The Government recognises that a successful Rolls-Royce entry into the single aisle aircraft market could deliver significant UK economic benefits, including high value jobs and growth across the aerospace supply chain.

Rolls-Royce is a major UK employer and longstanding Government partner. We are discussing how any support could secure UK jobs, skills and long-term manufacturing, while delivering value for money for taxpayers. Building on the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme, which has anchored world leading R&D in the UK and strengthened the domestic supply chain, any future support would be structured to maximise UK benefits.

The transition from Technology Refresh 2 to Technology Refresh 3 for F-35 is still under consideration by the Global Programme, however, the UK expects to understand the transition plan in the next 12 months.

The timings for the transition of the UK’s F-35 fleet from Technology Refresh 2 to Technology Refresh 3 standard are under active consideration. Decisions will be made in line with the wider global F-35 programme.

The Typhoon Engine Support Solution (TESS) contract is the UK national support solution for the EJ200 engine. Within the TESS contract, Rolls-Royce, as prime contractor, sources spares and repairs from the other Partner Nations within the EuroJet (EJ) consortium, as well as from sub-contractors across the UK and beyond. The precise work breakdown by nation varies over time, but is currently around 67% within the UK.

The timeline for the remaining upgrades of the United Kingdom’s F-35B aircraft to Technology Refresh 3 standard has yet to be finalised.

Thirteen of the United Kingdom’s 47 F-35B aircraft have been upgraded to the Technology Refresh 3 standard.

VED for motorcycles is currently based on engine size. There are four engine size ranges, with the lowest rate applying to zero emission motorcycles and the smallest engines sized 150cc or less (currently £27). The highest rate applies to engines sized 600cc and above (currently £125). This compares with the standard rate for cars registered on or after 1 April 2017 which is currently £200. Motorcycles also do not pay different rates in the first year of purchase, unlike cars where first year rates vary from £10 to £5,690 for the most polluting vehicles.

There are no current plans to review how Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is calculated for all road vehicles including motorcycles. The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances, and in doing so considers a range of stakeholder views.

The requirement for an export licence is set out in the Export Control Order 2008, Schedule 2 of which covers Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and parts thereof (under ML10). Export licence applications for all controlled goods, including UAV components specially designed or modified for military use, are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.

Where licence applications include items that are not covered by the 2008 Order, exporters can be informed that no licence is required. Beyond such cases, by definition, the Department does not hold information on the export of items that fall outside of export controls. For goods export data, you should refer to HMRC, who publish UK trade in goods statistics by partner country and product which can be found on www.uktradeinfo.com.

Whilst the engines damaged on 20 June 2025 have since been inspected and returned into service, their reduced cleared life will necessitate a significant overhaul within the next two years.

The full financial impact of the incident will not be known until that overhaul is complete and it is known which parts will need to be replaced.

The two engines have now arrived at RAF Brize Norton and have been returned into service.

The time on the wing for the engines that were damaged are - engine (a) 35 months 24 days, since 27 June 2022; engine (b) 15 months 8 days since 12 Mar 2024.

The affected engines have been removed following the incident.

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) initiated an investigation into the alleged dumping of engine oils and hydraulic fluids from the UAE and Lithuania on 17 June 2024.

Whilst this investigation remains an ongoing process I cannot comment further as doing so may prejudice the investigation. The TRA will publish its provisional affirmative determination on the public file according to the timeline published on the cases public file.

All importers of oil products into the UK must be able to provide evidence to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin. In line with WTO rules of origin, Russian oil which has been substantially processed in a third country is no longer considered to be of Russian origin. However, activities such as processing oil products solely to mask their Russian origin are prohibited under UK law.

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) initiated an investigation into the alleged dumping of engine oils and hydraulic fluids from the UAE and Lithuania on 17 June 2024.

Whilst this investigation remains an ongoing process I cannot comment further as doing so may prejudice the investigation. The TRA will publish its provisional affirmative determination on the public file according to the timeline published on the cases public file.

All importers of oil products into the UK must be able to provide evidence to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin. In line with WTO rules of origin, Russian oil which has been substantially processed in a third country is no longer considered to be of Russian origin. However, activities such as processing oil products solely to mask their Russian origin are prohibited under UK law.

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) initiated an investigation into the alleged dumping of engine oils and hydraulic fluids from the UAE and Lithuania on 17 June 2024.

Whilst this investigation remains an ongoing process I cannot comment further as doing so may prejudice the investigation. The TRA will publish its provisional affirmative determination on the public file according to the timeline published on the cases public file.

All importers of oil products into the UK must be able to provide evidence to demonstrate that goods are not of Russian origin. In line with WTO rules of origin, Russian oil which has been substantially processed in a third country is no longer considered to be of Russian origin. However, activities such as processing oil products solely to mask their Russian origin are prohibited under UK law.

Vehicle manufacturers are under legislative and market pressure to deliver fuel-efficient vehicles that produce less carbon dioxide. This encourages the fitment of technologies such as automatic engine start-stop systems. Government sees its role as the setting of standards, and that of industry as the development of appropriate technologies to meet those standards.

In 2007, the independent Committee on Toxicity (COT) undertook a review of cabin air contamination, including by products such as engine oil and engine oil decomposition products. The COT concluded that the evidence available did not establish a link between cabin air contamination and ill health but made some recommendations for further research. This was further reviewed in 2013, 2022 and 2024, concluding it unlikely that the levels of chemical contaminants in the aircraft cabin air are unlikely to cause adverse health effects following acute or long-term exposures.

The process of qualifying or expediting the introduction of a new engine oil is the role of the engine manufacturers who work with engine oil manufacturers to develop specifications that provide the right combination of constituents to meet their environmental, emissions, performance, reliability and maintenance targets.

The Ford EcoBoost engine is a series of engines introduced around 14 years ago that covers a range of engine sizes and Ford vehicle models.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) investigates potential safety defects within the terms of the United Kingdom’s Code of Practice on Vehicle Safety Defects (the Code), which has the support of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (as amended). This has specific requirements as to what can and cannot be considered a safety defect and is clear on its requirement of evidence to support any conclusions made.

As the appointed regulating body, the DVSA’s Market Surveillance Unit acts solely on the evidence available and will demand safety recall action by a manufacturer whenever the requirement to do so presents itself.

The DVSA regularly audits manufacturers to ensure that their policies and procedures fully meet with the expectations of the Code. This is demonstrated by recall action generally taken voluntarily by manufacturers and prior to DVSA formally mandating action.

The DVSA continues to review all reported cases and investigates whether they present a road safety concern. Should remedial action be required, the DVSA will work with the manufacturer to ensure swift action is taken and that the manufacturer informs vehicle keepers directly.

In the past, safety recalls have been conducted for parts of the Ecoboost range, and investigations continue into potential defects today relating to 'belt failures' and whether this could constitute a safety defect, although there are no immediate concerns.

Consumers experiencing issues with Ford Ecoboost engines should contact Ford or the retailer directly to resolve the issue. Consumers can also contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133 for advice.

We do not release confidential or commercially sensitive information provided by exporters as part of their export licence application. However, we do publish data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences.

All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.