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Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee

Ninth Special Report - Defence in Scotland: the North Atlantic and the High North: Government Response to the Committee’s Seventh Report of Session 2022–23

Published 18 October 2023

Scottish Affairs Committee Defence in Scotland Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance

The government's response

This document responds to Seventh Report - Defence in Scotland: the North Atlantic and the High North.

This is the government's response, published 18 October 2023.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government welcomes the report and says it remains "committed to the direction" of its existing High North strategy, while declining to adopt a fixed five-year update cycle or appoint a political Arctic ambassador.

  • On updating its Arctic strategies every five years, it says this "does not mean HMG will necessarily publish another in five years' time", and will act sooner if circumstances warrant.
  • It does not believe appointing a political Arctic Ambassador is "the right approach", but says it is recruiting a Senior Arctic lead at ambassadorial rank.
  • On aircraft numbers, it says it "remains confident it maintains the right force mix" for the North Atlantic and High North, while keeping capabilities under review.
  • On cold weather capability, it says UK Defence "will examine options" to bolster it, and that its refreshed doctrine will be tested in the first quarter of 2024 and ratified in the second.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

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