Speeches by Pollard.

“No, I don’t think it is. It is about how you implement that objective. We have to be very cognisant that if we want to fundamentally change the incentives within the system about attractiveness of job roles and attractiveness of an individual for their next job role, we have to have that throughout their entire career …”

“I entirely agree. Having an element of churn in our overall post fill is quite normal. NATO allows for a 5% churn, and we are nearly at that point. Not many of our NATO colleagues are anywhere near that, so that is welcome. Our offer has to be about family life, service life and career. The SDR set this out very clearl…”

“Cadets are led by the Minister for Veterans and People. I can write to the Committee with the details of spend against our commitment to increase cadets by 30%, which we set out in the SDR. The full implementation of that is with my colleague Al, so I am happy to write to the Committee, because I am not across the full…”

“First, I would challenge you: I do not regard it as slightly concerning in the way that you framed it in your question, mainly because I have spent most of today either here or preparing for here. I have not been looking at other aspects of my portfolio because I have been in front of the Committee. I am not worried ab…”

“In the NATO-first approach that this Government will have, we aim to fill more vacancies and make service in NATO roles more attractive to people—especially European NATO roles, where we know there are some obstacles. If you compare the UK participation and fill rates with those of some of our comparable NATO allies, w…”

“The first thing I will say is that the work that you have done with Luke Charters has been outstanding. It is a really good example of how really constructive challenge can create change. It is something that has certainly gripped the MOD and Treasury. One of the objectives that the Secretary of State and the team had …”

“Procurement matters would be matters for Maria Eagle, so I would not be able to answer that question in detail. Certainly, preserving our capability to build high-end combat air platforms is absolutely essential to our national security; that is something that I think everyone here would agree on. It is not just about …”

“Securing our national security is a job of everybody. It is absolutely right that those industries, big and small, that contribute to our national security in these heightened-risk times are supported and valued by the whole of society. Knowing Supacat—it is involved in the production of the Jackal 3, which is built in…”

“Yes, I am happy doing that. I am aware that the Government evidence on this was submitted six months ago and the world has changed quite considerably in the last six months, as has Government policy. I am happy to receive that and I will undertake to get a good response back to you.”

“The intention is that we have all our vacancies filled, but we know that there is a challenge in overcoming some of the issues that I just mentioned, in relation to the previous question, about the offer that some of those roles—”

“First of all, the defence industrial strategy, which will cover some of these points, will be out later this year. Not everything that we intend to publish was in the SDR, because there are elements of detail and focus on sectors for which the defence industrial strategy is probably the better place. Those will be feat…”

“No, we will continue to make an effort to fill those vacancies as we go through.”

“Yes. What we need to make sure of is our ability to respond to those crises—and we plan, in some cases, for concurrent crises. If you are going beyond concurrent crises, you are moving into much more of a warfighting position, which then moves from effectively holding forces at readiness to forward deploying forces. Th…”

“I will bring the team in on the details of how we manage the tensions between different commitments. What I would say is that the SDR very clearly set out that our defensive posture and moving to a warfighting readiness is underpinned, yes, by our NATO membership and our leading role within NATO, but also through the b…”

“It is absolutely something that we are aware of. I realise that not all NATO roles are in the European Union—some are further afield—but for the ones that are EU based, especially where we are filling at NATO headquarters, SHAPE, or the maritime missions in Italy, for instance, the Brexit deal removed the opportunities…”

“As part of our model, we expect to continue to fill those vacancies.”

“No, absolutely not. The point I am trying to make is that we are making a clear statement that, to succeed to the highest levels in the Ministry of Defence and in military roles in the future, we have now set an expectation about roles. Over time, that should help people at early stages in their career inform the caree…”

“It certainly does, and that is why it is important to have the 80 and the 8.6% alongside each other. That demonstrates that the vast majority of our NATO roles are filled. I looked at the breakdown and at just how many roles have been gapped for some time. If a role has been gapped for five years, that is not a proper,…”

“If I recall, the PQ that I replied to on that matter—I think it was yours—said that it was 8.6% or something like that.”

“I will give the headline and then I will ask the AVM to come in. Setting the ambition and the clear direction in the SDR is a really important part of signalling to the entire system, and to our people, that a career at NATO is going to be more valued than it has been in the past. As part of that, as we look at impleme…”