The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made with providing Jobcentre Plus advisor support in schools.
Priti Patel
Jobcentre Plus support for schools was launched on 14 January in Birmingham. The remaining nine pathfinders will be launched in this academic year before national rollout by March 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Martyn Day on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will make it his policy never to permit the transit of nuclear weapons in urban areas in hazardous weather conditions.
Penny Mordaunt
The safety and security of Defence Nuclear Materials and the public is given the highest priority at all times. The relevant local agencies, including Police and the National Traffic Information Services, are consulted as necessary and factors such as road and weather conditions are always taken into account for all convoy movements.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British servicemen are serving in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan.
Penny Mordaunt
As of 22 January 2016, there were 287 British Service personnel serving in Iraq as part of Operation SHADER. This includes UK training teams providing training to the Iraq Security Forces and Kurdish Security Forces and UK support to various Coalition headquarters. Routine movements and minor changes in requirements mean that this number will vary over time.
For Afghanistan, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State in the House of Lords, the Rt Hon Earl Howe PC to the noble Lord, Lord Moonie, in the House of Lords to Question HL5150.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British servicemen and women are based on British military bases abroad.
Penny Mordaunt
There are 9,360 British Service personnel permanently based on British military bases abroad. This figure includes those based in Cyprus, Gibraltar, the South Atlantic Islands, Diego Garcia, Germany, Canada, Kenya, Brunei, Nepal and Belize. This figure represents the number of Service personnel who are stationed at that location. It may differ from the actual number of people working on the base at the time, for example due to deployments. The breakdown of these figures into country and service is shown below; where countries have five or less personnel, these are rounded to zero and the country does not appear in the table. The Ministry of Defence regularly publishes the location figures for both military and civilian personnel, which can be accessed on the GOV.UK website at:
https//www.gov.uk/government/statistics/location-of-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-2015
|
UK Base Country |
Navy |
Army |
RAF |
TOTAL |
|
Germany |
20 |
5,900 |
130 |
6,050 |
|
Canada |
10 |
360 |
20 |
390 |
|
Kenya |
0 |
210 |
10 |
220 |
|
Brunei |
10 |
130 |
10 |
150 |
|
Nepal |
0 |
20 |
0 |
20 |
|
Cyprus |
20 |
1,480 |
730 |
2,230 |
|
Gibraltar |
110 |
30 |
30 |
170 |
|
South Atlantic Islands |
10 |
50 |
20 |
80 |
|
Diego Garcia |
40 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
|
Belize |
0 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
|
TOTAL |
220 |
8,190 |
950 |
9,360 |
(Location of UK regular service and civilian personnel quarterly statistics- 1 October 2015)
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the Afghan army have been trained by British servicemen since 2001.
Penny Mordaunt
Since 2001, alongside NATO partners, the UK has played an important role in developing the 350,000 strong Afghan National Security Forces through a range of training, mentoring and advisory activities.
During Operation HERRICK (2002-2014) UK Armed Forces personnel mentored and advised 3rd Brigade, 215 Corps of the Afghan National Army in Helmand. During this time, UK forces partnered Afghan personnel on operations, allowing them to learn from experience and enabling them, over time, to take the lead for operations themselves. The UK also supported the development of Afghan military instructors.
Since the end of 2014, as part of Operation TORAL, the UK has mentored and advised the Afghan instructors at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA) in Kabul. Up to 1140 Afghan cadets can be enrolled at ANAOA each year.
At present as part of wider NATO activity, the UK also has a small team deployed to Helmand to further assist the development of 215 Corps.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the Kurdish Peshmerga have been trained by British servicemen since 2014.
Penny Mordaunt
Since Operation SHADER began in 2014, the UK – as part of the Coalition – has trained approximately 3,000 members of the Kurdish security forces. The majority of those trained have been Kurdish Peshmerga.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the Iraqi army have been trained by British servicemen since 2003.
Penny Mordaunt
Since 2003, the UK has played an important role in delivering training to the Iraqi Army through a range of training, mentoring and advisory activities. Due to the varied nature of the training it is not possible to give an exact figure of the numbers trained, but we do have figures for some specific areas of training.
Between 2004 and 2009 – as part of Operation TELIC – British Service personnel in the south of Iraq trained over 20,000 Iraqi Army soldiers. During this period the UK also supported the NATO training mission in Iraq, with British Forces providing advice and training to the Iraqi Ministry of Defence. The UK was the lead for officer education and training, and British mentors provided training and advice to the Iraqi Security Forces.
Under Operation SHADER, during 2015 and 2016, the UK has trained approximately 5,000 members of the Iraqi Army. This training has mainly focused on the delivery of Counter-IED training to support the Iraqi Security Forces in defeating Daesh.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects to reply to the letters to him from the hon. Member for Tewkesbury dated 20 July 2015 and 21 October 2015 on the treatment of veterans and the terms of the Military Covenant.
Michael Fallon
The case that the hon. Member refers to is complicated and sensitive and is still being reviewed by officials. I will write to him as soon as this review concludes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what lessons were learned for emergency planning in the event of an accident involving the road transport of nuclear warheads from the Operation Senator emergency planning exercise held at HMS Gannet, Prestwick Airport in September 2011.
Penny Mordaunt
The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) assessment concluded that Exercise Senator 2011 achieved its stated objectives.
The DNSR assessment report contains five findings, four of which have been formally closed out. Work is in hand to address the remaining finding.
I shall place copies of the DNSR assessment and All Agency report in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2016-01-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government’s policy is on further developing the necessary facilities and skills for the UK to become a world centre of expertise in the dismantling of formerly-armed nuclear warheads.
Michael Fallon
As we set out in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, we will reduce the overall stockpile of nuclear warheads to no more than 180 by the mid 2020s. The Government is investing in the Atomic Weapons Establishment, which is responsible for supporting the entire life-cycle of the UK’s nuclear warheads, from design and manufacture, to maintenance and certification of the existing warhead stockpile, and, ultimately, to decommissioning and disposal. In addition, the UK is co-operating with international partners – particularly the US and Norway – on a verification regime for the dismantlement of a nuclear weapon that could support any potential future nuclear disarmament treaty.