Written questions by Cartlidge.

Whether he has made changes to Departmental expenditure on training for the (a) Royal Marines and (b) Army in the last 12 months.

In the last 12 months planned expenditure on Royal Marines training was reduced by 1.8% as part of wider Departmental action to manage pressure on in-year budgets, with limited impact on Royal Marines training outputs overall. Expenditure for the same period for Army training during this period, defined as direct training exercises including Phase 1 (basic training) and Phase 2 (initial training), has not changed.

What discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with US counterparts regarding the Chagos Islands since President Trump took office.

The Senate confirmation process is still ongoing for members of President Trump's Administration cabinet. The Government looks forward to working with US Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth following his confirmation by the Senate and the Administration in the months and years ahead once all relevant officials are in place.

Whether his Department has discussed the proposed payment to leaseback the military base on Diego Garcia with the Office for Value for Money.

We continue to work closely with HM Treasury on the agreement with Mauritius and will take this forward into the Spending Review. The Office for Value for Money has not been involved in these discussions to date.Details of the Treaty agreed between the UK and Mauritius will come before Parliament for scrutiny in the usual manner following its signature.

What proportion of medically unfit personnel are non-deployable for reasons of dental health in the (a) RAF, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Army.

This information is not held in the format requested.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 December to Question 20237 on Ministry of Defence: Employers’ Contributions, whether the additional money provided to cover the cost of increased employer National Insurance Contributions will be included in the figure the Department uses to confirm the percentage of UK GDP spent on Defence.

HM Treasury has confirmed they will provide funding for the increased cost of National Insurance Contributions for the department. GDP percentage spent on defence will be calculated in the usual way.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 December to Question 18985 on Army, whether the Departmental priority to double the lethality of the British Army by 2027 includes the procurement of the precision strike missile system as a metric of measuring whether that target has been achieved.

The ambition set by the Chief of the General Staff to double the fighting power of the British Army by 2027 and treble it by 2030 exists within the Army as a principle to guide Army modernisation. It is not tied to specific programmes or procurements, but will incorporate the outcomes of the Strategic Defence Review.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 December to Question 20237 on Ministry of Defence: Employers’ Contributions, when his Department plans to publish the details of the funding set aside to cover the increased cost of National Insurance contributions.

The Government will be supporting Departments with the cost of additional employer national insurance contributions. This is in line with the Government's usual approach to supporting the public sector, as was the case with the previous Government's Health and Social Care Levy. The allocation for the Ministry of Defence, along with all other Departments, will be set out in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 December to Question 18985 on Army, whether the Departmental priority to double the lethality of the British Army by 2027 includes the acceleration beyond current plans of any current armoured vehicle programmes as a metric of measuring whether that target has been achieved.

The ambition set by the Chief of the General Staff to double the fighting power of the British Army by 2027 and treble it by 2030 exists within the Army as a principle to guide Army modernisation. It is not tied to specific programmes or procurements, but will incorporate the outcomes of the Strategic Defence Review.

Whether it is his formal target to procure RCH 155 within the 5-year limit for hardware platforms.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 December 2024 to Question 16467 to the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois). I explained that whilst the Mobile Fires Platform aims to achieve Minimum Deployable Capability (MDC) within this decade, a timeline or definition of MDC is yet to be determined, both of which will be guided by the outcome of the Strategic Defence Review. Whilst the MDC is not yet defined, the target for delivery of the RCH 155 is in line with the Defence Command Paper and the Integrated Procurement Model’s five-year target.

If he will make an assessment of the potential lessons that could be learned from the use of RCH 155 by Ukraine.

The Mobile Fires Platform project will deliver the Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155mm (RCH 155) Calibre Wheeled Artillery System through a jointly led collaborative procurement between the UK and Germany. The project does not anticipate any direct impact to RCH certification following Germany’s decision to provide Ukraine with RCH 155. Underpinning the collaborative approach of the UK and Germany is the commitment to exchange project related information that may afford a deeper understanding of the capability, to inform wider integration considerations. This may include an assessment of any potential lessons from the training and use of RCH 155 by Ukraine.

When he plans that the RCH 155 will reach minimum deployable capability.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 December 2024 to Question 16467 to the right hon. Member for Raleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois).

Whether Germany’s decision to provide Ukraine with RCH 155 will have an impact on his Department’s approach to certifying RCH 155 for use by the British Army.

The Mobile Fires Platform project will deliver the Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155mm (RCH 155) Calibre Wheeled Artillery System through a jointly led collaborative procurement between the UK and Germany. The project does not anticipate any direct impact to RCH certification following Germany’s decision to provide Ukraine with RCH 155. Underpinning the collaborative approach of the UK and Germany is the commitment to exchange project related information that may afford a deeper understanding of the capability, to inform wider integration considerations. This may include an assessment of any potential lessons from the training and use of RCH 155 by Ukraine.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 23156 on Diego Garcia: Military Bases, on what dates each meeting took place; which Ministers in his Department were present at each meeting; and whether the (a) Diego Garcia military base and (b) terms of the proposed Chagos settlement were discussed with people representing the incoming US Administration.

The Government looks forward to working with the incoming US Administration in the months and years ahead. The Senate confirmation process is ongoing for members of President Trump's cabinet.

Whether he plans to transfer the management of RAF Odiham from the Army to the Royal Air Force.

There is a joint Army and Royal Air Force (RAF) proposal to adopt an Air Base/Air Wing operating model at Benson and Odiham airbases. This would see the RAF take responsibility for running the Airbases, with helicopters from the Army’s Joint Aviation Command (JAC) continuing to operate from both sites. This will have no effect on operational outputs.

If he will make an estimate of the potential cost to the defence industry of lost output arising from protests at (a) Glasgow Govan shipyard, (b) Glasgow Scotsoun and (c) Samlesbury aerospace factory in each of the last 12 months.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 September 2024 to Question 4231.

Whether he has reached agreement with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the financial year when defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP.

The Government is committed to setting a path to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence in the spring and the Department engages regularly with His Majesty's Treasury on the issue.

What the contractual end date is for the principle members of the Strategic Defence Review team.

The Reviewers will make their final report to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Defence Secretary in the Spring of 2025. The Defence Secretary will then publish a version of that report to Parliament. It will then be implemented by the Department.

How many meetings he has held with the incoming US administration on the terms of the Diego Garcia military base as part of the Chagos settlement.

The Defence Secretary is regularly in touch with the US on a range of matters including the British Indian Ocean Territory/Chagos Archipelago. We look forward to discussing these matters with the incoming Administration in the usual way.

What proportion of the UK’s contribution to the cost of Chagos settlement will be funded from his Department’s budget.

As a former Defence Minister, the hon. Member will be familiar with the spending processes in the Ministry of Defence. Spending decisions will be taken in the usual way in due course.

Whether the delay to the publication of his Department's annual statistics on armed forces equipment will impact the scheduling of other departmental (a) reports and (b) reviews.

No. It is not anticipated that this delay will have any impact on the delivery of other departmental reports or reviews. All such reports or reviews would use the latest available published statistics.