Tag: Emily Thornberry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s press release, UK to step up NATO maritime commitment, published on 10 February 2016, which Type 45 Destroyer will be deployed to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 in October 2016.

Penny Mordaunt

The Secretary of State did announce that the Royal Navy will deploy a Type 45 Destroyer to NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 in October 2016.

However, I am withholding details of the ship that will be deployed as such a disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many new entrants joined the Army Reserve in 2015; and how many such entrants successfully completed phase (a) one and (b) two training.

Mr Julian Brazier

Both Reserve and Regular recruits undertake initial Phase 1 training in order to become effective soldiers and then proceed to Phase 2 training, where they receive the specific training they need to carry out their defined role. On successful completion of Phase 2, they join the Army Reserve Trained Strength.

For Reserve recruits, Phase 1 initial training consists of two components; Phase 1(A) is delivered as a single week long course or over four weekends. Phase 1(B) is a 15.5 day long course. Phase 2 role-specific training courses are delivered over one period not exceeding 16 days.

Army Reserve recruits are expected to commence Phase 1 training as soon as possible after enlistment. However, factors such as arranging time off work, exam attendance, family commitments, injury or medical clearance can delay a recruit from starting Phase 1 training. Some new soldier entrants are enlisted at risk whilst waiting to be declared medically fit. These entrants are described as Phase 0.

Army Reservists are required to attend at least one period of annual continuous training per year not exceeding 16 days. It is therefore expected that Army Reservists will complete Phase 1 during their first year of service and Phase 2 during their second year of service. Some Army Reservists however are able to complete Phase 1 and Phase 2 training during their first year of service, as demonstrated by the information in the table below concerning the 2015 entrants.

The figures in the table below are as at 1 January 2016 and have been rounded to the nearest 10.

	January-December 2015	April- December 2015
New Entrants to the FR20 Army Reserves	3,640	2,740
Phase 0/Phase 1 Trainee	2,700	2,250
Phase 2 Trainee (completed Phase 1)	500	280
On Trained FR20 Strength (completed Phase 2)	310	130
Left Army Reserves	140	70

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 25292, to which countries RAF Reaper or Watchkeeper drones have been deployed on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sorties since 5 February 2016.

Penny Mordaunt

From 5 February until 4 April 2016, UK Reapers have been deployed on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in Iraq and Syria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many members of staff of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority have been assigned to work on the Government’s Successor submarine programme; and what (a) their grades, (b) their job titles and (c) the dates of their assignment to work on that programme are.

Matthew Hancock

The Successor programme is one of 188 projects reported on the Government Major Project Portfolio (GMPP) at the time of the last Major Projects Annual Report. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority undertakes a number of activities across the 188 major projects on the GMPP, including collecting quarterly programme performance data; the arrangement of independent assurance; and, providing expert advice to project and departmental leadership. These activities do not involve the assignment of individual IPA staff to work on this project specifically, but are undertaken by a number of staff working in a range of functions across the IPA.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reasons are for his policy on withholding categories of information relating to UK special forces from the public; when that policy was last reviewed as to its operational necessity; and whether he plans to review that policy.

Michael Fallon

UK Special Forces (UKSF) are a world class force capable of conducting short notice, high risk operations in the most challenging environments around the world in support of UK interests and the safety and security of our people. In order to maintain their ability to conduct these types of operation it is critical that the security of personnel, equipment and tactics, techniques and procedures is maintained. The long standing policy of not commenting on UKSF has been upheld by successive Governments and is reflected in legislation in the form of the Freedom of Information Act. I have no intention of changing this policy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans the Government has to maintain its fleet of M3 Amphibious Rig bridging vehicles after the withdrawal of UK troops from Germany.

Mr Philip Dunne

38 M3 Amphibious Rigs have been in service with the British Army in each of the last six years. No additional rigs have been loaned from the German Army during that time. The planned out of service date for the M3 amphibious rig is 2027; early work is under way to provide a wide wet gap crossing capability in future. No decisions have yet been made about future basing sites for the M3 Amphibious Rig.

The following table shows the number of recorded equipment failure reports (EFR) in each of the last six years.

Calendar Year in which EFR recorded	No of EFRs recorded in calendar year
2010	16
2011	0
2012	5
2013	1
2014	4
2015	0

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State, Earl Howe, House of Lords Official Report, 27 April 2016, column 1202, when the new crime registrar for the service police will be appointed.

Mark Lancaster

The post of Service Police Force Incident and Crime Registrar is currently being advertised internally to Ministry of Defence civil servants in accordance with civil service recruiting rules. The closing date is 28 June. In the event that no one suitable is identified, the position will be advertised more widely in the civil service before consideration for external recruitment. The date of appointment to the position is dependent on the outcome of the recruitment process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who are self-employed made a successful claim for universal credit in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Priti Patel

The information you have requested is not currently available. The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit (UC) in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are currently quality assuring data for UC therefore it is not yet possible to give a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future. These statistics however will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for official statistics.

The latest official experimental statistics on UC and the Departments release strategy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to change the rules on staff-pupil ratios in early education settings.

Mr Sam Gyimah

There are no plans to change the staff: child ratios for providers registered on the Early Years Register. Lord Nash made clear, during passage of the Childcare Bill in the House of Lords, that we are committed to keeping the existing ratios.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department’s press release, Prison building revolution announced by Chancellor and Justice Secretary, published on 9 November 2015, what discussions he has had with prison and probation staff on the planned closure of prisons in central London.

Andrew Selous

On 9 November the Chancellor and Secretary of State announced their intention to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, thereby enabling them to turn away from a life of crime. This will involve building nine new prisons and closing old and inefficient prisons which do not support the aims of a redesigned estate. No decisions have yet been made on where new prisons will be built.

We are currently considering which of our old and inefficient prisons will close. We will engage with stakeholders during the process of sale including valuation experts and potential developers in order to maximise the value achieved.

Any relocation of prisoners will be done with careful planning. Where staff are affected they will be managed through the process of change using processes deployed during previous closures.