Written questions by Cartlidge.

With reference to recommendation 6 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, which team in his Department is responsible for developing a dedicated strategy for the financial services sector by March 2026.

The Growth and Missions Directorate within the Department of State will lead the Defence Finance and Investment Strategy in collaboration with Military Strategic Head Quarters and the National Armaments Director Group. They will be supported by the Defence Investors' Advisory Group that will be made of eminent professionals within the banking and venture capital sector.

With reference to recommendation 48 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, if he will list the commercial facilities that could be potentially used for operations as a military alternative to RAF Brize Norton.

I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand that I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

With reference to recommendation 2 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on establishing a roadmap for delivering deeper interoperability with NATO allies by January 2026.

The Strategic Defence Review is clear that our defence policy is 'NATO First'. The Armed Forces must be capable of operating as part of a NATO force by design. We are taking this forward with and through NATO, which will produce an Interoperability Plan for the Alliance by the end of the year. The Military Strategic Headquarters has appointed an interoperability champion to support the implementation of this plan. The UK's own roadmap for delivering deeper interoperability with NATO allies will be developed alongside our Integrated Force Design. Officials within the Department meet regularly to discuss both initiatives, however, information regarding the total number of meetings is not held in the format requested.

With reference to page 127 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published in June 2025 how much his Department plans to spend on Defence Intelligence in each year of this Parliament.

This Government has made a historic commitment to defence investment – rising to 2.6% in 2027. Future budgets for Defence Intelligence are being finalised as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

With reference to recommendation 2 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, how many meetings have taken place within his Department on establishing a roadmap for delivering deeper interoperability with NATO allies by January 2026 since 2 June 2025.

The Strategic Defence Review is clear that our defence policy is ‘NATO First’. The Armed Forces must be capable of operating as part of a NATO force by design. We are taking this forward with and through NATO, which will produce an Interoperability Plan for the Alliance by the end of the year. The Military Strategic Headquarters has appointed an interoperability champion to support the implementation of this plan. The UK’s own roadmap for delivering deeper interoperability with NATO allies is being developed with and in support of our Integrated Force Design. Officials within the Department meet regularly to discuss these, however, information regarding the total number of meetings is not held in the format requested.

With reference to recommendation 2 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on establishing a roadmap for delivering deeper interoperability with NATO allies by January 2026.

The Strategic Defence Review is clear that our defence policy is ‘NATO First’. The Armed Forces must be capable of operating as part of a NATO force by design. We are taking this forward with and through NATO, which will produce an Interoperability Plan for the Alliance by the end of the year. The Military Strategic Headquarters has appointed an interoperability champion to support the implementation of this plan. The UK’s own roadmap for delivering deeper interoperability with NATO allies is being developed with and in support of our Integrated Force Design. Officials within the Department meet regularly to discuss these, however, information regarding the total number of meetings is not held in the format requested.

With reference to his oral statement of 17 July 2025 on Ukraine, Official Report, col 475, how many and what proportion of the drones supplied to Ukraine were made by British companies.

Where the UK's drone industry can meet Ukraine's drone requirements, the Ministry of Defence sources from UK industry, and this is true of the majority of the spend on drone procurements for Ukraine. As stated by the Defence Secretary at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group on 4 June, where he pledged £350 million investment into drones this financial year, the majority of the spend is with British companies. The proportion of drone spending spent with UK suppliers has varied year on year but this financial year we are on track to spend over 70% through UK suppliers.

If he will quantify his Department’s (a) underspend and (b) overspend in financial year 2024-2025.

The Department's performance against its control totals for financial year 20245-25 will be set out in its Annual Report and Accounts, which will be published shortly.

How many service personnel have received the tax free operational allowance in each of the last five financial years.

The number of Service personnel who have received tax free operational allowance in each of the last five financial years including the financial year 2025-26 to date, can be found in the table below. Financial YearNumber of Employees2020-2153362021-2252832022-2330152023-2421082024-2525252025-26 to date435 Service personnel on deployed operations in the following Specified Operational Locations (SOL) qualify for the payment of Operational Allowance: Chad (all locations)Egypt (Sinai only)Iraq (all locations)Mali (all locations)Somalia (all locations)South Sudan (all locations)Democratic Republic of Congo (Goma only)Lebanon (Naquora only) – backdated to 7 Oct 23Red Sea (within operational areas) – backdated to 19 Oct 23 I am withholding the names of some locations for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 July to Question 67413 on France: Military Alliances, whether his Department recognises any distinction between strategic and sub-strategic nuclear capabilities.

The UK does not categorise nuclear weapon capabilities as either strategic or sub-strategic. The UK and NATO have said that any employment of nuclear weapons against NATO would fundamentally alter the nature of a conflict.

Whether the Armed Forces Recruitment Service contract contains diversity targets.

Defence remains committed to attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing the best talent from the broadest diversity of thought, skills, and backgrounds, to ensure our workforce is reflective of today’s society and able to meet current and future security threats. The Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS) will provide a streamlined, single-entry point for prospective recruits, with the aim of recruiting from the broadest spectrum of society to attract the best talent into the Armed Forces. Under the AFRS contract, Serco, as the supplier, is required to comply with the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Diversity and Inclusion policy. The contract also includes Annual Mandated Performance Indicators focused on enhancing equality and diversity within the workforce. As part of the broader Defence Diversity and Inclusion strategy 2018-2030, Levels of Ambition (LOA) exist to guide efforts in creating a more inclusive workplace and are key to attracting and retaining the best talent from across society. It is important to note that the AFRS contract remains cognisant of MOD LOA; however, there is a clear distinction between LOA and contractual diversity targets.

What the specified operational locations are which qualify service personnel to receive the Operational Allowance.

The number of Service personnel who have received tax free operational allowance in each of the last five financial years including the financial year 2025-26 to date, can be found in the table below. Financial YearNumber of Employees2020-2153362021-2252832022-2330152023-2421082024-2525252025-26 to date435 Service personnel on deployed operations in the following Specified Operational Locations (SOL) qualify for the payment of Operational Allowance: Chad (all locations)Egypt (Sinai only)Iraq (all locations)Mali (all locations)Somalia (all locations)South Sudan (all locations)Democratic Republic of Congo (Goma only)Lebanon (Naquora only) – backdated to 7 Oct 23Red Sea (within operational areas) – backdated to 19 Oct 23 I am withholding the names of some locations for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Whether the contract for the Armed Forces Recruitment Service will include specific recruitment targets for the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Royal Navy.

We inherited a retention and recruitment crisis from the last administration and it is the policy of this Government to recover numbers in our Armed Forces and to grow the size of the Army. To deliver this we will be working with the new provider of the tri-service recruitment to deliver improvements in recruitment numbers. From Full-Service Implementation in 2027, the Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS) will deliver against annual recruitment targets and demand, which will be set by the three Services; the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, via the Command Recruiting Support Plan (CRSP). The CRSP is generated and approved in conjunction with the single Services with the AFRS contract containing a mechanism to adjust demand during each Recruiting Year.

How many and what proportion of the drones that have been supplied to Ukraine were manufactured in the UK.

Where the UK's drone industry can meet Ukraine's drone requirements, the Ministry of Defence sources from UK industry, and this is true of the majority of the spend on drone procurements for Ukraine. As stated by the Defence Secretary at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group on 4 June, where he pledged £350 million investment into drones this financial year, the majority of the spend is with British companies. The proportion of drone spending spent with UK suppliers has varied year on year but this financial year we are on track to spend over 70% through UK suppliers.

How many service personnel have received the tax free operational allowance in the 2025-26 financial year.

The number of Service personnel who have received tax free operational allowance in each of the last five financial years including the financial year 2025-26 to date, can be found in the table below. Financial YearNumber of Employees2020-2153362021-2252832022-2330152023-2421082024-2525252025-26 to date435 Service personnel on deployed operations in the following Specified Operational Locations (SOL) qualify for the payment of Operational Allowance: Chad (all locations)Egypt (Sinai only)Iraq (all locations)Mali (all locations)Somalia (all locations)South Sudan (all locations)Democratic Republic of Congo (Goma only)Lebanon (Naquora only) – backdated to 7 Oct 23Red Sea (within operational areas) – backdated to 19 Oct 23 I am withholding the names of some locations for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

With reference to his oral statement of 17 July 2025 on Ukraine, Official Report, col 475, whether the three star military officer who commands the multi-national command headquarters for the Multinational Force Ukraine will change when the headquarters moves from Paris to London.

The intent is for the three star command of the Multinational Force Ukraine to remain joint between UK and France. This will be reviewed once the detail of any ceasefire is known.

What the primary language will be in the three-star multi-national command headquarters for the Multinational Force Ukraine.

Over 30 nations are working together to provide support for MNF-U. We will be working using usual protocols for international collaboration. The planned working language is English.

What the (a) role and (b) size is of the Army's General Service Corps.

The General Service Corps (GSC) is an administrative grouping for Service personnel with no other assigned Regiment or Corps, such as those who are recruited directly into limited specialist roles. As at 28 July 2025, there were c800 Service personnel in the GSC.

With reference to his oral statement of 17 July 2025 on Ukraine, Official Report, col 475, whether (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) another country will provide the three star military officer to command the multi-national command headquarters for the Multinational Force Ukraine.

It is currently planned that France and the UK will jointly provide the three star commanders. This will be reviewed once the detail of any ceasefire is known.

With reference to his oral statement of 17 July 2025 on Ukraine, Official Report, col 475, whether the two star military officer who will deploy to Kyiv to lead the Multinational Force Ukraine headquarters will be a (a) British Army, (b) Royal Navy, (c) Royal Air Force officer.

Under current plans, the two star military commander in Kyiv will be an Army officer. Further details will be announced in the usual way in due course.