Cambridgeshire Constabulary. We also have a dedicated fund which provides local forces, including Cambridgeshire Constabulary, with additional funding to tackle county lines.
With reference to page 75 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to establish a scenario planning capability within the National Armaments Director Group.
The National Armaments Director Group is actively progressing plans to establish a dedicated strategic supply chain scenario planning capability as a core component of its Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme (DSCCP). This initiative will underpin a structured programme of scenario testing exercises—integrating wargaming, simulation, and strategic foresight—to stress-test supply chain resilience and inform defence policy and planning. The capability will be delivered in collaboration with industry and government partners, leveraging our new supply chain illumination capability and aligning with the Defence Experimentation and Wargaming Hub. The capability will work with the wider landscape of existing scenario planning and wargaming activities that already take place within the Ministry of Defence and across government. Early development phases include pilot exercises across three service levels, with a proof-of-concept capability targeted by March 2026.
With reference to page 72 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, how much funding his Department plans to provide for more mobile test technologies.
As set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, investing in mobile test technologies has the potential to accelerate innovation, particularly amongst smaller companies for whom geographically remote and highly capable test ranges may be prohibitively expensive. The same technology will also help Defence undertake more testing in the field, under operationally representative conditions, contributing towards the industrial, innovation and warfighting readiness ambitions in the Strategic Defence Review. Mobile testing is one aspect of the Department’s Test and Evaluation Transformation programme, which is forecast to spend over £1 million on mobile test technologies this year. The scale of future funding is dependent on the outcome of the Defence Investment Plan.
When he plans to publish the Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan.
The Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan will be published later this year alongside the Defence Investment Plan. It will set out our plans to deliver relevant recommendations in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review.