Blog

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the seaworthiness is of (a) HMS Torbay, (b) HMS Trenchant, (c) HMS Talent and (d) HMS Triumph.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The safety of the UK submarine fleet is of paramount importance. The Ministry of Defence assesses seaworthiness for submarines through a robust sea clearance process. This assessment is kept under continuous review.

    I am withholding the seaworthiness state of each submarine as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans the Government has for the decommissioning of (a) HMS Torbay, (b) HMS Trenchant, (c) HMS Talent and (d) HMS Triumph.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) is looking across the spectrum to assess what defence capabilities will address the threats we face. The conclusions of the SDSR are due to be published on 23 November.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when HMS Artful is planned to be in active service.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    It is planned that Artful will be handed over to the Royal Navy in December 2015. I cannot comment on when Artful will be deployed on active service as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

  • Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Steven Paterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on HMS Artful.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The first three Astute class submarines were ordered as a single batch. Separate construction costs for Artful are, therefore, not held by the department. As such, it is not possible to determine how much the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has spent on HMS Artful individually; nor what the MOD expected the specific cost of HMS Artful to be, when commissioned.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK personnel have served in UN peacekeeping missions in each of the last 10 years.

    Penny Mordaunt

    Over the past 10 years, UK military personnel have been deployed to a number of UN mandated peacekeeping missions including: Cyprus (UNFICYP), Mali (MINUSMA), South Sudan (UNMISS), Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Liberia (UNMIL), Dafur (UNAMID), UNAMI (IRAQ), UNIOSIL (Sierra Leone), UNMIK (Kosovo), UNOMIG (Georgia), UNMIN (Nepal), UNAMA (Afghanistan), UNSOM (Somalia) and UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia).

    The number of military personnel who have deployed on the various UN operations is set out below:

    2006*

    2007*

    2008*

    2009*

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015**

    Total number of UK personnel deployed per year

    295

    290

    301

    293

    279

    276

    280

    278

    285

    287

    * The details supplied are correct as of 31 January each year.

    ** Correct as of 10 November 2015.

  • Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Brendan O’Hara – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2015 to Question 14252, what estimate he has made of his Department’s likely strength of civilian personnel based in Scotland on 1 April (a) 2016 and (b) 2020 for each top level budget.

    Michael Fallon

    It has not been possible in the time available to provide a geographical breakdown of projected estimated civilian personnel strengths by Top Level Budget. Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials will investigate what information can be provided and I will write in due course.

    As at 1 July 2015 the MOD employed 3,770 civilian personnel at locations in Scotland. A breakdown by Unitary Authority can be found in the Quarterly Locations Report, the latest edition of which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/location-of-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-2015

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) current and (b) former members of the UK armed forces have been awarded the NATO Africa Medal.

    Mark Lancaster

    The UK Armed Forces have a distinguished history of serving with great courage and professionalism in a wide-range of conflict situations; over the years various foreign military awards have been approved for acceptance and some of these have also been approved for wearing. A full list of the qualifying criteria for, and permission to wear, campaign medals, foreign medals and medals awarded by international organisations is available in Joint Service Publication 761 which can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/396186/JSP761_honours_awards.pdf

    Information on the numbers of UK Service personnel or veterans who have been awarded the NATO Africa Medal is not held by the Ministry of Defence as this is administered by NATO.

    “

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2015 to Question 13951, which foreign military awards have been approved for members of the UK armed forces to wear; and what criteria are applied in determining such approval.

    Mark Lancaster

    The UK Armed Forces have a distinguished history of serving with great courage and professionalism in a wide-range of conflict situations; over the years various foreign military awards have been approved for acceptance and some of these have also been approved for wearing. A full list of the qualifying criteria for, and permission to wear, campaign medals, foreign medals and medals awarded by international organisations is available in Joint Service Publication 761 which can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/396186/JSP761_honours_awards.pdf

    Information on the numbers of UK Service personnel or veterans who have been awarded the NATO Africa Medal is not held by the Ministry of Defence as this is administered by NATO.

    “

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many aircraft owned by each service branch of the armed forces are leased to private businesses; and how much is paid to each such branch in respect of such leases.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No aircraft owned by the Armed Forces are leased to private businesses.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Mark Hendrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2015-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which Diwali celebrations he, his predecessor or Ministers in his Department attended in 2014 and 2015.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    Government ministers were in attendance at the Prime Minister’s Diwali reception at No 10 Downing Street to celebrate the biggest festival in the Hindu calendar. Due to prior diary commitments, DCMS ministers were unable to attend Diwali celebrations this year in their official capacity.