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Tag: Chris Evans

  • Chris Evans – 2023 Speech on the Armoured Cavalry Programme – Sheldon Review

    Chris Evans – 2023 Speech on the Armoured Cavalry Programme – Sheldon Review

    The speech made by Chris Evans, the Shadow Defence Minister, in the House of Commons on 15 June 2023.

    Before I start, if you will allow me, Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to pay tribute to Glenda Jackson, our former colleague, given the sad news that she recently passed away. She was a doughty champion for social justice and was the greatest actor of this or any other generation. I am sure further tributes will be paid in the coming days.

    What the Sheldon review has shown without a shadow of a doubt is that Ajax is the biggest procurement failure for a decade. The review is beyond damning. For a report to state,

    “Reporting was at times lacking, or unclear, or overly optimistic. That led to senior personnel and Ministers being surprised to discover in late 2020 and early 2021 that the programme was at much greater risk than they had appreciated”,

    is frankly embarrassing.

    There is no place to hide any longer. The failure to manage this contract was on this Conservative Government’s watch. It was they who allowed the relationship with General Dynamics to break down to such an extent that every time Ajax was mentioned, here or in the press, there was fevered speculation that the contract was about to be cancelled. That has caused anxiety for the Army and above all for the workers in General Dynamics in both Merthyr Tydfil and Oakdale in my own Islwyn constituency. Even the threat of losing 400 jobs would be devastating for the south Wales economy.

    This programme has cost £5.5 billion and has been running for 13 years, but has yet to deliver one deployable vehicle. If this was the private sector, heads would roll, so I ask the Minister this: has any action been taken against anyone responsible for this mess? What new procedures have already been put in place on other major programmes to stop similar mistakes happening? Ministers must ensure that our NATO obligations are met in full, but, whether it is Ajax, delays to Wedgetail or a modern war-fighting division, NATO must have concerns. Have any been raised with the Government about Ajax?

    I well remember the sense of excitement from workers at Oakdale when this contract was signed in 2010, just after I was elected. The Ajax contract was then labelled a game changer, not only for south Wales, but for the Army. It is truly sad that we have arrived at a point where Ajax has become a byword for waste and incompetence.

    Workers at General Dynamics should have been listened to, but they were not. There was a

    “lack of appreciation of diverse and contrary voices, especially from those working on the ‘shopfloor’. These voices were not fully included, and were too easily dismissed.”

    Those are not my words, but the words of the report. Perhaps if workers had been listened to, we would not be standing here now.

    As the Minister knows, Ajax is not an isolated case: 37 out of 39 defence equipment contracts being run by the Ministry of Defence are marked red or amber by the National Audit Office. That includes Morpheus, which is extremely important to our armed forces. Have the problems with that programme’s communications system been fixed, or are they unfixable? What contingency plans are being made for Morpheus?

    For a contract as important as Ajax, with so much speculation around it, it is amazing that we have not had an oral statement on Ajax since December 2021. For too long, the Government have avoided scrutiny on this issue. On this and other future contracts, will the Minister commit to giving regular updates to the House? We are, after all, ensuring soldiers’ safety—the most important thing about the contract—and spending taxpayers’ money. I find myself in agreement with the Minister when he says that change has to come. It is not a moment too soon.

    James Cartlidge

    I begin by agreeing with the hon. Gentleman on Glenda Jackson; I do not think she was in the House when I was here, but she was an amazing actress and I join in his sentiments and echo them entirely.

    I recognise that the hon. Gentleman is not just the shadow spokesman but has a clear constituency interest, and I respect that. He talks about fevered speculation and the impact on the workforce, and I totally understand that. We do not want to see that. He talks about coming to the House: I am here today to be absolutely clear with everyone about the latest position. In fact, my colleague the Paymaster General regularly updated the House on the position around Ajax when he was the Minister. My predecessor, now the Lord Chancellor, also issued a written statement earlier this year that was very detailed about the programme, so I think we have been consistent in updating the House.

    On some of the hon. Gentleman’s specific questions, he asked about action on individuals. What we said when commissioning this review was that disciplinary action would be taken only if there was evidence of gross misconduct, and Mr Sheldon found no evidence of misconduct, let alone gross misconduct. That is the clear reason why individual action has not been taken.

    In terms of action across programmes, I point the hon. Gentleman to the very significant investment by the Army of £70 million over the next 10 years in Army procurement programmes, including in the past two years a doubling in the number of SROs and a doubling of the amount of time that SROs spend on their responsible major projects. Those are significant investments.

    I also point out to the hon. Gentleman some of the improvements we have seen. I accept that we need to go further but, if I may draw a contrast, this is not the first review of acquisition. Bernard Gray issued an independent “Review of Acquisition for the Secretary of State for Defence” in 2009, which described a poorly performing procurement system. That review found that

    “the average programme overruns by 80% or c.5 years from the time specified at initial approval through to in service dates”,

    and that was under a previous Government.

    These problems have been around for some time and it is disappointing. I have pointed to the improvements we have seen, but let me be absolutely clear: the ultimate reason we have this report is to learn lessons and the way we respond to it is to deliver a fundamentally better acquisition system. I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman on that and I hope we can all work together to that end.

  • Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen; and if she will make a statement.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The United Nations report that 21.2 million people in Yemen require some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights, as cited in the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). The government uses this UN report as one if its primary data sources.

    We continue to call on other donors to step up. In July 2015 the Foreign and Development Secretaries wrote to international donors to raise the profile of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and encourage more funding to the response. In September, the Development Secretary co-hosted a meeting on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis at the UN General Assembly, at which donors (including the UK) pledged an additional £85 million.

    The Co-Chairs statement from the meeting can be found here: http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/co-chairs-statement-ministerial-yemen-meeting-monday-28-september-2015

    “

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many greyhounds have been euthanized upon completion of their racing career in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    Under the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, there is no statutory requirement on any greyhound organisation or individual track to report any figures to Defra. The Regulations have now been in force for five years and Defra is currently undertaking a review of their effectiveness. The review is looking at the requirement on tracks to collect injury statistics and how they are then used; and the traceability of greyhounds after they have left the sport. Defra intends to consult on the initial findings of the review.

  • Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of extending real time data sharing to the whole consumer credit market on the level of consumer debt in each of the next three years.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Treasury does not hold information on the effect that sharing data in real time across the whole consumer credit market would have on consumer debt levels, or on wider economic conditions.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on a wide variety of issues. In line with the practice of previous Administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at what intervals her Department receives accident and injury data on (a) racing and (b) retired greyhounds from (i) the Greyhound Board of Great Britain and (ii) individual greyhound tracks.

    George Eustice

    Under the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, there is no statutory requirement on any greyhound organisation or individual track to report any figures to Defra. The Regulations have now been in force for five years and Defra is currently undertaking a review of their effectiveness. The review is looking at the requirement on tracks to collect injury statistics and how they are then used; and the traceability of greyhounds after they have left the sport. Defra intends to consult on the initial findings of the review.

  • Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the extension of real-time data sharing to the whole consumer credit market.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Treasury does not hold information on the effect that sharing data in real time across the whole consumer credit market would have on consumer debt levels, or on wider economic conditions.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on a wide variety of issues. In line with the practice of previous Administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of (a) licensed and (b) unlicensed dog breeders operating in the UK.

    George Eustice

    No recent estimate has been made by Defra, but Battersea Dogs and Cats Home recently estimated that there are 895 licensed dog breeders in Great Britain.

  • Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2016-04-26.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the economic benefit of extending real-time data sharing to the whole consumer credit market.

    Harriett Baldwin

    HM Treasury does not hold information on the effect that sharing data in real time across the whole consumer credit market would have on consumer debt levels, or on wider economic conditions.

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on a wide variety of issues. In line with the practice of previous Administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

  • Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Chris Evans – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2015-10-30.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of dogs that have been put to sleep for meeting the physical characteristics of a banned breed under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in each of the last five years.

    George Eustice

    No estimate has been made of the number of dogs humanely destroyed under section 1 of the 1991 Act. There are 3,222 dogs on the list of exempted section 1 dogs in Great Britain. These are dogs assessed by the courts not to be a danger to public safety including, since 13 May 2014 in relation to England and Wales, assessed as being in the charge of a fit and proper person. Guidance for enforcers of the law on dangerous dogs was issued in March 2009 and is available on line via the link below.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69263/dogs-guide-enforcers.pdf

    “

  • Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Chris Evans – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Evans on 2016-04-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS agencies have changed their name or merged in the last (a) 12 and (b) 24 months; and what the cost was to the public purse of such mergers and name changes.

    Ben Gummer

    No National Health Service arm’s length bodies have merged or changed their name in the last 24 months. As of 1 April 2016, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) have been working under a shared leadership and operating framework as NHS Improvement. However, Monitor and the TDA have not formally merged. They continue to operate in line with their current legal underpinnings as two separate entities. In order to ensure that all NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts have access to the same kinds of support and interventions there will be much more alignment between the two organisations so that they can deliver what patients and taxpayers have a right to expect. As at the end of March, the cost associated with the recruitment of NHS Improvement’s Chief Executive and designing and supporting NHS Improvement’s new structure and operating model has been £655,190. There may have been other costs associated with the alignment of the two organisations but these have been absorbed in their baseline funding allocations.