Implementation of the procurement and acquisition reforms set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy is underway, under the new National Armaments Director who took up post on 14 October 2025.

We are introducing service-agnostic capability portfolios, aligned with wider departmental reforms. The portfolio-driven approach will increase pace and adaptability, enabling us to maximise the output from our investment, reduce waste and be more market aligned.

Five commercial pathways have been launched for Spiral, Urgent, Design to Cost, Digital & Technology and Low Complexity Procurement. Further Commercial Pathways are being developed including for S&T and Experimentation, National Security, and Infrastructure with a focus on harnessing commercial flexibilities to drive pace and adaptability.

These pathways underpin the new segmented approach to procurement which sets ambitious targets to drastically reduce the timescales to get new projects on contract by tailoring processes and timelines to the type of acquisition supplier and risk involved. This includes the Rapid Commercial Exploitation segment to allow us to pull the latest technology into operations and increase innovation.

The Department's spend on cancelled programmes of over £300,000 is published as part of its Annual Report and Accounts.

As would be expected of any responsible organisation, the Ministry of Defence regularly reviews its programmes and assets to determine how best to meet future threats including taking appropriate action to address changes.

I pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our country, to recognise the dedication of those who serve in our Armed Forces today to safeguard the peace we enjoy, and to offer our respect and gratitude for their Service.

The Poppy Appeal is a vital part of the nation's annual Remembrance commemorations, and as a veteran myself I was immensely proud, along with everyone in the Ministry of Defence (MOD), to support the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal 2025.

Through the Armed Forces Covenant, the Government remains committed to ensuring that veterans and their families receive the support they need, including through partnerships with organisations like the Royal British Legion.

The MOD continues to work closely with the Royal British Legion to support their efforts in raising funds and awareness for the Poppy Appeal. This includes amplifying their campaigns through our communication channels and supporting their work to provide vital services to veterans and their families. We also work closely with local authorities and community organisations to promote the Poppy Appeal and ensure that Remembrance events are well-supported across the UK.

We have also actively promoted the Poppy Appeal across the Armed Forces and the wider Defence community, encouraging personnel, veterans, and staff to participate in fundraising activities and, as always, to wear their poppies with pride.

Between September 2024 and February 2025, a total of 619,531 invoices were received, of which, 97.28 per cent (602,704) were paid within ten working days of receipt.

Details of the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) supplier invoicing and payment information, including supplier payment performance, invoice processing and MOD contract payments, are published at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministry-of-defence-supplier-invoicing-and-payment-information

Since entering Government, we have taken immediate action to stop all non-essential Ministry of Defence consultancy spending. The information requested specifically on external recruitment consultants is not held centrally.

The Secretary of State has met the Defence Minister for New Zealand, and looks forward to our countries working together on a range of defence and security issues.

Yes, the Secretary of State for Defence spoke with his Canadian and New Zealand counterparts on AUKUS Pillar 2 activity on those occasions.

I can confirm that the Secretary of State for Defence has met his Canadian counterpart on two occasions in 2024, and has spoken with his New Zealand counterpart once and will meet with her in due course.

The Army expect the Recruitment Partnering Project to deliver around £180 million of benefits over the ten-year period of the contract.

The total legal costs borne by the Ministry of Defence relating to actions carried out by Service personnel while on duty are over £100 million. The costs of providing the defence for Service personnel facing specifically Courts Martial or a Service Civilian Court, amounted to approximately £750,000 in financial year 2014-15. The costs of providing the defence for current and former Service personnel facing criminal investigations relating to operations in Northern Ireland during the "Troubles" period, has amounted to approximately £142,000 since 7 February 2014. The expenditure on behalf of defendants in Courts Martial or Service Civilian courts related to 394 individuals, of whom 95 were acquitted. The relevant criminal proceedings in Northern Ireland are ongoing.

The vast majority of Defence litigation expenditure relates to civil cases. As an example, £31 million was spent on the Al-Sweady Public Inquiry which concluded that all of the serious allegations that were raised, were wholly without foundation.

Secretary Carter and I discussed a range of issues including current operations, Russia, and the Strategic Defence and Security Review. We discussed ways in which we can further strengthen our collaboration and agreed to work together on a combined approach to defence innovation.

Within the Ministry of Defence there are technical, organisational, procedural and physical measures in place to protect against and mitigate the impact of cyber attacks. However, we do not comment on the specific detail of cyber security incidents.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Leicestershire (Mr Robathan), gave to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah) on 14 March 2013, Official Report, column 351W.

In parallel with successfully rolling-out in April 2013 the new delegated organisational structures recommended by Lord Levene, we have been reviewing the operation of the Ministry of Defence's corporate control framework and the processes that it prescribes to ensure they are as transparent and easy to use as possible. So far this has included simplified basic security guidance, new business processes for managing defence infrastructure, revised financial planning and performance management arrangements to support the new delegated operating model, and a programme of incremental simplification and improvement of our civilian HR policy, rules and guidance in line with the goals of Civil Service Reform. There will be more to do in this area as the operating model matures, particularly in terms of further streamlining the Department's decision making process around a single authoritative management information system.

The new Defence Operating Model was put in place, as planned, on 2 April 2013 at Initial Operating Capability and over the next year we will be optimising it to ensure that the Department is best placed to deliver the benefits envisaged by Lord Levene's Defence Reform Review for a simpler, more effective, better skilled and less bureaucratic organisation. These changes are at the heart of how we are delivering our part of the pan-Government Civil Service Reform plan. Defence Reform is managed as

one of the programmes in the Defence Transformation Portfolio which directs, co-ordinates and drives forward implementation of the major change initiatives. I oversee progress routinely through the Defence Board. Lord Levene also reviews progress annually against his recommendations, reporting to me. Progress is reported to Parliament, including through the Prime Minister's annual report on the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, the MOD's Annual Report and Accounts, and publication of Lord Levene's annual progress report.

The new Operating Model will lead to:

Net programme delivery risk reduced through empowered financial and capability delegation for delivery to the Command or Top Level Budget area best able to manage it including better management of joint enablers;

Increasingly efficient and effective delivery of operational outputs through increased freedoms to manage capability generation across the Defence Lines of Development;

Non-front line costs reduced as a proportion of overall Defence expenditure through a smaller more professional MOD and more efficient, customer focused support from our corporate service providers;

A better skilled, motivated and engaged work force through improved leadership, targeted education and training and more efficient structures and processes; and

Increased levels of trust through improved top level decision making, more transparent processes and improved communications.