Written questions by Dewhirst.

What estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of joining the European Defence Security Fund.

This Government has delivered an ambitious security and defence partnership with the European Union. The Strategic Defence Review will strengthen NATO, the cornerstone of the UK’s defence, and it will help grow the economy. It allows us to step up on Euro-Atlantic security together and ensures we are able to explore UK access to Security Action for Europe (SAFE). We are working with our European partners to understand how an arrangement might work. The exact detail of UK participation will be subject to discussions on the specific terms of a UK-EU bilateral participation agreement; we do not wish to pre-empt the outcome of any such negotiations. This Government wants the right deal on the right terms.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 31166 on Ministers: Aviation, whether the £4,282 figure includes officials accompanying Ministers.

No, the £4,282 figure is for Ministers only.

Whether (a) he and (b) the Prime Minister are permitted to make use of the King's Helicopter Flight when not in use by the Royal Household.

No. There is no arrangement for the Prime Minister or the Secretary of State for Defence for use of the King's Helicopter Flight.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 29217 on Prime Minister: Aviation, what the cost of helicopter travel for Defence Ministers is since 4 July 2024.

The Ministry of Defence has spent £1,154.03 on helicopter travel for Defence Ministers since 4 July 2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28652 on Ministers: Aviation, what the amount of air passenger duty that is paid on an individual domestic RAF flight each way was in (a) March 2025 and (b) April 2025, excluding Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands travel; and whether the higher rate of APD is paid.

The Government introduced the domestic rate of Air Passenger Duty (APD) with effect from 1 April 2023 and this is paid on flights from qualifying airports within the UK. Flights on the RAF Envoy incur the higher rate of APD as this relates to an aircraft of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers. This rate was set at £78 per person. From 1 April 2025 the rate will increase to £84 per person.

Pursuant to the Answer of (a) 21 February 2025 to Question 30825, on Ministers: Helicopters, and (b) 18 February 2025, to Question 30467 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, what the expected cost to the Department is of an individual flight under the new contract, including any variation by distance travelled; and on what date the new provision went live.

The new method of Ministry of Defence senior leader helicopter travel commenced on 1 January 2025. Costs vary on the basis of a range of factors, including number of passengers, distance, length of time of usage and availability. The Ministerial Air Transport administered contract is available via HM Government Contract Finder here: Provision of Corporate Travel contract - Contracts Finder

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 1248 on Military Aircraft: Helicopter, whether there will be a public procurement exercise for the new helicopter service.

There is no procurement of a new helicopter service. The Ministry of Defence has accessed an existing cross-Government helicopter air transport contract to allow cost-effective, operationally important helicopter transport when needed.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025to Question 25863 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, what is the name of the company now providing the helicopter transport through the Cabinet Office framework.

The Cabinet Office has a cross-Government contract in place with Corporate Travel Management (North) Limited (CTM). CTM provides a travel booking service for Cabinet Office staff, Ministers and Ministry of Defence senior officials when travel is permitted for business and operational reasons. Information on this contract can be found at the following Contracts Finder link:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/da014209-47d7-4805-8097-e191d7d1077f?origin=SearchResults&p=1

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024, to Question 1248 on Military Aircraft: Helicopter, where the Ministerial Transport Office is based; how many staff work in it; and what its budget is .

The helicopter arrangements are managed by the Cabinet Office Commercial team and form part of the Central Departmental Travel contracts which are in place with Corporate Travel Management (North) Limited (CTM). There is one dedicated Full Time official with other resources being used as and when required. CTM provides a travel booking service for Cabinet Office staff, Ministers and Ministry of Defence senior officials when travel is permitted for business and operational reasons. Costs are paid from the end user budget.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 25862 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, whether his assessment of the cost has included the additional costs of (a) Royal Household helicopter provision and (b) non-Defence Ministerial travel; and what the estimated total annual cost is .

Provision of Royal Household and non-Defence Ministerial helicopter travel is not a Ministry of Defence responsibility. Therefore, the cost assessment for Ministry of Defence senior leader and official future helicopter transport did not include Royal Household or non-Defence Ministerial travel requirements. Before deletion of Rotary Wing Command Support Air Transport in December 2024, Royal Household and wider Government usage had been on an ‘as available’ basis, when the aircraft was not in use for Ministry of Defence activity.

How many veterans are awaiting compensation for PTSD-related claims; and what steps he is taking to expedite those claims.

The information is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, it may be helpful to note that War Pension Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) claims are not categorised by condition on receipt. It is not possible to determine if a claim received for a mental health condition will be accepted for compensation under either scheme until medical review of all evidence in the final stage of consideration and decision making. Defence Statistics Health publish statistics on claims and awards made under the WPS and AFCS. The latest WPS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 and can be found on the gov.uk website:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index The latest AFCS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 which was published on the gov.uk website on 18 July 2024:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-statistics-index The Ministry of Defence (MOD) aims to consider all claims under the WPS AFCS as efficiently and as quickly as possible so as not to cause undue delay and stress. Alongside Service evidence, it is often necessary to obtain medical records and case notes from the individual's civilian general practitioner and/or other medical providers. Awaiting the return of those records does take time and, regrettably, this is something MOD officials have no influence over. The MOD's own working practices are regularly reviewed to positively impact claim processing times for both schemes' claimants. As part of ongoing modernisation, new automated processes are currently being implemented to reduce processing times, as well as a new training programme to enhance caseworker knowledge and skills to further improve confidence and processing of claims.

What steps his Department plans to take to reduce the time taken for compensation processing for veterans with PTSD-related claims.

The information is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, it may be helpful to note that War Pension Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) claims are not categorised by condition on receipt. It is not possible to determine if a claim received for a mental health condition will be accepted for compensation under either scheme until medical review of all evidence in the final stage of consideration and decision making. Defence Statistics Health publish statistics on claims and awards made under the WPS and AFCS. The latest WPS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 and can be found on the gov.uk website:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index The latest AFCS publication presents statistics as at 31 March 2024 which was published on the gov.uk website on 18 July 2024:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-statistics-index The Ministry of Defence (MOD) aims to consider all claims under the WPS AFCS as efficiently and as quickly as possible so as not to cause undue delay and stress. Alongside Service evidence, it is often necessary to obtain medical records and case notes from the individual's civilian general practitioner and/or other medical providers. Awaiting the return of those records does take time and, regrettably, this is something MOD officials have no influence over. The MOD's own working practices are regularly reviewed to positively impact claim processing times for both schemes' claimants. As part of ongoing modernisation, new automated processes are currently being implemented to reduce processing times, as well as a new training programme to enhance caseworker knowledge and skills to further improve confidence and processing of claims.

What steps he is taking to support female veterans.

This Government will always stand up for those who have served our country, and I am leading work across Government and with civil society to look at the best ways to ensure all veterans, including women veterans, get access to the support and opportunities they need and deserve.Women are a crucial part of the Armed Forces community, both through the value of their service and their contribution to society as veterans. This year, we will set out our plans for all veterans in our updated Veterans’ Strategy. This updated strategy will include a specific female veterans section.

Pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2024, to Question 21064, on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, whether senior leaders who will have access to the helicopter service include (a) Ministers, (b) Members of the Royal Family and (c) senior officers.

Under the Commercial Air Transport Contract, Ministry of Defence Ministers, senior Department officials and senior officers will have access to helicopter transport. The Royal Household make independent arrangements for Royal Helicopter transport.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 21064 on Military Aircraft: Helicopters, what estimate he has made of the annual value of the rotary wing transport being provided under the Commercial Transport Contract; from which departmental budget it will be funded; and whether the existing budget is the same budget as for the previous contract.

Ministry of Defence future use of the Commercial Air Transport Contract has been assessed and will be significantly cheaper than the cancelled Future Rotary Wing Command Support Air Transport contract. Individual user budgets will pay for use under the Ministerial Air Transport Office managed Commercial Air Transport Contract, as is normal for transportation costs; as a result it will not be from the same budget as the Command Support Air Transport contract.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 7009 on Ministry of Defence: Official Cars, if he will publish a list of senior officials with access to a government car.

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 7008 on Ministry of Defence: Official Cars, how many of those vehicles are electric.

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued.The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

What meetings (a) Ministers and (b) his officials have held with external stakeholders since 5 July 2024.

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.

What his Department's policy is on the allocation of Government Car Service cars to senior officials; what the policy was on 24 May 2024; and which senior officials have been granted access to the service since 4 July 2024.

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to Government Departments as a shared resource. Each Department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles. The arrangements relating to the using of vehicles in the Government Car Service is set out in the Civil Service Management Code. There has been no change in this policy since the General Election.

Pursuant to the Answers of 6 September 2024 to Questions 2306 and 2308 on Ministers: Official Cars, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have (i) been allocated a dedicated vehicle and (ii) access to use of a shared vehicle from the Government Car Service; what the (A) make, (B) model and (C) fuel type is for each car; and what the budget was for those cars in the 2024-25 financial year.

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to Government Departments as a shared resource. Each Department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles to its Ministerial cadre/officials, as under previous administrations. The Ministry of Defence is currently allocated 18 vehicles including allocated and shared vehicles. For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The average cost to a Department for a single Department Pool Car in 2024-25 financial year is £108,000 per annum.