Written questions by Cartlidge.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 48 on combining the career management of (a) regulars and (b) reservists.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 42 on developing a coordinated approach to (a) retain a relationship with and (b) increase understanding of veterans within the broader labour market.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 37 on setting a clear connectivity goal on operations.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 41 on (a) refreshing the Armed Forces Covenant as a two-way relationship and (b) beginning a conversation with today’s members about how this can be done.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 22 to establish a sustainable costing methodology for the reward framework to understand the (a) cost and (b) value of the reward strategy.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 30 on Head Office ensuring interoperability as Single Services continue to deliver other capabilities.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 36 on setting out a clear day-to-day connectivity goal based on broader Government ambition.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 32 on commissioning new data sources.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 31 on delivering digital capability to create a people data strategy.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 34 on the trial of a revolutionised approach to recruit digital aptitude into the uniformed force.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 39 on targeting (a) newly engaged, (b) more diverse and (c) skilled populations to bring more recruits into the Services.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 20673 on Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 28 for a Head Office led delivery of an agreed set of core capabilities that are (a) consistent and (b) unified across the organisation.

The Government acknowledges the important work done in the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation (HRAFI) report completed under the previous Government. The Government is delivering a comprehensive portfolio of work to fix the people system, and this captures many of the recommendations of the HRAFI report, but goes much further. The portfolio is organised around five Missions aligned to the key themes of the report. These Missions will form the basis of all future work delivered across the People Function. Defence has been taking forward work that directly addresses the majority of the reports 67 recommendations. To deliver a workforce that is highly skilled and productive, meeting the demands Defence is likely to experience, and helping ensure benefits are felt by our people as soon as possible. Progress is constantly monitored and reported on through the governance structure to ensure real time oversight. The progress made within each Mission is summarised below: 1. Workforce Agility. Delivering the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time will result in a reduced number of gaps across the workforce, increase the percentage of deployable Suitably Qualified and Experienced People and enable more effective and intelligent management of the workforce to support operational effectiveness. This will, in turn be a more rewarding use of Service personnel’s skills, supporting their development and becoming a key lever to satisfaction and retention.Work is underway to improve engagement with veterans, understand how to make better use of the Reserve forces and make improvements to the workforce planning. The Armed Forces Recruitment Programme will deliver a tri-service recruitment solution by 2027. 2. Skills. This Government will build Defence as a world-class engine for a skills-based approach to recruitment, workforce planning and increased operational effectiveness. This includes the Pan-Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) which will start to be implemented later this year, will represent the first important milestone towards becoming a truly Skills-Based Organisation. A PDSF skills-based pay supplement is being developed to be tested with a cohort of engineers from spring 2025. 3. Reward. In direct response to recommendation 24 of the report, work has begun to trial aspects of a Total Reward Approach with a cohort of engineers to help understand what our people really value in their reward and benefits package, and to inform prioritisation of initiatives. Release 1 initiatives are starting to be rolled out and will see improvements for the cohort of engineers and more widely, including targeted Financial Retention Incentive payments to some of this cohort as well as to junior ranks across the Army. The evaluation of initiatives within Release 1 will inform and shape future reward packages across Defence; an approach advocated by HRAFI.Within this Mission, we have also recently announced an improved offer for overseas families, with the expansion of the wraparound childcare scheme. We are also continuing our work to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law. This Government also awarded personnel the highest pay rise in 20 years.Taking a future-focused approach, understanding what drives the retention and recruitment of target generations and using financial and non-financial levers to stabilise and motivate the workforce we aim to attract new talent, incentivise reward and develop a bespoke reward landscape for a better experience for our people and their families. 4. Digital. This focuses on providing a consumer-grade, user experience, which was a big emphasis within the report (chapter three was devoted to this). Delivery of the objectives under the well-established Corporate Services Modernisation and Defence Human Resources Services programmes will go some way to achieving the intent of the report. In line with this, progress is being made with the simplification of policy across military and Civilian systems, supported by the roll out of consistent HR taxonomy. This will deliver an improved lived experience enabled through intuitive, accessible and responsive HR and digital services that meet employee needs in a timely and user-friendly manner; ultimately driving enhanced employee satisfaction. 5. One Defence. This Mission recognises the extent of the cultural challenge that we face in many areas and much of this is captured under our Raising our Standards programme. More specifically, work is underway to review the Service Justice System and Service Complaints process. Defence Reform will make recommendations for a more effective People Department. Underlining the government’s commitment to addressing welfare concerns within the Armed Forces, the Armed Forces Commissioner Bill continues its passage through Parliament. The ultimate goal is to deliver a workforce that harnesses all talents.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 34636 on HMS Northumberland: Decommissioning, what the target date is for the delivery of the Type 26 Frigates.

Each of the Ships Programmes are progressing. All of the Type 26 Ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035. The five Type 31 ships are planned to be in service by the early 2030s and the three Fleet Solid Support Ships by 2032. The Multi-Role Strike Ship programme continues to progress through the Concept Phase. The Outline Business Case is due for submission mid-2025 which will detail the schedule for future contract award milestones.

Whether he has had discussions with the Prime Minister on the publication date for the Strategic Defence Review since 25 February 2025.

The Strategic Defence Review is well advanced, but not yet complete. As soon as it is completed the Prime Minister will put it before the House.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2025 to Question 33508 on Defence Serious Crime Unit, how frequently does the Service Justice Board meet.

The Service Justice Board (SJB) is responsible to the Secretary of State for providing assurance that an effective and efficient system for dispensing Service Justice is in place, in support of the operational effectiveness of the Armed Forces. The full membership of the SJB is:Minister for Veterans and People (Chair)A Minister from the Ministry of JusticeThe Solicitor GeneralMinistry of Defence (MOD) Permanent SecretaryChief of Defence PeopleTwo Non-Executive DirectorsRoyal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force Principal Personnel OfficersDirector Service ProsecutionsDirector Military Court ServiceDirector MOD Legal AdvisersThe Victims’ Commissioner for England and WalesObserverThe Judge Advocate General (or nominated representative) is invited to attend the SJB as an observer, having due regard to the independence and constitutional separation from the executive function of Government as a member of the judiciary. The SJB is held at least once a year. It last met on 3 December 2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 34636 on HMS Northumberland: Decommissioning, what the target date is for the delivery of the fleet solid support ships.

Each of the Ships Programmes are progressing. All of the Type 26 Ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035. The five Type 31 ships are planned to be in service by the early 2030s and the three Fleet Solid Support Ships by 2032. The Multi-Role Strike Ship programme continues to progress through the Concept Phase. The Outline Business Case is due for submission mid-2025 which will detail the schedule for future contract award milestones.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 34636 on HMS Northumberland: Decommissioning, what the target date is for the delivery of the Type 31 Frigates.

Each of the Ships Programmes are progressing. All of the Type 26 Ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035. The five Type 31 ships are planned to be in service by the early 2030s and the three Fleet Solid Support Ships by 2032. The Multi-Role Strike Ship programme continues to progress through the Concept Phase. The Outline Business Case is due for submission mid-2025 which will detail the schedule for future contract award milestones.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 33956 on Defence: Finance, what the increase to defence spending is in real terms.

The Government’s commitment to increase defence investment to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 will result in a £13.4 billion increase to defence spending in cash terms in 2027/28 compared to 2024/25.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 March to Question 33948 on Ministry of Defence: Lost Property and Theft, if he will provide details on the two specific incidents referred to in the answer.

The incidents of lost and stolen devices both occurred in the Navy which introduced strengthened accounting processes and completed a comprehensive audit of mobile devices. In total the two incidents account for 259 mobile phones lost or stolen between 5 July 2024 and 27 February 2025, of which 222 were obsolete (running unsupported operating systems, so would not be able to join our network) and would have been disposed of. Obsolete smartphones cannot be used to access Ministry of Defence systems and cannot be used for any other purpose.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2025 to Question 34904 on Defence: Procurement, whether the target for direct SME spending will be published separately to the Spending Review.

The Ministry of Defence is required, along with all other Government Departments, to agree and publish a target for direct spend with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by June 2025. The Department is committed to publishing a stretching but achievable target to meet this requirement. Work on the SME direct spend target is being undertaken separately but in parallel with development of other departmental publications and the spending review.