Tag: Angus Robertson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many additional Merlin helicopters will be upgraded from Mk1 standard to Mk2; and what the total cost of each upgrade will be.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Royal Navy Merlin Mk1 fleet is being modernised through the Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme. A total of 30 Merlin Mk1 helicopters are being modified to address existing and forecast avionic obsolescence and will then be known as the Merlin Mk2. The approved cost of the Demonstration and Manufacture phases of the programme is £805 million.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Weapon Handling and Launch support contract includes an obligation on the contractor to provide waterfront support in the loading and unloading of (a) conventional and (b) nuclear weapons in (i) the UK and (ii) abroad.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Weapon Handling and Launch System (WHLS) support contract provides technical and logistic support for all WHLS equipment on Royal Navy submarines and at Royal Navy training establishments, including Weapon Embarkation Equipment (WEE). The actual use of WEE to load and unload conventional weapons in the UK and abroad is covered by separate commercial arrangements. The WHLS support contract is not used for any aspect of nuclear weapons.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what quantitative criteria have been used to set to remote the risk probability of a collision involving a Tornado aircraft.

Mr Philip Dunne

Military Aviation Authority Regulatory Article 1210 defines categories for quantifying the likelihood of a risk as follows:

“Likelihood is assessed with respect to the likelihood of the assessed consequence of a hazard. This is based on the likelihood of a single accident resulting in harm for a particular fleet. The appropriate category listed below must be used:
a. Frequent: Likely to occur at least several times a year.
b. Occasional: Likely to occur one or more times per year.
c. Remote: Likely to occur one or more times in 10 years.
d. Improbable: Unlikely to occur in 10 years.”

A panel of suitably qualified and experienced persons from the Tornado Force calculated the risk likelihood for the Tornado risk register based on this definition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what current RAF airfields have (a) standard airfield concrete runways and (b) asphaltic concrete runways.

Mr Philip Dunne

There are no RAF airfields that have a concrete only runway.
The following RAF airfields have a asphaltic/concrete runway:

RAF Benson (Joint Helicopter Command Base)
RAF College Cranwell
RAF Coningsby
RAF Leeming
RAF Leuchars
RAF Lossiemouth
RAF Marham
RAF Odiham (Joint Helicopter Command Base)
RAF Scampton
RAF Shawbury
RAF Waddington
RAF Valley

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the UK has taken to support UN Security Council Resolution 2139 regarding humanitarian access in Syria.

Hugh Robertson

The UK played a leading role in ensuring the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2139 on 22 February. Since then, we have regularly echoed the UN Security Council’s demand that all parties to the conflict, in particular the Syrian authorities, implement fully the requirements of UNSCR 2139. We welcome the National Coalition’s commitment to implementing UNSCR 2139 and have encouraged those with influence on the parties to urge them to implement the demands of the resolution. The UK is working closely with P5 colleagues and others in New York on a draft resolution in response to the UN Secretary General’s call for the UNSC to act decisively to address the worsening humanitarian situation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will estimate (a) the savings generated by each branch of the armed forces having separate recruiting programmes and (b) the annual cost of each such programme.

Anna Soubry

Each branch of the Armed Forces has a distinctive brand that needs to be marketed separately in order to attract the best candidates.

Capturing the cost of recruiting across the Armed Forces is a complex and resource-intensive task. For financial year (FY) 2010-11, when both the recruitment budget and recruitment targets were below normal levels, these calculations were not carried out. The costs of recruiting programmes for FYs 2009-10, 2011-12 and 2012-13 are set out in the following table. The cost of recruiting in FY 2013-14 will be available in early 2015.

As reductions have been made to force levels recruitment levels have been adjusted but not stopped as the Services are required to keep recruiting to maintain the right skills.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the total cost of disposal of Nimrod MR4A associated material at RAF Kinloss.

Mr Philip Dunne

The current net cost of removal of Nimrod MR4A material is £86,000. However, we expect the final net cost to be lower since some of the material removed from site has yet to be sold.