Tag: Brendan O’Hara

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the flight path of any flight in a fixed wing aircraft or helicopter of Defence Nuclear Materials has involved travel over the airspace of Scotland and its territorial seas in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt

In the last five years, 23 flights carrying Defence Nuclear Materials (DNM) were undertaken. All flights were between the UK and the United States on fixed wing aircraft under the control of UK Armed Forces. No such flights passed over Scotland, or involved the use of helicopters.

I am withholding details of the physical state, mass and radiological quantity of DNM transported as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security.

The transport of DNM is carried out to the highest standard in accordance with stringent safety regulations. In over 50 years of transporting DNM in the UK, there has never been an incident that has posed any radiation hazard to the public or to the environment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff were employed by the (a) Defence Growth Partnership and (b) UK Defence Solutions Centre on 1 April 2016.

Jesse Norman

The Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) is an industry led group, established jointly by industry and government to deliver export-led growth within the Defence sector. It does not receive any public funding. Since 2014, it has enabled joint industry and government resource equivalent to £50 million over three years to achieve its agenda: £30 million for strengthening the UK Defence & Security Organisation and establishing the UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC). The remaining £20 million is currently delivered through a number of initiatives supporting the DGP’s growth agenda: establishment of the Centre of Maritime Intelligent Systems (CMIS); Dual Use Technology Exploitation (DUTE) cluster and the MOD Innovation Challenge fund.

Government and industry have committed through a mix of cash and resource equivalent to £3.8m in 2015-16 to the UKDSC and a similar figure is predicted for 2016-17. As of 1 April 2016, there were 4 staff directly employed by the UKDSC and 28 secondees from across the 16 DGP Partner Companies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if the Government will take steps to ensure that UK aid to Malawi funds long-term transport infrastructure, irrigation, diversification of farming and food products projects.

James Wharton

The UK’s development programme in Malawi works to grow the economy and eradicate extreme poverty. Improvements in the agriculture sector are essential for Malawi’s growth. DFID prosperity programmes aim to deliver increased agricultural production and productivity, including through the expansion of land under irrigation; a diversified economic base and increased investment in inclusive agri-business. DFID has also provided some support to rehabilitating rural roads, and undertaken feasibility work for rail and road corridors.

We will continue to make transformative investments to help Malawi to move up the agricultural supply chain, improve regional trade and create more jobs. This will contribute to increased food security and agricultural production, helping to boost growth and create off-farm jobs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether overtime for Ministry of Defence Police stationed at HM Naval Base Clyde is (a) voluntary or (b) compulsory.

Mark Lancaster

All Ministry of Defence Police officers can be asked to work beyond their normal conditioned hours if there is an unavoidable operational need to do so. Where there is a requirement to cover essential duties by the use of overtime working, volunteers are sought in the first instance in order to minimise the need for compulsory overtime working

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the country of origin was of the fixed wing aircraft or helicopter in each flight transporting or carrying Defence Nuclear Materials in the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt

In the last five years, 23 flights carrying Defence Nuclear Materials (DNM) were undertaken. All flights were between the UK and the United States on fixed wing aircraft under the control of UK Armed Forces. No such flights passed over Scotland, or involved the use of helicopters.

I am withholding details of the physical state, mass and radiological quantity of DNM transported as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security.

The transport of DNM is carried out to the highest standard in accordance with stringent safety regulations. In over 50 years of transporting DNM in the UK, there has never been an incident that has posed any radiation hazard to the public or to the environment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the cost to (a) government and (b) industry of the Defence Growth Partnership (i) was in 2014-15, (ii) was in 2015-16 and (iii) is for 2016-17.

Jesse Norman

The Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) is an industry led group, established jointly by industry and government to deliver export-led growth within the Defence sector. It does not receive any public funding. Since 2014, it has enabled joint industry and government resource equivalent to £50 million over three years to achieve its agenda: £30 million for strengthening the UK Defence & Security Organisation and establishing the UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC). The remaining £20 million is currently delivered through a number of initiatives supporting the DGP’s growth agenda: establishment of the Centre of Maritime Intelligent Systems (CMIS); Dual Use Technology Exploitation (DUTE) cluster and the MOD Innovation Challenge fund.

Government and industry have committed through a mix of cash and resource equivalent to £3.8m in 2015-16 to the UKDSC and a similar figure is predicted for 2016-17. As of 1 April 2016, there were 4 staff directly employed by the UKDSC and 28 secondees from across the 16 DGP Partner Companies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to tackle global climate change.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK played an important role in securing the global climate Agreement reached in Paris in December 2015. The UK has started its domestic process to enable ratification of the Paris Agreement and will complete this before the end of the year.

The UK also played a key role in securing a major global climate deal to combat aviation emissions, reached at the 39th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization on 6 October 2016.

We will provide at least £5.8bn from the UK aid budget between 2016 and 2020 as climate finance which will continue to support developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This should help promote green investment required to meet the well below 2 degree goal set in Paris.

Domestically we are delivering against the Paris climate deal through our UK Climate Change Act which commits us to reduce emissions by at least 80% by 2050. One of the first acts of this Government was to pass the fifth carbon budget into law – it is equivalent to a 57% reduction on 1990 levels by 2030.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many additional Ministry of Defence Police Officers will be required to operate at full capacity in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18, (d) 2018-19 and (e) 2019-20 as a consequence of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Mark Lancaster

As part of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review we are reviewing a series of options that are expected to change the way we provide our policing and guarding at some sites. Work is under way to assess the feasibility and implication of these options. Estimates of numbers of total Ministry of Defence Police officers were provided in my answer to Question 18989 from the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Kevan Jones MP) on 10 December 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the country of (a) origin and (b) destination was of each flight in a fixed wing aircraft or helicopter carrying or transporting Defence Nuclear Materials in the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt

In the last five years, 23 flights carrying Defence Nuclear Materials (DNM) were undertaken. All flights were between the UK and the United States on fixed wing aircraft under the control of UK Armed Forces. No such flights passed over Scotland, or involved the use of helicopters.

I am withholding details of the physical state, mass and radiological quantity of DNM transported as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security.

The transport of DNM is carried out to the highest standard in accordance with stringent safety regulations. In over 50 years of transporting DNM in the UK, there has never been an incident that has posed any radiation hazard to the public or to the environment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much (a) government and (b) industry funding the UK Defence Solutions Centre received in the financial year 2015-16; and how much such funding is projected for 2016-17.

Jesse Norman

The Defence Growth Partnership (DGP) is an industry led group, established jointly by industry and government to deliver export-led growth within the Defence sector. It does not receive any public funding. Since 2014, it has enabled joint industry and government resource equivalent to £50 million over three years to achieve its agenda: £30 million for strengthening the UK Defence & Security Organisation and establishing the UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC). The remaining £20 million is currently delivered through a number of initiatives supporting the DGP’s growth agenda: establishment of the Centre of Maritime Intelligent Systems (CMIS); Dual Use Technology Exploitation (DUTE) cluster and the MOD Innovation Challenge fund.

Government and industry have committed through a mix of cash and resource equivalent to £3.8m in 2015-16 to the UKDSC and a similar figure is predicted for 2016-17. As of 1 April 2016, there were 4 staff directly employed by the UKDSC and 28 secondees from across the 16 DGP Partner Companies.