Ben Obese-Jecty MP: written questions
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Written questions
Technical 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 recordGlobal Combat Air Programme: National IncomeMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74118More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the projected contribution of the Tempest Global Combat Air Programme to GDP.
Answer: The primary contribution of Defence to GDP is peace and security. There is no sustainable growth without peace, but the contribution GCAP makes to UK peace and security is not amenable to quantitative assessment. GCAP and the wider Future Combat Air Syste...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordTyphoon Aircraft: National IncomeMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74117More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the contribution of Typhoon jets to GDP.
Answer: The biggest contribution of defence to GDP is peace and security. My Department has made no estimate of the contribution to GDP of any individual programmes and capabilities. The Defence Industrial Strategy published on 8 September 2025 clearly set out ho...
Answered 7 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordBAE Systems: FinanceMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74116More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding his Department provides to BAE Systems' Falconworks programme.
Answer: The information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Our Commercial contract accounting tools only detail the BAE Systems operating company names in the contract reporting. It does not include any details of internal ...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordNavy: Guided WeaponsMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74115More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress the Royal Navy has made on developing the Common Anti-air Modular Missile.
Answer: The Common Anti-Air Modular Missile continues to be a cornerstone of Air Defence for both the Royal Navy and the British Army. It remains in service on Type 23 Frigates, with programmes commenced to allow operation on Type 45, Type 26 and Type 31 platform...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordType 45 Destroyers: Guided WeaponsMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74114More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress the Royal Navy has made on Sea Viper Evolution.
Answer: Both Sea Viper Evolution Programmes continue to make progress. Capability One, the Royal Navy’s entry level Ballistic Missile Defence Capability, is expected to provide an initial capability from 2027. Capability Two, providing theatre level Ballistic Mis...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordNavy: WarshipsMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74113More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the scope is of Project RECODE.
Answer: Project RECODE (Real Time Combat System Open Data Enablers) is a programme to maintain and modernise vital combat management systems and their shared infrastructure and networks, on Royal Navy (RN) vessels including Type 23 frigates, Type 45 destroyers, Q...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordNavy: Artificial IntelligenceMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74112More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on developing the Royal Navy’s Force Threat Evaluation and Weapon Assignment functionality enabled by Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning.
Answer: Force-Level Target Evaluation and Weapon Assignment (FTEWA) is a central part of the Royal Navy’s pivot to a Hybrid Navy, being developed under the Future Air Dominance System (FADS) programme. By networking our mix of crewed and uncrewed platforms togeth...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordWarships: Unmanned Marine SystemsMinistry of DefenceTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74111More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on the development of a Type 91 uncrewed arsenal ship/missile barge.
Answer: The need for a mix of crewed and uncrewed autonomous vessels to provide Air and Missile Defence and Strike Capabilities for the Royal Navy was endorsed in the Strategic Defence Review. Technology demonstrators to support and de-risk the transition to the ...
Answered 9 Sept 2025
Original Parliament record
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