Written questions by Dinenage.

What steps his Department is taking to recruit new officers to the Ministry of Defence Police.

There are currently recruitment and retention issues affecting policing nationally. To counteract this, we target our recruitment campaigns in locations facing the most acute recruitment challenges, and we use a variety of outreach methods to promote opportunities to join the Force, including social media; events; briefings; and our recruitment website. Recruitment levels are kept under constant review and are driven by Defence requirements and operational need.

Whether his Department has made a risk assessment of the potential withdrawal of Ministry of Defence Police from (a) DM Gosport and (b) other Defence Munition sites.

We take the security of our establishments very seriously and have a range of measures in place to ensure the integrity of our arrangements. These measures are kept under constant review and adjusted according to the threat. It is, however, long standing policy that we do not comment on the detail of those arrangements.

What the Ministry of Defence Police budget is in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial year; and whether he undertook a risk assessment before determining the budget for the next financial year.

The annual budget for the Ministry of Defence Police is as follows: Financial year 2024-25 = £182.7 million. Budgets for 2025-26 for all Government Departments will be set through the ongoing Spending Review. We take the security of our establishments very seriously and have a range of measures in place to ensure the integrity of our arrangements. These measures are kept under constant review and adjusted according to the threat. It is, however, long standing policy that we do not comment on the detail of those arrangements.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the workspace for Ministry of Defence Police at (a) DM Gosport and (b) other Defence Munition sites.

Defence site owners complete generic site assessments. The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) assess the adequacy of their direct workspace, such as officer environs, and ensure equipment and vehicles are fit for officers to perform their duties safely and effectively. The MOD takes the security of Defence people, assets and sites extremely seriously and MDP works with MOD stakeholders to manage and mitigate any risk to MOD security and to ensure that MDP deployment is optimised across Defence sites.

What estimate he has made of the number of staff that the Ministry of Defence Police will have in the 2025-26 financial year; and whether a risk assessment was undertaken when determining this.

The officer requirement for 2025-26 is dependent on a number of factors including operational need and changes in Defence priorities. We take the security of our establishments very seriously and have a range of measures in place to ensure the integrity of our arrangements. These measures are kept under constant review and adjusted according to the threat. It is, however, long standing policy that we do not comment on the detail of those arrangements.