Ben Obese-Jecty MP: written questions
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Written questions
Defence: Venture CapitalMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83488More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the level of venture capital investment there is within UK defence companies that sit within the Defence Industrial Strategy.
Answer: This Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) (published on 8 September 2025) sets how we will deliver a more competitive, innovative, resilient and integrated defence sector to make defence an engine for growth. To assess progress against the priority outcomes ...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordNational Armaments DirectorMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83487More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his planned timetable is for the appointment of the National Armaments Director.
Answer: The National Armaments Director (NAD) was appointed on 13 October 2025 and started the role on 14 October 2025. The hon. Gentleman met him on 27 October in the House and I hope he found it useful.
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: FinanceMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83368More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan.
Answer: The Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan will be published later this year alongside the Defence Investment Plan. It will set out our plans to deliver relevant recommendations in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review.
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: IndustryMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83367More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made in establishing the Defence Office for Small Business Growth.
Answer: Planning for the new Defence Office for Business Growth is well underway. The operating model has been produced following wide ranging consultation with industry. The Office will provide services to both small businesses and MOD teams, which will focus on...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83366More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made in establishing the Defence Energy and Capability Resilience Centre of Excellence.
Answer: The Defence Energy and Capability Resilience Centre of Excellence (DECX) will be established from the start of the next financial year.
Answered 29 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: ProcurementMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83365More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average procurement cycle time to delivery was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: The Defence Industrial Strategy set out average times to contract for major projects (such as tanks, frigates and aircraft) of six years, and for pace-setting modular upgrades (such as comms, sensors and weapons upgrades) of three years. We have set targe...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: Public ExpenditureMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83364More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of his Department's expenditure with industry groups was spent in each region in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: The Ministry of Defence publishes annual statistics on expenditure by region, with the latest publication for the 2024-25 period available GOV.UK:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-regional-expenditure-with-industry-index.
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: ExportsMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83363More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the share of the global defence export market held by UK-based companies.
Answer: The UK publishes annual Official Statistics on defence exports. The five-year moving average of UK defence exports orders has shown a trend of modest growth since 2018 and stands at approximately £10 billion. Market intelligence on other countries’ export...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: ResearchMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83362More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of his Department's expenditure was on research and development in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: The Departments expenditure on Research and Development for the latest period is £19,701,778.03 (exVAT).
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: ProcurementMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83361More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 85 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what steps he is taking to improve the demand signal.
Answer: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is strengthening how it communicates its demand signal to industry through the establishment of a new Market Engagement (ME) Coordinating Authority within the NAD Group. This new authority will set the standard for how the MO...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: Supply ChainsMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83360More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 76 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in establishing the Defence Supply Chain
Answer: The Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme (DSCCP) is a review of Defence supply chain capabilities that will deliver a step-change improvement in how Defence understands, designs and manages the MOD’s industrial ecosystem to deliver benefits throughou...
Answered 29 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83359More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 76 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to introduce a supplier resilience maturity assessment (a)
Answer: The Ministry of Defence plans to introduce a supplier resilience maturity assessment framework and tool as part of the Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme (DSCCP). This will be a phased approach involving piloting and testing in a live environment d...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83358More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 75 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to establish a scenario planning capability within the Nati
Answer: The National Armaments Director Group is actively progressing plans to establish a dedicated strategic supply chain scenario planning capability as a core component of its Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme (DSCCP). This initiative will underpin a ...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83357More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 75 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, if he will make an assessment of the lessons learned from the first joint
Answer: Wargaming, such as the December 2024 Industry Wargame, helps the Ministry of Defence, industry, and wider society identify and address risks, enhancing operational resilience and ensuring mission continuity in contested environments. The exercise yielded ...
Answered 29 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83356More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 72 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to launch a Regulatory Solutions Hub.
Answer: The Regulatory Solutions Hub is expected to be launched in 2026.
Answered 29 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83355More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 72 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in launching the Range of the Future pro
Answer: To improve the long-term productivity and capacity of both MOD and commercially operated UK test ranges, the Defence Industrial Strategy announced the launching of a ‘Range of the Future’ programme at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. This pr...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83354More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 72 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress he has made in piloting the provision of a high fide
Answer: As set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, our Test and Evaluation Transformation programme is piloting the provision of a high-fidelity virtual test range, focused on the evaluation of UK equipment in the most demanding operational environments. This...
Answered 29 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83353More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 72 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, how much funding his Department plans to provide for more mobile test tec
Answer: As set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, investing in mobile test technologies has the potential to accelerate innovation, particularly amongst smaller companies for whom geographically remote and highly capable test ranges may be prohibitively expe...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordWarrior VehiclesMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83151More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) FV510, (b) FV511, (c) FV512, (d) FV513, (e) FV514 and (f) FV515 variants of Warrior are in service as of 1 September 2025.
Answer: As at 1 September 2025, the figure for each Warrior variant was: VariantTotalFV510261FV51169FV51273FV51333FV51440FV5150Total476 These figures include the active Warrior fleet and those platforms that were yet to start the disposal process.
Answered 22 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: StandardsMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83150More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 71 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what the scope is of the test and evaluation transformation programme.
Answer: To achieve the Strategic Defence Review’s vision of the UK as a leading tech-enabled defence power, with an Integrated Force that deters, fights, and wins through constant innovation at wartime pace, Defence must transform to become more integrated by des...
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: StandardsMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83149More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 71 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he plans to begin the targeted sprint on autonomous systems.
Answer: The targeted sprint on autonomous systems has already begun, with the initial sprint stage due to conclude in November 2025.
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: StandardsMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83148More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 71 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what his planned timetable is for reducing the burden of Defence Standard
Answer: As this work is still in its early stages, a definitive timeline cannot be confirmed at this time.
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: TechnologyMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83147More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 70 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, when he expects the Defence Tech Scaler pilot be fully operational.
Answer: Defence Tech Scaler is at Minimum Viable Product phase as of September 2025 while the marketplace and processes are under development. The Ministry of Defence is committed to expanding and improving Defence Tech Scaler with a view to make it fully operati...
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: InnovationMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83146More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 69 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what recent progress the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has ma
Answer: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a longstanding relationship and regular conversation with for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Staff engagement is regular and pre-dates the Strategic Defence Review. Building on this, officia...
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence Science and Technology: National SecurityMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83145More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 69 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth, published on 8 September 2025, CP 1388, what national security issues the Defence Science and Technology Laborato
Answer: The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory plans to prioritise national security issues aligned with the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group organisational design as part of Defence Reform, which remains in progress. As set out in the Strategic Def...
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament record
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