Written questions by Obese-Jecty.

With reference to page 131 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on developing specialist clinical capability in support of the Integrated Force (a) in crisis and (b) at war.

A key recommendation of the Strategic Defence Review is rebuilding medical capacity and capability, together with the NHS, to ensure our Armed Forces remain fighting fit in peacetime and are prepared to meet operational demands when at war. With allies, through the NATO Medical Action Plan we are focused on addressing priority challenges in workforce; mass casualty planning; patient evacuation; and medical logistics. We will look to address legislative and regulatory barriers to effective care. The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the Ministry of Defence and will deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review over the next 10 years, including to ensure that the Defence Medical Services and the NHS together have capacity to meet Defence medical needs, including in the most extreme circumstances.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) expanding the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and (b) replicating that scheme to cover emergency services personnel.

The Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) encourages employers to pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the Armed Forces community, and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant. ERS now comprises 8,000+ employers which represents an increase of approximately 550 employers from last year. With the scheme performing well, there are no plans to expand it. As emergency services personnel are not within the remit of the Secretary of State for Defence, there are no plans to replicate the scheme to cover them.

With reference to page 117 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of supplanting the SKYNET (a) 6A and (b) 6EC satellite communications programmes with alternatives.

The Ministry of Defence is continually assessing SKYNET’s capabilities against demand and potential threats. SKYNET 6A and the Enduring Capability solutions are considered operationally relevant and will form part of a resilient satellite communications enterprise out to 2040.

With reference to page 131 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, updated on 8 July 2025, what progress he has made in ensuring Front Line Commands retain sufficient (a) capacity and (b) expertise to implement technical direction from Defence Medical Services.

A key recommendation of the Strategic Defence Review is rebuilding medical capacity and capability, together with the NHS, to ensure our Armed Forces remain fighting fit in peacetime and are prepared to meet operational demands when at war. With allies, through the NATO Medical Action Plan we are focused on addressing priority challenges in workforce; mass casualty planning; patient evacuation; and medical logistics. We will look to address legislative and regulatory barriers to effective care. The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the Ministry of Defence and will deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review over the next 10 years, including to ensure that the Defence Medical Services and the NHS together have capacity to meet Defence medical needs, including in the most extreme circumstances.

With reference to page 130 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on conducting organisational reform of medical services within defence.

In response to the Strategic Defence Review recommendations, and as part of Defence Reform, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) will be empowered as the Lead Command for medical within the Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC). Work is ongoing to establish and implement the Lead Command model across the Armed Forces.

With reference to page 128 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on improving data-sharing with the UK intelligence community through adoption of (a) common data standards, (b) handling controls and (c) vetting procedures.

Collaboration with partners across Government, including the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC), is essential to Defence outputs-both in routine activity and on operations. The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) sets a clear ambition to strengthen collaboration and interoperability, enabling delivery of the Integrated Force and the Digital Targeting Web. Defence is already interoperable with Government partners and capable of sharing data and intelligence. However, there are further opportunities to improve. To address this, multiple programmes are ongoing which aim to enhance interoperability and remove barriers to information sharing. These initiatives vary in maturity but are already being adopted across the MOD and UKIC and delivering measurable benefits.Additional work is underway to modernise data-handling approaches across National Security, leveraging technological advances to enable machine-speed sharing where appropriate. Combined with the MOD's broader technology modernisation programmes, these efforts will deliver improved capability, interoperability, and resilience across Defence and Government partners.

With reference to page 71 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what recent progress he has made on developing a virtual training environment that is integrated into his Department's common digital architecture.

Defence is conducting a discovery phase to understand how this virtual training capability will work across all domains and military commands and can be integrated into Defence’s common digital architecture. It is imperative that Defence delivers a training ecosystem that will provide an interoperable, multi-domain capability, across the military commands. This will enable training from individual to collective levels and will realise the benefits of efficiency and enhanced interoperability to, in turn, enable the Integrated Force. By embedding synthetic and virtual training requirements into procurement programmes, Defence is ensuring that its training capabilities are adaptable, innovative, and fit for purpose in the evolving operational environment.

If he willl list the military capability projects within the scope of the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

The latest National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority's Annual Report for the Financial Year ending 31 March 2025 was published on 11 August 2025: NISTA Annual Report 2024-25 - GOV.UK.This fully digital report lists the full composition of the Government Major Programmes Portfolio by Department, Category and the Delivery Confidence Assessment at that time in the Section 3.3 headline figure suite of tables.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled UK and Türkiye agree big step towards multi-billion-pound export of Typhoon fighter jets, published on 23 July 2025. what progress he has made on negotiations on a potential deal with Turkey.

We are pleased with the progress that is being made on strengthening our partnership with Türkiye, a valued NATO ally. Negotiations are ongoing and we hope to conclude soon.

With reference to recommendation 25 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on reviewing the principal elements of the Integrated Global Defence Network via the One HMG platform.

The Integrated Global Defence Network (IGDN) is in the initial phase of conducting the recommended review of the principal elements of Defence's Overseas network under the overall guidance of the two military and civilian 2 star directors of the IGDN, with senior engagement across Whitehall to follow.

With reference to page 70 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what progress he has made in moving regular personnel from administrative into front-line roles.

The Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan (which is part of our Defence Investment Plan) to be published in the autumn, will include initiatives that will deliver automation across Human Resources, Finance and Commercial functions, driven through Corporate Services Modernisation that will deliver improved processes through new automated tools and systems across the functions. The specific automation savings and timelines across all workforces are currently being defined in detail to meet the Strategic Defence Review recommendations. The benefits and associated financial savings with these initiatives along with the timelines to deliver this are subject to the outcome of the Defence Investment Plan. The automation of HR, Financial and Commercial processes will enable Defence to redeploy Armed Forces Personnel from administrative roles to Front Line roles.

With reference to page 70 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what recent progress he has made on automating (a) human resources, (b) finance and (c) commercial functions.

The Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan (which is part of our Defence Investment Plan) to be published in the autumn, will include initiatives that will deliver automation across Human Resources, Finance and Commercial functions, driven through Corporate Services Modernisation that will deliver improved processes through new automated tools and systems across the functions. The specific automation savings and timelines across all workforces are currently being defined in detail to meet the Strategic Defence Review recommendations. The benefits and associated financial savings with these initiatives along with the timelines to deliver this are subject to the outcome of the Defence Investment Plan. The automation of HR, Financial and Commercial processes will enable Defence to redeploy Armed Forces Personnel from administrative roles to Front Line roles.

With reference to page 70 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what the top ten people policies are that will be rewritten by May 2026.

The following ten policies are planned to be rewritten by May 2026:The Tri-Service Resettlement and Employment Support ManualRegulations for the Mobilisation of UK Reserve ForcesCentre-Determined Policy for Career Management and Admin of Tri-Service Positions and assignmentsTri-Service Regulations for Leave and Other Types of AbsenceRedress of Individual Grievances: Service ComplaintsDefence Training and Education Policy and GuidanceDefence Policy for Administration of Personal Development on JPAOperational Movements and TrackingBehaviours and Informal Complaints ResolutionZero Tolerance to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Work has commenced on the first five of these policies with the subsequent five subject to change.

With reference to Box 12 page 105 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, updated on 8 July 2025, what the full scope is of Atlantic Bastion’s approach.

Atlantic Bastion is a portfolio of programmes to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and in support of NATO against a range of underwater threats. It will develop a range of capabilities that enhance existing systems and deploy new platforms into the North Atlantic. It is separate from Baltic Sentry, which is a NATO led activity in the Baltic Sea to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure. The Royal Navy will be able to learn from Baltic Sentry and be able to share lessons from Bastion programmes with NATO allies. Through AUKUS Pillar 2, the nations are working together on an algorithm to support Maritime Patrol Aircraft processing systems. This work will inform future capability development of Bastion systems powered by AI to enhance acoustic detection. Capability options under Atlantic Bastion are submitted for consideration in the Defence Investment Plan. Options for capabilities that would be deployable from the Type 26 Frigate Force are included in these options.

With reference to Box 12 page 105 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what is the composition of the Atlantic Bastion Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigate force.

Atlantic Bastion is a portfolio of programmes to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and in support of NATO against a range of underwater threats. It will develop a range of capabilities that enhance existing systems and deploy new platforms into the North Atlantic. It is separate from Baltic Sentry, which is a NATO led activity in the Baltic Sea to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure. The Royal Navy will be able to learn from Baltic Sentry and be able to share lessons from Bastion programmes with NATO allies. Through AUKUS Pillar 2, the nations are working together on an algorithm to support Maritime Patrol Aircraft processing systems. This work will inform future capability development of Bastion systems powered by AI to enhance acoustic detection. Capability options under Atlantic Bastion are submitted for consideration in the Defence Investment Plan. Options for capabilities that would be deployable from the Type 26 Frigate Force are included in these options.

With reference to recommendation 48 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on reviewing (a) storage and (b) other standards to remove regulations.

I refer the hon. Member to the response my noble friend, the Lord Coaker, gave on 24 July to Question HL9399.I would also like to add that Astra, established in 2020, is the Royal Air Force's (RAF) approach to grassroots innovation. It focuses on adopting and adapting technology to address challenges, questioning restrictive policies and processes, and incrementally improving practices to enhance operational effectiveness. Over the past two years, Astra initiatives have delivered significant benefits, including saving approximately 250,000 workforce hours annually, while improving key areas such as aircraft availability, sustainability, and operational readiness. The Astra team, along with the rest of the RAF, remains fully committed to delivering Recommendation 48 of the Strategic Defence Review.

With reference to page 131 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, how much funding from his Department will be required to increase shared capacity with the Department of Health and Social Care.

There is a strong foundation of cross-Government working between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), including planning to meet the demands of warfighting and other strategic health emergencies. A series of workshops involving both the MOD and DHSC are exploring the UK’s ability to deal with various combat scenarios and the treatment of casualties. The MOD is also participating in DHSC’s cross-Government Exercise PEGASUS, the national tier 1 pandemic preparedness exercise set to assess the UK’s ability to respond to a pandemic. Both activities focus on understanding system-wide capacity and capability, potential future need and shared plans for delivery.

What proportion of (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force personnel are categorised as non-deployable.

The table below presents the portion of UK Armed Forces personnel categorised as Medically Not Deployable, broken down by service, as at 1 July 2025: Medically Not DeployableRoyal Navy (including Royal Marines)9.9%British Army10.0%Royal Air Force12.3%

Which areas are covered by Operations (a) Atlantic Bastion and (b) Baltic Sentry.

Atlantic Bastion is a portfolio of programmes to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and in support of NATO against a range of underwater threats. It will develop a range of capabilities that enhance existing systems and deploy new platforms into the North Atlantic. It is separate from Baltic Sentry, which is a NATO led activity in the Baltic Sea to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure. The Royal Navy will be able to learn from Baltic Sentry and be able to share lessons from Bastion programmes with NATO allies. Through AUKUS Pillar 2, the nations are working together on an algorithm to support Maritime Patrol Aircraft processing systems. This work will inform future capability development of Bastion systems powered by AI to enhance acoustic detection. Capability options under Atlantic Bastion are submitted for consideration in the Defence Investment Plan. Options for capabilities that would be deployable from the Type 26 Frigate Force are included in these options.

With reference to page 70 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of moving regular personnel from administrative to front-line roles on the number of roles in the Adjutant Generals’ Corps.

The Adjutant General’s Corps (AGC) plays a critical role in delivering administrative, personnel, and support services, including policing, detention, education, and legal services. In response to the Strategic Defence Review 2025, the Department has committed to optimising personnel allocation, including transitioning regular personnel from administrative to front-line roles where appropriate. An assessment of the potential impact of this commitment on the AGC is underway. Any changes to its structure will be carefully managed to maintain operational effectiveness and administrative efficiency. The AGC is engaging with Defence stakeholders to modernise processes, including digitisation and civilianisation of administrative tasks, enabling regular personnel to focus on front-line duties. Workforce requirements are under constant review to ensure the AGC continues to deliver its essential functions effectively. Further updates will follow as the Strategic Defence Review is implemented.