Speeches by Roome.

“Sir Alex, I have been listening patiently to your answers. You obviously had a very good career, and thank you for your service to the country. With all your experience, from a personal perspective, what do you want to see from the next strategic defence review?”

“Would you agree that the quality of the UK intelligence services is looked on favourably by our NATO allies?”

“Dr Drent, I understand that you have had extensive dealings with the UK armed forces in the past, and I would like you to comment from a personal perspective on aspects of the UK MoD’s approach to undertaking and combating hybrid threats. What is your experience of the United Kingdom armed forces’ approach to operating…”

“I completely agree with you. We need to be a lot more focused and possibly change the cultural attitude in the MoD. We need to invest in recruiting cyber. Do you agree that we need to think out of the box to work out how we can recruit from civilian society? People do not need to be in uniform.”

“Dr Drent, I understand that you have had extensive dealings with the UK armed forces in the past, and I would like you to comment from a personal perspective on aspects of the UK MoD’s approach to undertaking and combating hybrid threats. What is your experience of the United Kingdom armed forces’ approach to operating…”

“My constituents in North Devon were let down by the previous Government, and they will be utterly dismayed to find that the remotest hospital in England has been passed over again for essential repairs—it is now beyond 2035. Does the Department understand that if critical care and operating theatre facilities begin to …”

“Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, with our Italian and Japanese partners committing to multi-year funding plans for GCAP to give confidence to industry, the UK should show a similar commitment?”

“16. What plans her Department has for local government reorganisation in Devon.”

“Obviously, any reorganisation will impact council finances. My constituency of North Devon has coastal towns with real pockets of remote deprivation, isolation and poverty. Now that the Minister’s Department has cut the rural services delivery grant, what methodology will be used to ensure that local government funding…”

“That is important. You mentioned earlier that you are only as good as the resources you have. For the Committee’s information, how big is your office at present? How many staff do you have?”

“Given the extra responsibilities of the Armed Forces Commissioner, do you see that resource having to increase?”

“Is there an average time that a case is open? In other words, how many cases do you have open today?”

“Is the recruitment freeze having a direct impact on complaints being investigated?”

“Is there an opportunity to extend your term to help with that transition period? The Armed Forces Minister stated to the Public Bill Committee that it was going to be early next year that they were going to start—that is, now—but it will now be 2026. There is that transition period. Given your experiences from before, …”

“I am interested in the transition period between your office and your term, and the Armed Forces Commissioner. You have talked about the difficulties faced by your team when there was a gap between your and your predecessor’s terms as ombudsman; what was the impact of that?”

“You have looked at the legislation of the Armed Forces Commissioner and what the role will undertake. It has the expanded scope of being able to talk to families. What have you learned in your term of office that the new Bill will bring in to ratify some of the complaints and recommendations much more quickly? Is that …”

“What is the long-term solution? What do you have planned? What can you share with us?”

“I would like to bring us back to the personnel aspect. Mr Williams, over the last three years, the MOD has spent £1.2 billion on temporary staff. To put that in context, that would deliver all the upgrades and new buildings that my hospital needs in my constituency. Just last year, 2023-24, you spent £459 million on te…”

“I thank the hon. Member for giving way and for bringing this debate on rail in Devon. Trains on the Tarka line from Barnstaple to Exeter are currently at overcapacity, partly because of one-way pressure of journeys. Large numbers of college students travel to Exeter in the morning and back in the evening. Those trains …”

“Can the UK learn lessons from Ukraine’s own use of its military aid for future military procurement and operational planning? How can we do this?”