Written questions by Swayne.

Whether it is his policy to seek UK participation in the Security Action for Europe instrument.

As outlined in the Minister for Cabinet Office’s Written Ministerial Statement on 1 December, we entered good-faith negotiations on SAFE participation, but no agreement was possible that met our national interest. UK industry retains access under third-country terms. We will continue to explore cooperation with the EU that strengthens European Security and underpins our NATO First policy. The UK has a long history of collaborating with our European partners on major defence projects, which will continue, regardless of participation in SAFE. This year, we have struck a £10 billion deal with Norway, secured an £8 billion agreement with Türkiye, and signed an agreement with Germany to pursue joint export campaigns for jointly produced equipment like Boxer armoured vehicles.

What metrics are used to assess the efficiency of the Army recruitment system; and what estimate he has made of the most recent assessment of the efficiency of the Army recruitment system.

The efficiency of the British Army Recruitment pipeline is constantly measured on a daily, weekly and monthly basis through various key performance indicators (KPI) throughout the recruitment process to the end of basic training. These KPIs vary depending on stage of the process but make assessments based on numbers of registrations, Army briefings and their effectiveness, questionnaires, assessment centre attendance, individual career discussions and the success, fail, defer and conversion rates of basic training. The assessment process has recently helped enhance areas of the recruitment system including an improved and updated website and candidate portal, digitised collection of the primary health care records (PHCR) and the implementation of AI to scrutinise each PHCR. The British Army has a continuous early initiative to seek improvements of the process and system.

What steps he is taking to protect Royal Navy war graves in international waters.

The term “war graves” is one which applies to the final resting places of fallen soldiers on land, and locations designated as a war grave by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. However, as a matter of customary international law, all naval warships, state vessels and associated artefacts are afforded protection through the principle of Sovereign Immunity. The UK is of the view that, unless expressly relinquished or abandoned by the Flag State, the Sovereign Immunity of the wreck of any Crown vessel remains in place, regardless of where the wreck in question is located, and those who lost their lives in service of our country should be left in situ and undisturbed. Some warships are also afforded additional protection under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.