Ben Obese-Jecty MP: written questions
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Written questions
Defence: IndustryMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74148More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on launching new defence growth deals.
Answer: New Defence Growth Deals were announced on 8 September 2025 in Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Working in collaboration with devolved and local Governments, academia and industry, these Deals will bolster regional growth a...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordMilitary Aircraft: ExportsMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74147More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was included within the air defence export deal with Poland.
Answer: Four air defence contracts have been signed with Poland. The four contracts, MALAN, PILICA+, MIECZNIK and NAREW were signed between 2022 - 2024 with a collective value in excessive of £6 billion and include the roll out of British ground and sea-based air...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: HuntingdonMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74146More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any defence operational developments are eligible for fast-track planning as nationally important Crown Developments in Huntingdon constituency.
Answer: There are currently two projects potentially eligible for fast-track planning as nationally important Crown Developments in Huntingdon constituency.
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordMilitary Aircraft: TrainingMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74145More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the scope is of Project TELUM.
Answer: Project TELUM aims to deliver the successor capability to the services currently provided under the Light Aircraft Flying Task 2 (LAFT2) contract, which is set to expire in March 2030. The LAFT2 contract supports a range of services and flying tasks for A...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUnmanned Marine SystemsMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74144More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the United States Navy’s Modular Autonomous Surface Craft programme on future (a) Royal Navy fleet operations and (b) US Navy interoperability.
Answer: The Royal Navy is working at pace to understand the implications of the Modular Autonomous Surface Craft programme. The developing plan indicates that the Future Navy will require a mixed force of crewed and uncrewed vessels, and distributed commando team...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordHMS Trent: HelicoptersMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74143More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the outcome was of the recent trial by HMS Trent of the Helicopter Visual Landing Aid System.
Answer: The recent trials of the Helicopter Visual Landing Aid System (HVLAS) onboard HMS Trent was a success. Three days of rigorous testing through day and night landings by a Wildcat Helicopter has shown the technology to be effective. As a result, we plan to ...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: Sick LeaveMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74142More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many days were lost to sickness absence by civil servants in their Department (a) in total and (b) on average per employee between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025.
Answer: Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, a total of 360,823 working days were lost to sickness absence across the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) civilian workforce, an average of 6.65 days per employee. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA)’s data is collected separa...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordCatering: Public SectorDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74136More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which public sector organisations are required to ensure that 50 per cent of their catering consists of British produce.
Answer: The Government’s firm ambition is that, whilst working within our legal constraints, half of all food purchased across the public sector should be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards. In support of this ambition, we published a...
Answered 11 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordTechnical Excellence CollegesDepartment for EducationTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74135More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress she has made in establishing defence technical excellence colleges.
Answer: The department is introducing Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs) to specialise in training skilled workforces which industry needs in growth-driving priority sectors. The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy confirmed that we will establish Defence Technical...
Answered 16 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Educational Needs: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74134More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of revising how the high needs national funding formula is calculated.
Answer: The department’s aim is to establish a fair education funding system that directs resources to where they are most needed and enable improved support and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).The dep...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordCollege for National Security: AttendeesCabinet OfficeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74133More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how attendees at the College for National Security are selected.
Answer: Online training courses provided by the College for National Security are open to all civil servants, public servants and crown servants. Attendance at events held by the College are approved on a first come first served basis. For certain practitioner co...
Answered 9 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: AppealsHome OfficeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74132More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the size was of the asylum application decision appeals backlog on 1 August 2025.
Answer: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims awaiting an initial decision, is published in table Asy_D03 of the asylum detailed datasets. Information on how to use the datasets ca...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: ApplicationsHome OfficeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74131More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the size was of the initial asylum application decision backlog on 1 August 2025.
Answer: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum claims awaiting an initial decision, is published in table Asy_D03 of the asylum detailed datasets. Information on how to use the datasets ca...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment and Vocational GuidanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74130More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent progress she has made in establishing the jobs and careers service.
Answer: We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and care...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordNorth Korea: RussiaForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74129More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of deepening (a) commercial and (b) other economic ties between Russia and North Korea.
Answer: The UK remains deeply concerned about the implications of the deepening Russia-Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) relationship for both Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security. The rapid expansion of their military, political, and economic cooper...
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordArtificial Intelligence: CambridgeshireDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74128More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many of the Government’s new AI Growth Zones are in (a) Cambridgeshire and (b) the Huntingdon constituency.
Answer: The formal application process for AI Growth Zones opened in April 2025. We will be communicating to all formal applicants the outcome of their application shortly and we will move selected sites forward as soon as they are ready. This approach ensures cr...
Answered 11 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordInvestment: HuntingdonDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74127More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many of the investible sites due to be delivered via the Strategic Sites Accelerator are in the Huntingdon constituency.
Answer: The Strategic Sites Accelerator is a new programme, announced as part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy, backed by over £600 million in public funding. The programme is at an early stage of design so the number and we have not yet determined the location of...
Answered 12 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordIndustry: InvestmentDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74126More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, how many investable sites have been brought forward through the Government’s £600m Strategic Sites Accelerator
Answer: The Strategic Sites Accelerator is a new programme, announced as part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy, backed by over £600 million in public funding. The programme is currently at an early stage of design, as such, investment sites have not yet been broug...
Answered 12 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAfghanistan: RefugeesMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74125More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49543, how many of the houses reacquired by his Department in January 2025 from Annington Homes have been used to house Afghans brought to the UK via (a) the Afgh
Answer: Surplus SFA not needed for our personnel have been used in certain circumstances. 795 of the 36,000 properties bought back from Annington Homes in January 2025 have been used to house Afghans who worked alongside out troops in Afghanistan who have been br...
Answered 9 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordAfghanistan: RefugeesMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74124More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghans were brought to the UK via the Afghan Response Route in each month the scheme was open.
Answer: As the responsible Department, the Home Office produce quarterly statistics for immigration. These statistics are broken down by the route in which the individual entered the UK. The Afghan Response Route (ARR) is included and can be accessed via the link...
Answered 25 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: ICTMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74123More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enhancing machine-speed (a) processing, (b) exploitation and (c) dissemination in order to rapidly transform raw sensor data into actionable intelligence.
Answer: The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) outlines the need for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to adopt automation and AI at scale, these capabilities are critical to the delivery of many of the SDR recommendations including the Digital Targeting Web. MOD exploit...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordDefence: ProcurementMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74122More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to develop the Defence industrial base in order to rapidly scale lower-value and highly attritable autonomous collaborative platforms.
Answer: The Ministry of Defence is advancing the defence industrial base for autonomous collaborative platforms through initiatives like the Defence Industrial Strategy, Defence Tech Scaler, and strengthened industry partnerships.Clear strategies, including the R...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: CommonwealthMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74121More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Commonwealth service-leavers have paid for visa applications for dependents since 5 July 2024.
Answer: All applications are submitted to the Home Office. The Ministry of Defence does not hold information about the number of applications submitted by Service personnel on discharge, or by their family members.
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: CommonwealthMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74120More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Commonwealth service-leavers who have served between four and six years have paid for a visa upon discharge since 5 July 2024.
Answer: All applications are submitted to the Home Office. The Ministry of Defence does not hold information about the number of applications submitted by Service personnel on discharge, or by their family members.
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordGlobal Combat Air Programme: Job CreationMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74119More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs the Tempest Global Combat Air Programme will create.
Answer: There are over 4,500 people working on the Future Combat Air System programme across the UK. At the core of the programme is the trilateral Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) partnership between the UK, Japan and Italy to deliver a next-generation combat ...
Answered 15 Sept 2025
Original Parliament record
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