Question follow-through · 100265
Ministry of Defence: Civil Servants
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.
About this written question
A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.
- Answering body
- Ministry of Defence
- Tabled
- 16 Dec 2025
- Target answer date
- 18 Dec 2025
- Answer
- 22 Dec 2025 · 6 calendar days after tabling
Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.
More questions by this MP on Defence and foreign affairs
- Ministry of Defence: Social Media · 17 Dec 2025
- Veterans: Radiation Exposure · 4 Feb 2026
- Chagos Islands: Military Bases · 9 Feb 2026
- Ministry of Defence: WhatsApp · 23 Feb 2026
- Ministry of Defence: Visas · 3 Mar 2026
Shared topic keywords suggest a connection; they do not establish a follow-up.
Votes on this topic
- Opposition Day Motion: Defence spending and readiness - Prime Minister's Amendment · 23 Jun 2026
- Opposition day: Defence spending and readiness · 23 Jun 2026
- Armed Forces Bill Report Stage: Amendment 11 · 22 Jun 2026
These Commons divisions share a topic label. The question did not necessarily lead to a vote.
Recorded timeline
16 Dec 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.
18 Dec 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
22 Dec 2025
Answer published
As at 30 November 2025, 1,020 civil servants are on fixed term contracts, amounting to two percent of Ministry of Defence civil servants. Consultants are not classed as civil servants.
Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.
Later records
Possible follow-up questions
Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.
Ministry of Defence: Social Media
17 Dec 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.
Veterans: Radiation Exposure
4 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2026 to Question 106994 on Veterans: Radiation Exposure, whether research on the effects of radiation on British servicemen held by the Technical Cooperation Programme of the
Chagos Islands: Military Bases
9 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government has given security guarantees to the United States on the future of the military base on Chagos Islands since 2 February 2026.
Ministry of Defence: WhatsApp
23 Feb 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his Department's policy that (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers use the disappearing messages function on Whatsapp on Government devices.
Ministry of Defence: Visas
3 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department are reliant on a visa for employment.
Ministry of Defence: Recruitment
12 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.
Ministry of Defence: Redundancy Pay
18 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on special severance payments in each of the last three years.
Ministry of Defence: Social Media
10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has paid for followers on social media platforms it uses.
Veterans: Radiation Exposure
10 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether legal advice has been received in regard to an Atomic Weapons Establishment report that claimed fallout data affecting British troops had been covered up.
Ministry of Defence: Artificial Intelligence
14 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.
Veterans: Radiation Exposure
20 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on his review of the records of nuclear test veterans.
Ministry of Defence: Training
22 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the training programmes used by civil servants in his Department since 2020.