Written questions by Cartlidge.

With reference to recommendation 26 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, what discussions his Department has held with the Department for Education on plans to expand in-school Cadet Forces by 30% by 2030.

The campaign to increase the Cadet Forces by 30% by 2030 (’30 by 30’) is backed by £70 million of extra funding. The diverse and unique nature of the individual Cadet Forces and the federated approach to delivery mean that this funding will be spread across the single Services, Ministry of Defence (MOD) Centre, and supporting organisations. Work is currently underway to establish how the 30% increase will be realised, and costings will be refined through the ongoing Defence Investment Plan process. The recommendation of the Strategic Defence Review covers both school and community-based Cadet Forces across the country. For a number of years, one focus for Cadet growth has been through the ongoing joint Department for Education (DfE)/MOD Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) in schools. The CEP will form a key component of the new ‘30 by 30’ campaign, and our important engagement with DfE on the delivery of this discreet element will continue. We wish to grow Cadets in areas where the need is greatest. The MOD and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are working together to achieve this aim. In addition to our ’30 by 30’ campaign, MOD future growth plans will be aligned with areas with the highest deprivation levels and the weakest social infrastructure, including MHCLG’s Plan for Neighbourhoods programme places.

With reference to page 65 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what steps he is taking to better publicise specialist roles available in the Reserves.

All three Services promote specialist Reserve roles through their respective recruitment websites, multi-channel engagement, social media campaigns and unit attraction activities. In addition, all roles are advertised on the Service for Experienced, Re-joiner and Volunteer Engagements (SERVE) website for opportunities within Defence. Publicity and recruitment activity will depend on the specific skills being sought. Some Reserve personnel, such as pilots and meteorologists, may be recruited directly during Service Leaver events for the skills they acquired during Regular service. Direct recruitment of specialist Reservists in areas such as medicine and healthcare may occur directly using specialist recruiters and we have also recently developed a route to Service for civilians with catering skills. Earlier this year, the first ab initio Reservist entered the Engineering specialism, which until recently was only open to ex-Regular personnel. We will increasingly look to publicise specialist Reservist roles for lateral entry as new routes open and will adapt to employ civilians with other specialist skills as demand requires.

With reference to page 69 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what progress he has made on implementing the Pan-Defence Skills Framework.

Defence is transforming how it identifies, develops, manages, values and retains talent. At the heart of this is the Pan Defence Skills Framework (PDSF), a fundamental shift in how we understand our skills landscape, creating a standardised approach that helps identify pressures and gaps while providing our military and civilian personnel with clearer career pathways.The Ministry of Defence has made strong progress in implementing the PDSF. Programme governance has been established and a delivery roadmap for skills authoring has been set, linked to skills areas. Around 700 core skills have already been authored and assured quad-service, and are being prepared for roll-out for onboarding. We are on track to identify and continue developing the remaining skills identified across Defence in the autumn. Work continues to ensure that the PDSF reflects evolving concepts, ambitions and delivery activities and to put the enabling technology in place to allow Services to onboard from October 2025. This includes technical integration to support the application that will link skills data back into a Master Systems of Record, enabling future use in areas such as performance management and workforce planning. PDSF has enabled a new Skills-Based supplement pay trial, for a cohort of Engineers who received payment in July 2025. The Skills Based Supplement trial will test and inform a new flexible and targeted approach to remuneration that aligns with Defence's transition to a skills-based organisation.This trial provides 3,200 engineering service personnel with payments of up to £2,700, which will help Defence evaluate wider implementation of skills-based rewards to enhance retention in highly demanded skills across the Armed Forces.Looking ahead, further phases will expand the framework to cover additional skills, onboarding of Arms-Length Bodies, and refine the underpinning technology. This will ensure Defence has the agility to align skills with future workforce demands evolving technology and the challenges of a rapidly changing security environment. This is a skills-based Defence revolution that will tackle recruitment challenges and transform Defence to build a more agile fighting force aligned with the Strategic Defence Review.

With reference to page 123 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, updated on 8 July 2025, what proportion of the MOD policy teams formed as part of the CyberEM command will be staffed by (a) military and (b) civilian personnel.

The Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force (DCEMF) remains in internal planning and design stages, with options presented to Defence but not yet endorsed by Military Strategic Headquarters. Resource and capability decisions are subject to the Defence annual planning cycle and the Defence Investment Plan, which will ultimately shape the design of the DCEMF and the speed, scale, and nature of implementation. I hope that the Hon. Gentleman will understand that until these processes are complete, details such as basing, costs, and workforce mix remain undecided and would be speculative.

With reference to recommendation 51 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published in June 2025, when he expects CyberEM Command to reach full operating capability.

The Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force (DCEMF) remains in internal planning and design stages, with options presented to Defence but not yet endorsed by Military Strategic Headquarters. Resource and capability decisions are subject to the Defence annual planning cycle and the Defence Investment Plan, which will ultimately shape the design of the DCEMF and the speed, scale, and nature of implementation. I hope that the Hon. Gentleman will understand that until these processes are complete, details such as basing, costs, and workforce mix remain undecided and would be speculative.

With reference to recommendation 32 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, when the first review by senior Ministers from the National Security Council (Nuclear) committee on progress on the National Endeavour for delivering the UK’s nuclear deterrent will (a) begin and (b) conclude.

The National Endeavour to maintain and renew the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent is a whole of Government effort. The Ministry of Defence works closely with other Government departments, including the Cabinet Office, His Majesty’s Treasury, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to ensure its effective delivery. The National Security Council (Nuclear) remains committed to regularly reviewing progress on the National Endeavour. It receives comprehensive updates on delivery at least twice each year, with involvement from all relevant Departments.

With reference to page 48 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, where the Digital Warfighter group will be based.

Our planning assumption is that the Digital Warfighter Group will be federated with the military commands. Hence the Group would be formed of multiple operational units, distributed across the UK.

With reference to recommendation 32 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, which government departments will participate in the progress review of the National Endeavour for delivering the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

The National Endeavour to maintain and renew the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent is a whole of Government effort. The Ministry of Defence works closely with other Government departments, including the Cabinet Office, His Majesty’s Treasury, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to ensure its effective delivery. The National Security Council (Nuclear) remains committed to regularly reviewing progress on the National Endeavour. It receives comprehensive updates on delivery at least twice each year, with involvement from all relevant Departments.

With reference to page 79 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, whether he has a target date for forming a dedicated training programme for international defence engagement.

A training programme has been in place since the formation of the Defence Attaché & Loan Service Centre in 2016, preparing personnel to deploy into International Defence Engagement Roles across the world. Following the publication of the Strategic Defence Review, an internal review aiming to establish a Defence Diplomacy Career Stream is underway to further professionalise our people, which will include an examination of training provision. Until this review is complete, a target date for changes to the training pathway cannot be set.

With reference to page 79 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on a dedicated training programme for international defence engagement since 2 June 2025.

The Secretary of State for Defence has not engaged in direct discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs regarding this issue. The Defenvce Minister for the House of Lords is leading development of the Defence Diplomacy Strategy, which will direct activities in this field. Nonetheless, officials from both Departments continue to collaborate on a routine basis.

With reference to recommendation 37 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, when he expects the Royal Navy’s hybrid carrier airwing to reach full operational capability.

The Hybrid Air Wing, underpinned by the Royal Navy’s approach to Maritime Aviation Transformation, represents the evolution of the Fleet Air Arm to a crewed-uncrewed mix of drones, fast jets, helicopters and one-way effectors that will deliver enhanced lethality and combat mass for North Atlantic Sea Control, Homeland Defence and Carrier and Littoral Strike. Fielding a suite of capabilities that puts Europe’s only 5th generation aircraft carriers at the heart of NATO, the Hybrid Air Wing will be Uncrewed Where Possible, Crewed Where Necessary. The Hybrid Air Wing is an iterative concept, with individual capabilities subject to spiral development to keep pace with the threat; this means that there will not be a single declaration of Full Operational Capability. The investment decisions to support Strategic Defence Review recommendations are being developed by the Ministry of Defence and will be published in the Defence Investment Plan.

With reference to recommendation 15 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, how many recommendations he plans to make by October 2025 to help tackle (a) structural, (b) behavioural and (c) leadership barriers to the creation of a more (i) representative and (ii) meritocratic workforce by June 2026.

Raising our Standards has been established by Defence to address structural, behavioural, and leadership barriers. This work is key to operational delivery, recruitment, retention and driving forward an inclusive and safe culture. Raising our Standards has planned initiatives under five pillars: communications and influencing behaviour change, data and analytics, 100% action when tackling unacceptable behaviours, streamlined education and training, and developing world-class leaders. In response to recommendation 15 of the Strategic Defence Review regarding independent oversight of implementation, Raising our Standards is working to implement a refreshed External Challenge Panel by October 2025.

With reference to recommendation 56 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, updated on 8 July 2025, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of creating a single counter-intelligence unit.

The new Defence Counter Intelligence Unit’s (DCIU) mandate is to protect UK Defence from intelligence and espionage threats, at home and overseas, by bringing together expertise and specialist capabilities alongside the UK Intelligence Community. The DCIU will be led by a One Star equivalent Senior Civil Servant. We do not comment on the proportion of manpower figures or specific locations to safeguard national security and strategic Defence interests. The costs relating to the formation and running of the unit are ongoing and will form part of the Defence Investment Plan, due to be published later this year.

With reference to recommendation 21 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, what recent progress his Department has made on developing a new Defence Diplomacy Strategy.

With the backdrop of the challenging global environment outlined in the Strategic Defence Review and the National Security Strategy, the Ministry of Defence is developing a new Defence Diplomacy Strategy, in coordination and consultation with other Government Departments. The Defence Diplomacy Strategy will prioritise the use of the Defence instrument in support of UK defence and wider foreign policy objectives. It will ensure that we are taking a coordinated, strategic and deliberate approach to protect and promote UK interests and enhance UK influence.This work is being led by the Minister of State for the House of Lords who is responsible for international relations and defence diplomacy.

With reference to recommendation 49 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, when will the first departmental review of the (a) SKYNET 6A and (b) SKYNET 6EC satellite communications programmes (i) commence and (ii) conclude.

The Skynet 6 programme undergoes formal quarterly reviews and is subject to regular review by the National Infrastructure and Services Transformation Authority, the next is scheduled for November 2025. Those reviews consider the resilience and operational relevance of the planned Skynet 6A and EC capabilities, which are also continuously assessed against projected operational demands and emerging threats. Where necessary, adjustments are then made across the entire Ministry of Defence Space enterprise to both ground- and space-based elements.

With reference to recommendation 29 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what proportion of the new CyberEM Command will be staffed by (a) military and (b) civilian personnel.

As stated by recommendation 51 of the Strategic Defence Review, the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force “must be a ‘whole force’ endeavour, with its structure largely filled by a mixture of civilians and Reserves, given that greater expertise exists in the civilian sector.” Resourcing and military to civilian proportions of the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force Headquarters are dependent on the outcome of the Defence Investment Plan. Submissions into the Defence capability investment governance process are ongoing and under discussion.

With reference to recommendation 49 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, how regularly will his Department review the (a) SKYNET 6A and (b) SKYNET 6EC satellite communications programmes.

The Skynet 6 programme undergoes formal quarterly reviews and is subject to regular review by the National Infrastructure and Services Transformation Authority, the next is scheduled for November 2025. Those reviews consider the resilience and operational relevance of the planned Skynet 6A and EC capabilities, which are also continuously assessed against projected operational demands and emerging threats. Where necessary, adjustments are then made across the entire Ministry of Defence Space enterprise to both ground- and space-based elements.

With reference to recommendation 5 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, when the first report of progress in establishing the fundamental capabilities of a core common platform will be submitted to the Secretary of State.

The fundamental capabilities of the core common platform set out within the Strategic Defence Review already exist and are being used today; however, they are not at the scale or delivering the integrated and innovative capabilities at the speed required to support the Integrated Force model. The regular progress reporting to Ministers will ensure that investment in these essential digital capabilities is closely monitored and prioritised through the Defence Investment Plan. The first progress report is due to be submitted to the Secretary of State in Autumn 2025.

With reference to recommendation 54 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, updated on 8 July 2025, who will command the Military Intelligence Services.

The Military Intelligence Services will have functional leadership provided by Defence Intelligence (DI). The Chief of Defence Intelligence will lead the Military Intelligence Services and the Intelligence Function across defence. The Command structure for MIS has yet to be finalised, and no decision has been made on who will be the Commander.

With reference to clause 27 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, whether he plans to increase funding for (a) a deep precision strike and (b) integrated air and missile defence during the current Parliament.

Work to deliver the Strategic Defence Review recommendations will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan to be published in the Autumn. Both Deep Precision Strike and Integrated Air and Missile Defence capabilities will be prioritised appropriately against the threat as part of the future Integrated Force.