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Tag: Angus Robertson

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions (a) photographs have been taken of intercepted aircraft on Quick Reaction Alert flights and (b) such photographs have been released to the public in each of the last three years.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Photographs are routinely taken during Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) interceptions. There is strong public and media interest in the RAF Quick Reaction Alert deterrent capability. MOD policy is to release a limited amount of non-sensitive information on QRA launches, sometimes including photographs. This provides the public with strong examples of how the RAF is able to respond to this kind of incident. It also provides public awareness of the RAF’s ability to defend the UK through the effectiveness of its air defences and to maintain the full deterrence value of the QRA mission. Media enquiries regarding QRA launches also often include requests for photographs.

    Consequently, RAF Operations Staffs in coordination with MOD officials, including the MOD Directorate of Media and Communications, will occasionally consider these photographs for public release.

    Photographs of a recent QRA mission were released on 25 April 2014. The previous release of photographs of intercepted aircraft from a recent mission was in March 2010; additionally for other QRA information releases in the last three years, MOD have utilised stock images from the Defence Image Library.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    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.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

    Financial Year Royal Navy (£) Army (£) RAF (£) Total (£)
    2009-10 41,475,281 138,743,300 51,298,179 231,516,760
    2011-12 32,017,364 134,595,989 38,702,993 205,316,346
    2012-13 33,228,059 122,756,649 35,430,723 191,415,431

    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.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    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.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-03-31.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what interruption to commercial and recreational shipping traffic is expected during the dredging of Portsmouth Harbour.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Portsmouth is a busy military port, which also manages commercial and recreational traffic flows, and the maintenance of harbour facilities, including dredging, around harbour users’ requirements is routine business.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angus Robertson on 2014-04-29.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who authorises the public release of photographs of aircraft that are intercepted during Quick Reaction Alert flights.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Photographs are routinely taken during Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) interceptions. There is strong public and media interest in the RAF Quick Reaction Alert deterrent capability. MOD policy is to release a limited amount of non-sensitive information on QRA launches, sometimes including photographs. This provides the public with strong examples of how the RAF is able to respond to this kind of incident. It also provides public awareness of the RAF’s ability to defend the UK through the effectiveness of its air defences and to maintain the full deterrence value of the QRA mission. Media enquiries regarding QRA launches also often include requests for photographs.

    Consequently, RAF Operations Staffs in coordination with MOD officials, including the MOD Directorate of Media and Communications, will occasionally consider these photographs for public release.

    Photographs of a recent QRA mission were released on 25 April 2014. The previous release of photographs of intercepted aircraft from a recent mission was in March 2010; additionally for other QRA information releases in the last three years, MOD have utilised stock images from the Defence Image Library.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times his Department has provided top-cover fixed-wing search and rescue assets for a search and rescue mission in each of the last two years; and what aircraft were used in each case.

    Mr Mark Francois

    Information on the occasions when Ministry of Defence (MOD) aircraft have provided top-cover fixed wing search and rescue (SAR) assets for a SAR mission is provided in the following table:

    Year Aircraft Type Number of SAR Missions
    2012 E3-D Sentry 1
    2013 None 0
    2014* C130 1

    *To 5 June 2014
    Aircraft provided by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency or overseas Governments may also be tasked by MOD to participate in rescue missions.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    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 progress has been made by UK forces in the search for the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

    Mark Simmonds

    The UK is working with the US, France, Nigeria, its neighbours and international partners to provide advice and assistance to the Nigerian Government to help them secure the safe release of the schoolgirls and defeat Boko Haram. Our SENTINEL aircraft, as part of a number of allied surveillance assets, continues to conduct over-flights of Nigeria and a team of UK experts is working alongside US and French counterparts in Nigeria in the Intelligence Fusion Cell to assist the Nigerians in locating the abducted students. I look forward to taking further stock of this activity, and wider work to tackle Boko Haram, with Foreign Minister Wali and representatives from Nigeria’s neighbours, the US, France, Canada, UN, AU and EU at this week’s ministerial meeting on security in northern Nigeria.

  • Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Angus Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse to date is of the Recruiting and Partnering Project.

    Anna Soubry

    The cost of the Recruiting & Partnering Project to date (for the three years from March 2011-2014) is around £300 million. This figure includes the costs of the service provider, CAPITA and costs to the Ministry of Defence such as military and civilian manpower, Information Communication Technology provision and infrastructure.