Tag: Brendan O’Hara

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a British firm made a bid to supply steel for the Trident replacement.

Harriett Baldwin

No viable UK bid was received by the Prime Contractor, BAE Systems, to supply the specialised steel required for this part of the Successor submarine manufacture.

Other stages of construction will include grades of steel manufactured by British suppliers and we expect them to take the opportunity to bid.

The Successor programme represents billions of pounds of investment in thousands of British jobs across hundreds of companies from Scotland to the South East.

85% of BAE System’s supply chain for the new submarines is based in the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce shortages in the number of trained air warfare personnel; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that shortage on military operations in Iraq and Syria.

Penny Mordaunt

The term "air warfare personnel" is not recognised within the Royal Air Force. Allocation of manpower is sensibly prioritised to ensure that operational needs are met in full.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) atmospheric stability class was assumed for the downwind dispersion and deposition of the release fall-out; and what the assumed distribution and gross area of ground and surface contamination was in terms of contours versed in Becqueral per square metre in each Astral exercise between February 2011 and November 2012.

Penny Mordaunt

I am withholding the requested information as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security and international relations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisations’ priority markets are for 2016-17.

Anna Soubry

The UK Trade and Investment business forecasting process for 2016/17 has identified 35 markets with strong defence and security opportunities. They are:

Australia

Bahrain

Belgium

Brazil

Brunei

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

India

Indonesia

Italy

Japan

Kuwait

Lithuania

Malaysia

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Oman

Poland

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

South Africa

South Korea

Sweden

Thailand

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

United States of America

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

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to assist the government of Malawi with minimising the risk of corruption in the distribution of aid funds.

James Wharton

The UK does not provide any direct financial aid to the Government of Malawi. DFID has a zero tolerance approach to corruption and rigorous checks are in place to protect taxpayers’ money.

DFID has an active programme of work in Malawi designed to tackle the root causes of corruption and protect the poorest from its effects. Through support provided to the Malawian law enforcement agencies since 2013, the UK has helped to convict those guilty of corruption-related offences to a total of 125 years in prison. DFID is also working with the Government of Malawi to strengthen its public financial management systems and increase the accountability of public officials.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Reaper drones are currently deployed in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria.

Penny Mordaunt

To safeguard operational security I am withholding operational information on the number of RAF Reaper aircraft deployed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether each Astral exercise between February 2011 and November 2012 assumed a post-incident release of nuclear materials from the transportation packages.

Penny Mordaunt

The Ministry of Defence maintains a Defence Nuclear Emergency Organisation (NEO) to respond in the unlikely event of an emergency involving the transport of defence nuclear materials. The NEO organises regular exercises to test the effectiveness of its emergency response planning and arrangements. These include the Astral series of exercises, which are designed to be challenging, and thus simulate the extremely unlikely event of a release of radioactive material from the transport containers. No radioactive materials are used or released to the environment during the exercises. The specific exercise objectives do not require assessments or estimates of decontamination, environmental or other post-incident decontamination costs or of radiological dose uptakes. The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) undertook the modelling for each Astral exercise between February 2011 and November 2012.

I am withholding information about the physical state, mass quantity, release fraction and total released radioactivity assumed for these exercises as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take immediate steps to reopen consular facilities in Malawi to enable Malawian nationals to obtain UK visas in that country.

Mr Robert Goodwill

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), an operational command of the Home Office, has responsibility for running the UK’s visa service.

In Malawi, UK visa applications can be made through the Visa Application Centre in Lilongwe, which is open five days a week. UKVI has no plans to change its current operating model.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there is a shortfall in the number of Ministry of Defence Police Officers; and what provision there is for tasking such officers beyond their contracted hours of work.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) currently has a number of vacancies within the Force. Where there is a shortfall in numbers at an MDP station the use of overtime working may be authorised in order to cover essential duties. Volunteers to work additional hours are sought in the first instance, but officers may be directed to work additional hours if insufficient volunteers are available.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many flights were undertaken in fixed wing aircraft or helicopters to transport or carry 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.