As the Secretary of State has publicly said, Peter Mandelson had no influence or involvement in the Defence Enterprise Agreement with Palantir.

The defence readiness Bill was set out in the strategic defence review. We are looking across Government at how we can bolster readiness measures—not just legislative ones, but policy changes, removing stupid rules and spending more. We are looking to implement the defence readiness Bill later in this Parliament. The Armed Forces Bill is now before the House, and that is our immediate focus.

That is exactly why, on Thursday, we launched the Military Intelligence Services, to map and track those threats, deter them and, if necessary, defeat them.

This Government is convinced of the benefits of cadets, not just for young people who participate, but for the whole of society. Participation in the Cadet Forces has significant positive impacts on young people, increasing their performance at school, and improving their employment and career prospects. Independent research has shown the cost of cadets is fully covered if the life outcomes of just 1% of cadets change each year so that they are in education, training or employment.

The recently published Strategic Defence Review recommended an expansion of in-school and community-based Cadet Forces across the UK of 30% by 2030. Expanding the Cadet Forces, which provide skills and qualifications to young people from diverse backgrounds, and support economic growth, will benefit all areas of the UK, with further details to follow in due course.

We want every young person to have the opportunity to enjoy the many benefits that can be gained from the cadet experience. The joint Ministry of Defence and Department for Education Cadet Expansion Programme (CEP) has already increased the number of cadet units in schools to over 500, with the focus on improving provision in state schools. Prior to CEP, 75% of school cadet units were in independent schools; now around 60% are in the state sector.

We are exploring how we can increase the size and the offer of the Cadet Forces, both in schools and the community, and have been engaging widely to consider how best to deliver this growth. This work is aligned with the recent Strategic Defence Review which recommends expanding the Cadet Forces by 30% by 2030.

Both independent schools and state schools with established Combined Cadet Force contingents continue to play an important role in supporting junior partners. There are currently 45 ‘junior partnerships’ where independent schools are supporting state schools to set up and run their cadet units.

Changes to VAT on independent school fees came into effect in January 2025, midway through the school academic year. There is no current evidence of impact.

Given the fantastic benefits which can be gained from the cadet experience the Government wants more young people to be able to become cadets. The recently published Strategic Defence Review recommended an expansion of Cadet Forces across the country by 30% by 2030.

The House of Commons library has an online data dashboard for constituencies which includes data on veterans taken from the most recent censuses in Great Britain. This is available here:

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-uk-armed-forces-veterans-2021-census/

England and Wales Census 2021 data showed that 3,066 people in Bromsgrove constituency reported that they had previously served in the UK Armed Forces. This represents 3.8% of the population in this constituency aged 16 and over. This compares with 3.5% of the population in the West Midlands region and 3.8% in Great Britain.

The Government is proud of those who serve in our military bands. They not only support all year-round engagements but also serve secondary roles supporting defence. Armed Forces personnel who serve in military bands have a secondary specialisation in support of operations; for example those in the Army support deployed medicine; Naval personnel can form part of a medical team on board a casualty-receiving facility, and Royal Air Force Musicians are also trained in the Counter-CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear) role of establishing and running a Casualty Decontamination Area, a declared NATO capability.

The number and proportion of Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM) and Royal Air Force (RAF) Full-Time Trained Strength (FTTS) and Army Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) Personnel serving in Military Bands as at 1 April 2024 was:

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

In the most recent Financial Year (FY, 2023-24), expenditure on all band activity was as follows:

Based on census data and other sources, there are currently around two million Veterans, all of whom will be able to apply for a Virtual Veterans Card.

The Veterans Data Dashboard is publicly available at the following link:

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/office.for.veterans.affairs/viz/2024-07-29VeteransDataDashboardv2final/Story1

The estimated number of unclaimed pensions as of March 2024, the end of the last financial year, was 14,797.

Tables on membership can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66977e29a3c2a28abb50d0d1/Armed_Forces_Pension_Scheme_annual_accounts_2023_to_2024.pdf

Once a pension reaches 60 working days past the point of being due for payment, proactive attempts are made to trace the member and, on receiving a current address, an explanatory letter and application form is sent advising that a pension may be due. If returned, the deferred pension is put into payment.

Where there is information advising that the individual is deceased, the MOD engages to confirm whether there are any dependants and then process as normal.

In addition, in an aim to increase the claimant rate of those pensions, on receipt of their HM Armed Forces Veteran Card, individuals are advised to review the Deferred Pension Booklet on the gov.uk website to check their possible entitlement and submit a claim if appropriate.

The Government are delivering for defence with strong measures to protect our underwater critical national infrastructure. We have declassified the activities of the Russian spy ship Yantar. We have called out its activities by saying, “We see you. We know what you’re doing,” and we will robustly defend our critical national infrastructure.

I am grateful for the hon. Member’s question—it is a good one. We are seeing more risks posed to our critical underwater infrastructure by players who wish harm to our national security. We already have brilliant capability in RAF Proteus, which is able to support our infrastructure and that of our allies. When the strategic defence review is published in the spring, I am sure that there will be more developments in that direction.

The Secretary of State for Defence held an introductory call with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on 31 January 2025, during which they discussed a wide range of security issues. Ministers and officials will continue to hold regular meetings with their US counterparts, including on the long-term protection of the base on Diego Garcia as a shared UK and US priority.

The hon. Member is right to highlight the fragility of the international supply chain in that area. It is very important that Governments in the west, and in the NATO alliance in particular, are able to

onshore production and to “friendly-shore” production—no matter how awkward that term is—to ensure that we are less exposed to threats. Colleagues in the Department for Business and Trade, as well as MOD colleagues, are looking into that. More work is needed in this area, but we are acting on it.