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 1,881–1,900 of 4,561 · this parliament
Whether the proposed digital ID would be the only means of evidencing a person's right to work in the UK.
Employers will be required to conduct digital right to work checks by the end of this parliament.We will be consulting on the details of the programme in due course, including how to help employers of all sizes onboard onto the system and how they will validate the credential to prove an employee's right to work.
What steps his Department would expect employers to take to check a person's digital ID to validate evidence of a right to work.
Employers will be required to conduct digital right to work checks by the end of this parliament.We will be consulting on the details of the programme in due course, including how to help employers of all sizes onboard onto the system and how they will validate the credential to prove an employee's right to work.
How many (a) FV510, (b) FV511, (c) FV512, (d) FV513, (e) FV514 and (f) FV515 variants of Warrior are in service as of 1 September 2025.
As at 1 September 2025, the figure for each Warrior variant was: VariantTotalFV510261FV51169FV51273FV51333FV51440FV5150Total476 These figures include the active Warrior fleet and those platforms that were yet to start the disposal process.
Pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 72364 on Electronic Patient Records, what Electronic Patient Records systems are approved for procurement by NHS trusts.
National Health Service trusts procure suppliers from the Clinical Digital Health Solutions Framework, details of which are available at the following link: https://www.commercialsolutions-sec.nhs.uk/frameworks/clinical-digital-health-solutions-cdhs#nav-suppliers
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of updating GP guidance to allow GPs to have proactive conversations on prostate cancer.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) commissioned an evidence review looking at screening for prostate cancer. We anticipate a public consultation on the findings of this review later this year and a recommendation by the committee in the first quarter of next year.Consideration of changes to the guidance for general practitioners regarding prostate cancer will be taken based on the findings of the evidence review.
Pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 72364 on Electronic Patient Records, what level on the HIMMS EMRAM model are hospitals in the New Hospital Programme required to be upon completion of their building.
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.
What the full scope is of Project Rosetta.
Project ROSETTA was a cross-Government (x-HMG) innovation project. It conducted a cost-effective, UK-based immersive language and culture isolation programme aimed at enhancing the language proficiency and cultural understanding of x-HMG language students. The trial specifically focused on Chinese Mandarin. Feedback from the trial was positive. We are now using the findings to explore options for establishing long-term immersive language training facilities for a range of languages.
Pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 44144 on Armed Forces: Training, what recent steps his Department has taken to help improve University Officer Training Corps’ OFSTED rating to Outstanding.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring the highest standards of training and welfare across all its establishments, including the University Officer Training Corps (UOTC) Group and its efforts to achieve an Outstanding Ofsted rating The UOTC was inspected by OFSTED in February 2024, resulting in a GOOD rating, with five key recommendations for improvement. The Combined Individual Training Assurance Team (CITAT) has worked with the UOTC Group to address these areas, and significant progress has been made across all areas. Actions have included enhancing staff training, improving facilities maintenance, streamlining medical clearance processes, mitigating the impact of budget constraints, and centralising quality improvement processes.
How many veterans have gained full-time employment via the Veteran Industry Engagement Programme since its inception.
The Veterans Industry Engagement Programme (VIEP) is a free, Government-backed advocacy service designed to collaborate with industry and trade bodies. It helps organisations adopt veteran-friendly practices and behaviours, ensuring the skills and talents veterans bring to the workforce are recognised and valued. By fostering this engagement, critical sectors can better leverage a vital national strategic asset - the Armed Forces community. This initiative is delivered by the charity Mission Community who have developed a framework of sector specific initiatives to create sustainable employment opportunities for service leavers, veterans, reservists and military families. VIEP forms part of a suite of wider initiatives supporting Veterans into employment including Op ASCEND, which has successfully engaged over 420 employers and supported over 4,600 veterans and family members.
Pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2025 to Question 44144 on Armed Forces: Training, what steps his Department has taken to improve the British Army Apprenticeship programme’s Ofsted rating.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring the British Army Apprenticeship Programme (AAP) achieves the highest standards of training and continues its progress towards an Outstanding Ofsted rating. The Army, as the UK’s largest Employer Provider with 12,500 soldier apprentices across 41 programmes, continues to achieve results well above the national average. The AAP operates a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), informed by Ofsted inspections and an internal Self-Assessment Process, which is being updated to align with the new Ofsted Further Education and Skills Inspection Toolkit (FES IT) coming into effect in November 2025. Key improvements being implemented include digitalising the programme by 2027, creating 92 additional management posts to oversee End Point Assessment delivery, enhancing functional skills delivery and governance, improving curriculum standards, reducing the number of Post Planned End Date learners, and strengthening safeguarding measures.
With reference page 46 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what progress he has made on exploring a partnership with UCAS to promote defence careers.
We continue to work with UCAS to promote defence careers and explore the scope of support they can offer in raising awareness of defence career pathways among students and educators. This includes working with UCAS to create an industry guide and to support an increased number of defence employers represented on their existing portal. Further details will be published in due course.
What the full scope is of Project Loca.
For reasons of operational security, I am unable to provide details relating to Project Loca.
With reference to page 24 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, what steps he has taken to ensure that cryptography capability is UK-based.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that Crypt-Key is fundamental to the defence and security of the UK. The ability to develop Crypt-Key technologies and capabilities is a strategic imperative for the United Kingdom’s (UK) national security. The National Crypt-Key Strategy and the Crypt-Key Industrial Strategy were approved by the National Security Council (NSC) in May 2022. The MOD has implemented the core strategy outcomes such as the Cabinet Office Spent Control measures for Crypt-Key and continues to support their full implementation. The Defence Industrial Strategy (2025) continues to recognise Crypt-Key as a critical sub-sector where strategic imperative requires full, or majority, industrial capability to be UK-based. The MOD has taken the appropriate steps to ensure alignment to the Crypt-Key strategies.
What the full scope is of Project drone academy.
Project DRONE ACADEMY was an innovation project delivered by Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (formerly UK Strategic Command) innovation team, the jHub. The project sought to explore novel learning pathways to rapidly deliver uncrewed systems (UxS) training, namely on First Person View (FPV) drones, to personnel across Defence. The outputs from Project DRONE ACADEMY have been used to inform longer term Defence training requirements, while concurrently providing Defence with a base level of FPV operators to build upon.
With reference to page 51 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to commission the Competition and Markets Authority to support his Department in monitoring (a) competition and (b) supply chain structures in the defence industrial base.
In accordance with the Defence Industrial Strategy the Department is already engaged with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Public Policy Team to provide subject matter expertise on the review of the single source contracting regulations. The CMA are also working with the Department in reviewing the state of defence competition.
With reference to page 69 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what national security issues the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory plans to prioritise.
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory plans to prioritise national security issues aligned with the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group organisational design as part of Defence Reform, which remains in progress. As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, this list will include chemical and biological defence, novel and unconventional weapons systems, counter-terrorism technology and manufacturing, including specialist munitions, and other areas where the Ministry of Defence requires to be an intelligent customer for Science and Technology.
With reference to page 70 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he expects the Defence Tech Scaler pilot be fully operational.
Defence Tech Scaler is at Minimum Viable Product phase as of September 2025 while the marketplace and processes are under development. The Ministry of Defence is committed to expanding and improving Defence Tech Scaler with a view to make it fully operational in 2026.
With reference to page 65 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to launch the competitions for novel uncrewed aerial systems.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working with the Front-Line Commands (FLCs) and across the ecosystem to build on existing uncrewed systems (UxS) delivery. There is significant work ongoing across Defence on the development of UxS as we look to rapidly iterate novel capabilities, learn lessons from Ukraine, support the Government's growth agenda and grow the UK technology sector. A competition for novel uncrewed aerial systems will launch in early 2026. There is a wide spectrum of UxS requirements from across Defence, some are complementary whilst others are bespoke to each Service. The scope and requirement of competitions for will primarily look at range, payload, size and survivability of UxS as required by the FLCs.
With reference to page 52 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 Office for Small Business Growth.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that SMEs seeking to work in defence face unique challenges. The department is committed to simplifying access to UK defence for SMEs removing unnecessary barriers and making it easier for small businesses to find the right support and guidance. Work on delivering the new Defence Office for Small Business Growth is well underway, and MOD has consulted widely with small businesses and across UK industry to ensure that the new service meets defence SMEs needs. The exact detail of how the Office for Small Business Growth will operate, including the scope of services is being developed in close consultation with industry but will include more coherent access to existing supplier development programmes and a range of direct services to SMEs enabling them to better navigate the UK defence environment. Initial operating capability will be achieved in the spring of 2026
With reference to page 69 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, where he plans to establish the Defence Energy and Capability Resilience Centre of Excellence.
The Defence Energy and Capability Resilience Centre of Excellence (DECX) is being established initially as a virtual entity, with Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) acting as the custodian. The final decision regarding location will be confirmed once DECX reaches full operating capability.