Written questions by Shastri-Hurst.

How many Air Cadets there were in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes annual accredited official statistics on the strength of MOD-sponsored Cadet Forces. Statistics as at 1 April 2024 and 2025 (the latest iteration) can be found at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-sponsored-cadet-forces-statistics-index. The next iteration of these statistics is expected to be published in June 2026 with information as at 1 April 2026.

How many sea cadets there were in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes annual accredited official statistics on the strength of MOD-sponsored Cadet Forces. Statistics as at 1 April 2024 and 2025 (the latest iteration) can be found at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-sponsored-cadet-forces-statistics-index. The next iteration of these statistics is expected to be published in June 2026 with information as at 1 April 2026.

How many Army cadets there were in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes annual accredited official statistics on the strength of MOD-sponsored Cadet Forces. Statistics as at 1 April 2024 and 2025 (the latest iteration) can be found at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-sponsored-cadet-forces-statistics-index. The next iteration of these statistics is expected to be published in June 2026 with information as at 1 April 2026.

How many Air Cadet squadrons there were in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.

In July 2024 there were 877 Royal Air Force Air Cadet Squadrons, and as of March 2026 there was 871.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of freezing Royal Navy personnel postings in the context of the geopolitical situation.

The Department has no plans to freeze Royal Navy personnel movements. Personnel management continues under existing arrangements.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of freezing Royal Air Force personnel postings in the context of the geopolitical situation.

The Department has no plans to freeze Royal Air Force personnel movements. Personnel management continues under existing arrangements.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of freezing Army personnel postings in the context of the geopolitical situation.

The Department has no plans to freeze Army personnel movements in the context of the geopolitical situation and personnel management continues under existing arrangements to meet the needs of the Army, and to ensure the right people capability is provided to fulfil our national Defence commitments.

What the expected cost is to his Department of meeting net zero and environmental targets over the next five years.

The Ministry of Defence will contribute to the UK’s Net Zero and environmental targets primarily through the Greening Government Commitments. These commitments provide the central framework for Departments and their agencies to reduce their impact on the environment over a five-year period. The Greening Government Commitments for the period 2025-2030 are currently under review to ensure that they remain aligned with this government’s priorities.

How many Army Cadet detachments there were in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.

In July 2024 there were 1,586 Army Cadet Force detachments. In March 2026 there were 1,568.

How many Sea Cadet units there were in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.

The latest available data for cadet forces is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-sponsored-cadet-forces-statistics-2025/mod-sponsored-cadet-forces-1-april-2025

What estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed in the defence industry in (a) July 2024 and (b) March 2026.

The ‘MOD Supported Employment Estimates Report’ presents the number of direct and indirect jobs supported by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in 2023-24 by UK region and industry group. The report can be found on the gov.uk website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-supported-employment-estimates-202324/mod-supported-employment-estimates-202324 For financial year 2023-24 (the most recent time period available), 272,000 direct and indirect jobs were supported through MOD expenditure with UK industry. The Statistics covering 2024-25 will be published later this summer.

Whether the number of civil servants working on the Defence Investment Plan has changed since June 2025.

The Defence Investment Plan has been supported by a flexible cross‑Defence team, with personnel allocated at the right level to reflect the complexity of the work and ensure progress to publication.

How many military personnel are working on the Defence Investment Plan.

The Defence Investment Plan has been supported by a flexible cross‑Defence team, with personnel allocated at the right level to reflect the complexity of the work and ensure progress to publication.

How many civil servants are working on the Defence Investment Plan.

The Defence Investment Plan has been supported by a flexible cross‑Defence team, with personnel allocated at the right level to reflect the complexity of the work and ensure progress to publication.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) small, (b) medium and (c) large businesses in the defence industry in (i) July 2024 and (ii) March 2026.

This information is not held in the format requested.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of charging members of Overseas Territory Regiments home rates rather than overseas rates for attendance at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

There is no distinction between the home and international rates for attendance at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. The only difference is whether costs are charged, and this is dependent on a number of factors which are considered at the time of application. These include the country’s GDP, historic links and the regiment’s place in the British Army Order of Battle.

How much his Department has spent in (a) cash terms and (b) constant prices in the UK (i) aircraft and (ii) spacecraft industry in the last 20 years.

Whilst we are unable to separate out “Aircraft” and “Spacecraft”, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently publish an annual bulletin on MOD Regional Expenditure with Industry which includes details on MOD’s spending with UK industry in the combined category of “Aircraft and Spacecraft”. The table below shows this industry spend in both current and constant prices for the last 20 years (2005/06 to 2024/25). Financial Year Aircraft and Spacecraft Expenditure at Current Prices (£ million)Aircraft and Spacecraft Expenditure at Constant 2024/25 Prices (£ million) [note 3]2005/061,7302,8122006/071,9603,1032007/082,1003,2462008/09 [b] [note 1]2,4803,6992009/102,6403,8862010/11 [b] [note 2]2,7103,9152011/12 [b] [note 3]2,4303,4492012/132,4603,4292013/14 [b] [note 4]2,4523,3532014/152,2353,0192015/162,0072,6932016/171,8322,4032017/181,7192,2202018/191,6192,0472019/201,5701,9402020/21 [b] [note 5]1,6121,8902021/221,7282,0382022/232,0232,2292023/242,2052,2942024/252,4492,449 Notes:[b] signifies a break in series 1 Break in series between 2007/08 and 2008/09. For 2008/09 onwards, industrial groupings are based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007 codes. Prior to this, industrial groupings may have used SIC 1992 or SIC 2003 guidelines 2 Break in series between 2009/10 and 2010/11 due to methodology changes, resulting in significant changes in allocation of spending to several industry groupings including that of Aircraft and Spacecraft. 3 Break in series between 2011/12 and 2012/13 due to a reclassification of Resource Account Codes, more extensive exclusion of 'Other Government Organisations' and improvements to processes on SIC code data cleansing. 4 Break in series between 2012/13 and 2013/14 due to methodology changes. Improvements were made to identify expenditure to be excluded as overseas, with Other Government Departments, or related to elements such as pay. 5 Break in series between 2019/20 and 2020/21 due to methodology changes. Direct comparison across the years 2019/20 to 2020/21 should not be made, longer comparisons across the time series should still be valid noting other breaks in series. More details can be found by visiting the background quality report (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-statistics-with-industry-202425).

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 904908 on Defence: Investment, when his Department plans to publish the Defence Investment Plan.

The Defence Investment Plan will be published later this year. It will set out our plans to deliver the recommendations as agreed in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review.

How much his Department spent overseas on (a) equipment and (b) equipment support in 2024-25 by country.

Total Ministry of Defence (MOD) overseas expenditure in 2024-25 was £5,978 million. Of this, £3,771 million was spent directly with industry overseas and can be readily separated by equipment type: equipment (£1,539 million), non-equipment (£1,373 million), and equipment support (£859 million). The remaining £2,207 million of overseas spend in 2024-25 was made through Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Agreements with the US Government and through direct spending with foreign Governments for work completed overseas. The MOD does not hold enough granular information to be able to split the FMS and foreign government expenditure across both equipment type and location. We are unable to provide a breakdown by country as an assessment of the commercial sensitivities of the underlying contract location data has not been made. The above totals are derived from the MOD annual publication of regional expenditure with industry 2024-25 which can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-statistics-with-industry-202425

What key performance indicators he plans to publish on the impact of the National Armaments Director Group on defence procurement.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are being developed for the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group as part of a single NAD Group performance framework for 2026-27. The KPIs will be aligned to the intent set in the Strategic Defence Review recommendations.