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  • Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Andrew Rosindell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of readiness to defend its Overseas Territories in the event of attack.

    Mr Mark Francois

    The Ministry of Defence (MOD) regularly consults with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Government Departments and intelligence agencies, as well as our allies and partners, constantly to review or identify potential threats to UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs). In the first instance the MOD seeks to deter such attacks using deterrence measures including, where necessary, permanently based military garrisons or dedicated patrols, visits by deployed military forces, and more broadly the maintenance of world class deployable military forces. Should deterrence fail to prevent an attack, the Department remains confident that it has the necessary contingency plans and high readiness deployable forces in the UK and elsewhere to respond accordingly to any attack on a UKOT.

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many equal opportunities investigation officers there are in each branch of the armed forces; what their qualifications are; what training is provided to them; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry Of Defence maintains a cadre of Harassment Investigation Officers who investigate complaints raised within the Services and by MOD civilians concerning bullying and harassment, and who are not permanent employees of the Department; Appendix six to the 2013 Annual Report of the Service Complaints Commissioner provides further details. Beyond this centrally-managed team, the three Services maintain teams of investigators, many of whom are drawn from their own Service police force, who can investigate complex complaints.

    The Royal Navy has one Complaint Investigation and Mediation Team (CIMT), comprising two members of the Royal Navy Police with many years of investigative experience. In addition to their extensive police investigative training, they are Equality and Diversity Advisers, and have undertaken the MOD Harassment Investigation Course and professional Mediation Training (through an external training provider).

    The Army currently has six permanent members and three temporary assigned (12 months) soldiers in its Service Complaints Investigation Team (SCIT), which replaced the Equal Opportunities Investigation Team. All members of the SCIT are serving Senior Non-Commissioned Officers from the Royal Military Police, and hold the following qualifications:

    Initial Military Police Investigation Course

    Volume Crime Investigation Course

    Management Investigation Course

    Police and Criminal Evidence Act Interviewing Course

    Disclosure Officers Course

    Equality & Diversity Advisor Course

    On arrival in the SCIT, investigators receive work place training and are allocated a supervising investigator for a period of three months or as necessary.

    The RAF has a Service Complaints Team, and an Equal Opportunities Investigation Team (EOIT), which investigates complex equality and diversity complaints. The latter team comprises a Warrant Officer and a Flight Sergeant, both members of the RAF Police, and an administrator. The investigators complete the following courses as part of their role training:

    Equality and Diversity Advisor

    Harassment Investigation Officer

    Fundamentals of Employment Law (through CIPD)

    Preparing for Employment Tribunal (through CIPD)

    Certificate in Bullying and Harassment Investigation – City and Guilds

    Level 4

  • Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Madeleine Moon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Madeleine Moon on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the service complaints investigation teams there are in each branch of the armed forces; what their qualifications are; what training is provided to them; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    The Ministry Of Defence maintains a cadre of Harassment Investigation Officers who investigate complaints raised within the Services and by MOD civilians concerning bullying and harassment, and who are not permanent employees of the Department; Appendix six to the 2013 Annual Report of the Service Complaints Commissioner provides further details. Beyond this centrally-managed team, the three Services maintain teams of investigators, many of whom are drawn from their own Service police force, who can investigate complex complaints.

    The Royal Navy has one Complaint Investigation and Mediation Team (CIMT), comprising two members of the Royal Navy Police with many years of investigative experience. In addition to their extensive police investigative training, they are Equality and Diversity Advisers, and have undertaken the MOD Harassment Investigation Course and professional Mediation Training (through an external training provider).

    The Army currently has six permanent members and three temporary assigned (12 months) soldiers in its Service Complaints Investigation Team (SCIT), which replaced the Equal Opportunities Investigation Team. All members of the SCIT are serving Senior Non-Commissioned Officers from the Royal Military Police, and hold the following qualifications:

    Initial Military Police Investigation Course

    Volume Crime Investigation Course

    Management Investigation Course

    Police and Criminal Evidence Act Interviewing Course

    Disclosure Officers Course

    Equality & Diversity Advisor Course

    On arrival in the SCIT, investigators receive work place training and are allocated a supervising investigator for a period of three months or as necessary.

    The RAF has a Service Complaints Team, and an Equal Opportunities Investigation Team (EOIT), which investigates complex equality and diversity complaints. The latter team comprises a Warrant Officer and a Flight Sergeant, both members of the RAF Police, and an administrator. The investigators complete the following courses as part of their role training:

    Equality and Diversity Advisor

    Harassment Investigation Officer

    Fundamentals of Employment Law (through CIPD)

    Preparing for Employment Tribunal (through CIPD)

    Certificate in Bullying and Harassment Investigation – City and Guilds

    Level 4

  • Sir Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Sir Menzies Campbell – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sir Menzies Campbell on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether military training given to the Burmese Army by UK advisers advises soldiers to refuse orders that could result in human rights abuses.

    Mr Mark Francois

    This issue was covered in a panel discussion during the export version of the Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context course that was delivered in Burma, in January 2014, by a mixed civil-military team from the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and one of their academic providers, Cranfield University. The discussion sat within a lecture on Rules of Engagement. An international law academic from Cranfield University, who specialises in the law of armed conflict, set out the legal position with regards to obeying illegal orders and the consequences of disobeying them.

  • John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Latvia, (b) Lithuania and (c) Estonia about strengthening defence and security relationships with those countries.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    I regularly engage with my Baltic counterparts, including through EU and NATO meetings. I visited Latvia and Lithuania in September 2013; and I intend to visit the region again in the very near future.

    In December 2013 I visited Estonia where I signed the General Defence Engagement Memorandum of Understanding between our two countries.

  • John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Spellar – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Spellar on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when Ministers in his last met their counterparts from (a) Norway, (b) Finland and (c) Sweden.

    Dr Andrew Murrison

    Defence Ministers meet their counterparts regularly at multinational meetings throughout the year. The Secretary of State for Defence most recently met the Defence Ministers of Norway, Finland and Sweden at the Northern Group meeting in Helsinki in December 2013, and I had a bilateral meeting with the Defence Minister of Sweden at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting in Luxemboug in April 2014.

  • Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Bob Ainsworth – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) associated costs and (b) utility of the Trident Alternatives Review.

    Mr Philip Hammond

    I have made no such assessment.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Anna Soubry

    The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Mrs Helen Grant

    DCMS holds a minimal stock of stationery to supply staff, and orders items as required.

  • Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Helen Goodman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ratify the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Government, along with the British Red Cross, has pledged to facilitate the UK’s ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and believes ratification of the Convention and its two Protocols will strengthen our commitment to the protection of our own heritage, and highlight our respect for the cultural property of other nations. However, as yet it has not been possible to secure the parliamentary time needed to pass the relevant legislation.