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 33 on planning for (a) long-term capability and (b) introducing a personal digital profile.

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, if his Department plans to implement recommendation 47 on recording skills-based information on (a) regular and (b) reserve personnel to enable career managers to match skills to roles.

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 Haythornwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, whether his Department plans to implement recommendation 13 on the zero-based review of the overseas package.

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 3 on further investment in service accommodation.

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 60 on enabling Head Office to focus on (a) ensuring the necessary consistency in process and (b) strategic, long-term and pan-government workforce interventions.

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 59 to ensure the whole strategic workforce planning ecosystem remains balanced and coherent by light-touch governance with shared ownership that ensures coherence.

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 61 to engage a third party to conduct an agnostic vendor selection market assessment to determine which products, functionalities and services are available and aligned to user requirements.

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 59 to create a strategic workforce planning coherence committee for (a) single service and (b) top level budget holder coordination, including financial planners in Head Office and elsewhere.

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 58 to free up the Army’s headcount constraint, moving to a workforce cost envelope approach that will increase focus on capability outputs.

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.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to assist farmers to mitigate the impact of the loss of Sustainable Farming Incentive payments in South Suffolk constituency.

This Government is proud to have secured the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history, with £5 billion being spent to support farmers over a 2-year period. Defra has closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive for the submission of new applications, existing agreements will continue. Every penny in all existing SFI agreements will be paid to farmers, and outstanding eligible applications that have been submitted will be processed. We will provide further details about the reformed SFI offer once the Spending Review has been completed. SFI is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package. We recognise farmers need clarity and certainty and we remain committed to investing in agri-environment schemes, and to supporting the farming sector, including those in the South Suffolk constituency. We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; and we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome. The budget for future years will be set in phase 2 of the SR.

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 38 to apply a five-step approach that combines innovative, risk-taking engagement online with real-life opportunities.

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.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to re-open the Sustainable Farming Incentive for new applications for farmers in South Suffolk constituency.

This Government has committed £5 billion over 2 years to sustainable farming and nature recovery and we’ve worked hard to get as many farmers into environmental land management schemes as possible. We have closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for new applications because the current SFI budget has been successfully allocated, with large-scale uptake of the scheme and 37,000 live SFI agreements delivering towards our environmental targets. We will be reforming the SFI offer to direct funding towards SFI actions which are most appropriate for the least productive land and have the strongest case for enduring public investment. This will allow us to align SFI with our work on the Land Use Framework and the 25-year farming roadmap to protect the most productive land and boost food security, whilst delivering for nature. We expect to publish more information about the reformed SFI offer in summer 2025. This will include an indication of when we expect to re-open SFI for applications. We invite farmers from South Suffolk to follow our blog to keep updated on the latest news.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of pausing the Sustainable Farming Incentive for new applications on (a) flood risk and (b) flood management for agricultural land in South Suffolk constituency.

All actions in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) have been assessed for the impact on a number of indicators, including flood risk. By benefiting soil health, many of the actions in SFI will reduce flood risk by increasing infiltration and therefore, reducing run off. These actions will be delivered across tens of thousands of farmers for the next three years. The specific actions to manage flood risk are mainly in Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, which will open in the summer.

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 7 March 2025 to Question 33948 on Ministry of Defence: Lost Property and Theft, where phones were last located before being (a) misplaced and (b) stolen by region since 5 July 2024.

This information is being withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security. The Ministry of Defence takes the security of our assets extremely seriously and we have robust measures in place to assure the integrity of these arrangements. When any type of security incident is raised, it is reviewed by security personnel and subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.

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 multi-role 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 5 March 2025 to Question 33508 on Defence Serious Crime Unit, if he will publish the full membership of the Service Justice Board.

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 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.

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 10 March 2025 to Question 34904 on Defence: Procurement, whether he plans to publish the target for direct SME spending separately from the Defence Industrial Strategy.

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.