Written questions by Cartlidge.

What proportion of the planned £29 billion annual increase in the NHS budget over the next three years will be allocated to children’s palliative care services.

Palliative care services, including for children, are included in the list of services that integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Suffolk and North East Essex ICB, must commission.To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.The Department and NHS England are looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10 Year Health Plan.The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that the future state of services reduces variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining how to operationalise the required changes to palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.

How much money attributed to the Single Intelligence Account was included in UK NATO qualifying defence expenditure in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.

In line with all other NATO members, it is UK Government policy that we do not release individual elements of our NATO return publicly.

With reference to the letter from the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry to the hon. Member for South Suffolk of 29 July 2025, how much of the stated NATO-qualifying expenditure will be spent on strategic stability in the (a) 2027-28 and (b) 2028-29 financial years.

The Department’s spending plans will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan, which will be published in the autumn. The share of this spending that relates to individual categories of spend will be considered as part of future returns to NATO.

With reference to the letter from the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry to the hon. Member for South Suffolk of 29 July 2025, how much of the stated NATO-qualifying expenditure will be spent on hybrid threat responses in the (a) 2027-28 and (b) 2028-29 financial years.

The Department’s spending plans will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan, which will be published in the autumn. The share of this spending that relates to individual categories of spend will be considered as part of future returns to NATO.

With reference to the letter from the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry to the hon. Member for South Suffolk of 29 July 2025, how much of the stated NATO-qualifying expenditure will be spent on supporting modern deterrence in the (a) 2027-28 and (b) 2028-29 financial years.

The Department’s spending plans will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan, which will be published in the autumn. The share of this spending that relates to individual categories of spend will be considered as part of future returns to NATO.

With reference to the letter from the Right Hon. Member for Liverpool Garston to the Hon. Member for South Suffolk dated 29 July 2025, how much of the stated NATO-qualifying expenditure will be spent on the sustained investment for (a) maintenance and (b) security upgrades across the overseas estate.

The Department’s spending plans will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan, which will be published in the autumn. The share of this spending that relates to individual categories of spend will be considered as part of future returns to NATO.

With reference to the letter from the Right Hon. Member for Liverpool Garston to the Hon. Member for South Suffolk dated 29 July 2025, how much of the stated NATO-qualifying expenditure will be spent on the implementation of the UK – EU Security and Defence Partnership.

The Department’s spending plans will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan, which will be published in the autumn. The share of this spending that relates to individual categories of spend will be considered as part of future returns to NATO.

With reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, column 633, whether the annual increase in defence spending will include the Single Intelligence Account.

The Prime Minister has been clear about the contribution our intelligence and security services make to the defence of our nation. The commitment to spend 2.6% on defence from 2027 will include all spend relating the Single Intelligence Account.

Whether the Defence Investment Plan will report based on a cost envelope of (a) 2.5%, (b) 3% or (c) 3.5% of GDP on defence expenditure.

The Defence Investment Plan will set out how the MOD will deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review within the MOD's share of the Government's commitment to spending 2.6% of GDP on defence by 2027, and 3% of GDP in the next Parliament as fiscal and economic conditions allow.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote growth in the UK sugar beet industry.

The Government is committed to supporting and promoting growth in the UK sugar beet industry, including in South Suffolk. For example: we are funding research into crop resilience and sustainable practices through the Farming Innovation Programme. The Government continues to work with industry stakeholders to ensure fair market conditions and is monitoring challenges faced by the industry.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the sugar beet industry in South Suffolk constituency.

The Government is committed to supporting and promoting growth in the UK sugar beet industry, including in South Suffolk. For example: we are funding research into crop resilience and sustainable practices through the Farming Innovation Programme. The Government continues to work with industry stakeholders to ensure fair market conditions and is monitoring challenges faced by the industry.

With reference to recommendation 33 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, whether he plans to make any amendments to the Single Source Contract Regulations regarding the delivery of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

In accordance with recommendation 33b (Nuclear Industry Flexibility - Ensuring it has the flexibility to incentivise industry investment in infrastructure and asset management) of the Strategic Defence Review, the Department will be conducting a review of the Single Source Contracting Regulations (SSCRs). The review will commence by the end of September 2025 and will conclude within the current financial year in readiness for any necessary legislative changes following ministerial and parliamentary approval.

With reference to recommendation 34 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the successor to the Dreadnought class submarine since 2 June 2025.

This Government is fully committed to the United Kingdom’s independent nuclear deterrent, underpinned by our triple lock commitment to continue to build the four new Dreadnought Class submarines, maintain our continuous at sea deterrent and deliver all the required upgrades, including the replacement warhead. The Government has accepted all of the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendations. We routinely hold discussions on possible future national security and defence capabilities with our industry and international partners.

Whether the Defence Investment Plan will report based on a cost envelope in relation to (a) his Department's budget or (b) NATO qualifying defence expenditure.

The Defence Investment Plan will set out the Department's spending plans to deliver the vision of the Strategic Defence Review against its forecast budget. This will be based on the Department's Spending Review settlement, and the MOD's projected share of the Government's ambition to spending 3% of GDP on defence in the next Parliament as and when fiscal and economic conditions allow.

With reference to recommendation 56 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, updated on 8 July 2025, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of creating a single counter-intelligence unit.

The new Defence Counter Intelligence Unit’s (DCIU) mandate is to protect UK Defence from intelligence and espionage threats, at home and overseas, by bringing together expertise and specialist capabilities alongside the UK Intelligence Community. The DCIU will be led by a One Star equivalent Senior Civil Servant. We do not comment on the proportion of manpower figures or specific locations to safeguard national security and strategic Defence interests. The costs relating to the formation and running of the unit are ongoing and will form part of the Defence Investment Plan, due to be published later this year.

With reference to recommendation 49 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, when will the first departmental review of the (a) SKYNET 6A and (b) SKYNET 6EC satellite communications programmes (i) commence and (ii) conclude.

The Skynet 6 programme undergoes formal quarterly reviews and is subject to regular review by the National Infrastructure and Services Transformation Authority, the next is scheduled for November 2025. Those reviews consider the resilience and operational relevance of the planned Skynet 6A and EC capabilities, which are also continuously assessed against projected operational demands and emerging threats. Where necessary, adjustments are then made across the entire Ministry of Defence Space enterprise to both ground- and space-based elements.

With reference to recommendation 25 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published on 2 June 2025, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the review of the principle elements of the Integrated Global Defence Network since 2 June 2025.

The Secretary of State for Defence has not yet engaged in direct discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs regarding the review of the principal elements of the Integrated Defence Network (IGDN). The review is currently in the early stages and FCDO officials are actively engaged.

With reference to paragraph 31 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on establishing the new CyberEM Command.

Design and implementation planning is well underway. The 4* Cyber and Specialist Operations Command has been launched as of 1 September 2025 and within it the 2* Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force is on schedule to be launched by the end of the year.

With reference to page 65 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what steps he is taking to better publicise specialist roles available in the Reserves.

All three Services promote specialist Reserve roles through their respective recruitment websites, multi-channel engagement, social media campaigns and unit attraction activities. In addition, all roles are advertised on the Service for Experienced, Re-joiner and Volunteer Engagements (SERVE) website for opportunities within Defence. Publicity and recruitment activity will depend on the specific skills being sought. Some Reserve personnel, such as pilots and meteorologists, may be recruited directly during Service Leaver events for the skills they acquired during Regular service. Direct recruitment of specialist Reservists in areas such as medicine and healthcare may occur directly using specialist recruiters and we have also recently developed a route to Service for civilians with catering skills. Earlier this year, the first ab initio Reservist entered the Engineering specialism, which until recently was only open to ex-Regular personnel. We will increasingly look to publicise specialist Reservist roles for lateral entry as new routes open and will adapt to employ civilians with other specialist skills as demand requires.

With reference to page 123 of the Strategic Defence Review: Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad, published in June 2025, what the total cost to his Department is of establishing MOD policy teams as part of CyberEM Command.

The Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Force (DCEMF) remains in internal planning and design stages, with options presented to Defence but not yet endorsed by Military Strategic Headquarters. Resource and capability decisions are subject to the Defence annual planning cycle and the Defence Investment Plan, which will ultimately shape the design of the DCEMF and the speed, scale, and nature of implementation. I hope that the Hon. Gentleman will understand that until these processes are complete, details such as basing, costs, and workforce mix remain undecided and would be speculative.