This Government wants to ensure that communities have the tools they need to protect local assets. That is why we are introducing a new Community Right to Buy power through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. Further details of how we will support communities to make use of this power, including funding, will be set out in due course.

The Department is addressing dependencies on concentrated sources of Critical Minerals likely to be affecting the defence sector by improving visibility and enhancing collaboration with industry and like-minded Allies (including NATO and Australia). Efforts focus on developing alternative sources of supply, investing in allied capacity, ensuring security of supply and promoting recycling and substitution to reduce reliance on single suppliers and high‑risk geographies.

MOD is also playing an active role in implementing Vision 2035: UK Critical Mineral Strategy through this work, and on 10 June, signed a new Joint Statement of Intent with Australia on collaboration to secure critical minerals supply chains for Defence.

Furthermore, the UK Government is investing £71 million through the National Wealth Fund to restart Tungsten West’s Hemerdon mine in Devon, securing the ability to negotiate over the next 6 months for a domestic supply of tungsten, a strategically important mineral used in defence and advanced industries.

This recognises that critical minerals are essential to our modern economy and increasingly our national security, with initial exchanges identifying opportunities for closer collaboration on shared critical mineral supply risks.

The Ministry of Defence is making progress in strengthening supply chain data across Defence through the Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme (DSCCP) and wider supply chain resilience activity. We are improving visibility of critical suppliers and dependencies, developing the SCRIPT supply chain illumination tool, and enhancing our analytical capabilities to better identify vulnerabilities, manage risk and support informed decisions that strengthen resilience across the defence industrial base. This work is underpinned by rigorous quality assurance, governance and security protocols to ensure supply chain data is handled, protected and shared appropriately across Defence and with relevant partners.

Funding for investments beyond 2029-30 will be set out as part of future Spending Reviews and subsequent budget-setting processes, in the usual way.

As already announced, funding for investments beyond 2029-30 will be set out as part of future Spending Reviews and subsequent budget-setting processes, in the usual way.

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme supports jobs across the UK, including all nine regions of England plus Scotland, making defence an engine for growth. Around 43% of jobs are based in the North West of England, 19% in the South West of England, 16% in the Midlands, and Scotland accounts for about 8% of the workforce. The remaining 22% of jobs are split between other regions, including London and the East of England.

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme is creating opportunities for young people across the UK. Around 3,000 graduates and apprentices have been recruited by the Team Tempest industry partners since 2022, providing the opportunity to work on a range of combat air programmes, including sixth-generation combat aircraft development through FCAS. Each Team Tempest industry partner offers a range of career pathways however neither the process nor underlying detailed information are managed centrally.

The advanced knowledge, skills, and competencies required by the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme, with the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) at its core, is getting more people in highly skilled jobs. FCAS supports over 4,500 jobs across the UK, with thousands more expected to be supported. Each Team Tempest industry partner offers a range of career pathways however neither the process nor underlying detailed information are managed centrally.

This Government is reducing regulatory burdens on procurement through the implementation of procurement reforms that simplify the procurement framework, introduce a single supplier registration system and provides greater flexibility for contracting authorities. Within Defence, acquisition reform and the Integrated Procurement Model are streamlining governance, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, and supporting faster, more proportionate procurement activity. These measures are intended to improve efficiency, increase supplier participation, particularly from SMEs, and accelerate delivery of capability to the Armed Forces.

The Ministry of Defence routinely assesses the security of sovereign defence supply chains as a core component of warfighting readiness, operational preparedness, and national security. Through risk assessments, real-time supply chain mapping, horizon scanning, exercising and scenario-based testing, Defence identifies vulnerabilities and implements mitigations to strengthen the resilience of sovereign supply chains against disruption.

Through the Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme and the Industrial Resilience Programme, Defence is working with industry and allies to strengthen critical supply chains, improving the ability of industry to rapidly scale and surge production in response to emerging threats, and ensure the availability of priority materiel in the event of crisis or conflict. The Ministry of Defence is also working with Government departments, allies and partners to secure access to critical technologies and minerals essential to Defence capability.

The Strategic Defence Review emphasises a whole-of-society approach to strengthen resilience against threats. The Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, in which the Ministry of Defence plays a key role, is working to increase engagement with the public to improve familiarisation on the role everyone can play in national security and resilience. The programme has a strong emphasis on aligning civil and military planning for serious risks.

The Government is clear on the importance of implementing a whole-of-society approach to strengthen defence and our resilience to the threats we face, including those below and above the threshold of an armed attack. In support of this, the National Conversation is a key tool in creating a more informed, and aware public of the evolving nature of the threat environment.

As confirmed in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 14 July, the Government will launch a national resilience public awareness campaign later this year. This campaign aims to improve public understanding of threats and overall national preparedness in the event of crisis.

Through the UK Government's Resilience Action Plan, we outline how we will enable the whole of society to increase their resilience, including taking action to prepare for emergencies as set out on the GOV.UK/Prepare website.

Defence Medical Services (DMS) capabilities, across the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Cyber and Specialist Operations Command, support Defence outputs across NATO Contribution, Crisis Response, Strategic Resilience and Global Competition.

The Strategic Defence Review recognised the need to rebuild both medical capacity and capability within Defence to ensure our Armed Forces remain fighting fit in peacetime and are prepared to meet operational demands when at war.

The immediate priority is to optimise existing capability to ensure that the DMS can reliably deliver the support Defence needs today.

The second priority is to modernise operational medical capability and the healthcare support to force generation to meet the demands of contemporary warfare and evolving clinical practice. To accelerate modernisation, Defence has allocated up to £50 million through the Defence Investment Plan over four years, focused on delivering priority capability enhancements:

• Tactical Combat Casualty Care. £20 million in kits for combat personnel based on the latest research on equipment to save lives on the battlefield.
• Forward Blood Products: £10 million to develop or procure dried blood products.
• Tranexamic Acid (TXA): £10 million to provide a more effective way to combat blood loss and save lives.
• Field Hospital Equipment: £10 million to support combat operations at scale.

The third priority is to prepare to expand medical capacity to deliver the Strategic Defence Review's vision of enhanced warfighting readiness.

Rebuilding defence medical capability will focus on the following functions:

1. Medically preparing the Integrated Force
2. Maximising deployable medical capability and capacity within available resources.
3. Managing scalable and adaptable Operational Patient Care Pathways from point of injury or illness to definitive care and rehabilitation in collaboration with allies and UK healthcare systems.
4. Building on our world class military medical research to adapt medical advances to gain operational advantage.

This Government is committed to strengthening national preparedness and improving public understanding of the threats we face through our national conversation on defence and security. Addressing the challenges of an increasingly volatile and contested world requires a whole-of-Government and whole-of-society approach. Our security depends not only on strong Armed Forces, but also on a society that is informed, prepared and able to respond with confidence when it matters most. The national conversation will help increase public awareness of the most serious risks facing the UK and the role that government, industry, communities and individuals can play in strengthening national resilience.

The Chief of Defence Staff has spoken publicly about the increasingly challenging security environment, including in his speech at RUSI and joint Op-Ed with his German counterpart. As confirmed in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 14 July, the Government will launch a national resilience public awareness campaign later this year, aiming to educate households on preparing for emergencies alongside increased information about state-based threats. Alongside cross-Government engagement with key stakeholders, the Ministry of Defence is playing a key role within this programme of work; connecting with industry, local resilience fora, the voluntary sector, and working with our active reserves and local cadet groups to facilitate a whole of society approach to defence and security.

The Ministry of Defence manages the Defence Diplomacy network through the Integrated Global Defence Network (IGDN) based in the UK. IGDN provides support to over 5000 personnel and their families across 92 Defence Sections, 10 Loan Service units, five overseas bases, and other Defence equities. The IGDN budget for the Financial Year 2025-26, which includes support for the operation of the global Defence Diplomacy network, was approximately £80 million.

The Strategic Defence Review, published in June 2025, recommended that MOD should expand in-school and community-based Cadet Forces across the country by 30% by 2030. This timeline has recently been re-set in the Defence Investment Plan to 2035 as one of the measures required to increase the rate of Armed Forces transformation.

There are currently just over 137,000 cadets supported by 28,000 adult volunteers. An increase of 30% in cadet numbers equates to an additional 40,000 cadets, an expansion that would also require approximately 8,000 more adult volunteers. Details of the funding necessary to support this level of growth are yet to be finalised.

Work is currently underway to set the foundations for sustainable growth and to determine how the 30% increase in cadet numbers will be delivered. And we are developing a new Cadet Action Plan, to be announced in October during the first National Cadets Week. The Plan will focus on modernising the cadet experience, providing an attractive offer to retain and recruit adult volunteers, and ensuring that cadets and volunteers have the right resources and support.

The Defence Investment Plan sets out acquisition reforms designed to reduce the average time to contract and drive capability delivery. On 1 April 2026, the National Armaments Director Group launched a segmented approach to procurement, which tailors acquisition routes to the type of capability, supplier, and level of risk.

The Ministry of Defence has established three acquisition segments:

• major platforms (such as tanks, frigates and aircraft), with a target to reduce the average time to first contract from six years to two years;

• pace-setting modular upgrades (such as communications, sensors and weapons upgrades), with a target to reduce the average time to first contract from three years to one year; and

• rapid commercial exploitation (such as uncrewed systems), with a target of three-month acquisition cycles.

These reforms are supported by the Accelerating Commercial Pathways (ACP) programme, which aims to improve the Ministry of Defence's ability to harness flexibilities in the commercial process and ensure that commercial approaches are tailored to the needs of individual procurements, including through the use of flexibilities provided by the Procurement Act 2023. The programme has launched six Commercial Pathways and, since March 2025, over 300 procurements have self-selected one or more pathways

Defence is continuing to reform acquisition and contracting practices to support warfighting readiness, industrial resilience and economic growth. These reforms include:

• a portfolio-driven approach to acquisition, strengthening category management and improving strategic engagement with suppliers;

• streamlining investment approvals, increasing delegation and removing organisational barriers to enable faster decision-making and delivery;

• improving value for money and strengthening resilience in supply chains; and

• providing clearer demand signals to industry to support a more productive and innovative defence sector.

These measures aim to ensure the Armed Forces receive the capabilities they need more rapidly.

On 1 April 2026, the NAD Group launched a new segmented approach to procurement, which tailors acquisition routes to the type of capability, supplier and levels of risk. Procurement segmentation is designed to enable programmes to get to contract faster and has established three segments for Equipment acquisitions. We have published Acquisition Guides for all three segments, so MOD practitioners can apply best practice to drive pace in our acquisitions. These are supported by ‘test and learn’ demonstrators on a variety of Defence programmes. These segments are:

1. Major platforms (such as tanks, frigates and aircraft) with a target to go from an average of six to two years to first contract;
2. Pace setting modular upgrades (such as communications, sensors and weapons upgrades) with a target to go from an average of three to one year to first contract; and
3. Rapid commercial exploitation (such as uncrewed systems) with a target of three-month cycles.

As already announced, funding for investments beyond 2029-30 will be set out as part of future Spending Reviews and subsequent budget-setting processes, in the usual way.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 July 2026 to Question 18661.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-07-14/18661