Northern Ireland Office written question – answered at on 10 March 2026.
Tan Dhesi
Chair, Defence Committee, Chair, Defence Committee
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.
Hilary Benn
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State have regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence and resilience.
The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to build the UK's resilience to any potential escalation to conflict. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK, informed by and reflecting the recommendations from government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy and Resilience Action Plan.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
