Tag: Emily Thornberry

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Tornado and (b) Typhoon aircraft are (i) in the Forward Available Fleet, (ii) in the Sustainment Fleet and (iii) awaiting decommissioning or disposal.

Mr Philip Dunne

The information requested is detailed in the attached table.

The Forward Available Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable. Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Dependent on the nature of the work, aircraft may be designated as requiring either ‘short-term maintenance’ or ‘short-term works’.

The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in the Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

Decommissioning and disposal are part of the same process and are therefore grouped together.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for how many days (a) HMS Daring, (b) HMS Dauntless, (c) HMS Diamond, (d) HMS Dragon, (e) HMS Defender and (f) HMS Duncan underwent (i) planned maintenance and (ii) repair work in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The amount spent on Maintenance and Repair for the six Type 45 Destroyers is detailed in the table below rounded to the nearest half million:

Name of Ship	In-Service Date	Maintenance/Repair	Cost (£ million)
HMS DARING	July 2010	Programmed Maintenance	£7
Unprogrammed Work/Repair		£4.5
HMS DAUNTLESS	November 2010	Programmed Maintenance	£4.5
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£4.5
HMS DIAMOND	July 2011	Programmed Maintenance	£9.5
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£3.5
HMS DRAGON	April 2012	Programmed Maintenance	£7
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£2
HMS DEFENDER	March 2013	Programmed Maintenance	£2
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£3
HMS DUNCAN	December 2013	Programmed Maintenance	£1.5
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	£2

The table below reflects the number of planned maintenance days per ship over the six year period. Repair work on individual ship systems takes place during both planned maintenance periods and operational deployments and data relating to the number of days’ worth of repair work is not collected. Unprogrammed work/repair figures shown cover the extension of maintenance periods.

Name of Ship	In-Service Date	Maintenance/ Repair	Duration
HMS DARING	July 2010	Programmed Maintenance	360
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	105
HMS DAUNTLESS	November 2010	Programmed Maintenance	215
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	20
HMS DIAMOND	July 2011	Programmed Maintenance	350
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0
HMS DRAGON	April 2012	Programmed Maintenance	250
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0
HMS DEFENDER	March 2013	Programmed Maintenance	100
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0
HMS DUNCAN	December 2013	Programmed Maintenance	130
		Unprogrammed Work/Repair	0

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25075, from which countries steel was sourced for the manufacture of the offshore patrol vessels currently under construction; and what proportion of that steel was sourced from each such country.

Mr Philip Dunne

For the Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) currently under construction around 4,000 tonnes of steel is needed in total for the three ships. Dent Steel Services (UK) was awarded the contract by BAE Systems to source and supply the steel required for the OPVs.

Around 60 per cent of the total steel required for the OPVs consists of thin plate (between four and five millimeters ) which can be sourced only from steel mills capable of rolling the material to that thickness.

UK steel suppliers were approached by Dent but none were able to meet the thickness specification. As a result this steel was sourced from overseas suppliers.

Around 60 per cent of the overall requirement was sourced from Sweden; 20 per cent from UK steel mills; 10 per cent from Spain; and the remaining 10 per cent from Dent’s existing stock, of unknown origin. The use of overseas suppliers was necessary to obtain the required specification of steel at a competitive price for delivery at the time required.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Sea King HC4, (b) Wildcat, (c) Gazelle, (d) Apache, (e) Chinook HC2/3, (f) Puma HC2 and (g) Merlin Mk 3/3A helicopters are (i) in the Forward Available Fleet, (ii) in the Sustainment Fleet and (iii) classed as Short-Term Unserviceable.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Forward Fleet comprises aircraft which are serviceable and those which are short-term unserviceable.

The Sustainment Fleet numbers represent those aircraft in our Depth Fleet, which comprises aircraft which are undergoing planned depth maintenance or upgrade programmes.

Short-term unserviceable aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or any other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection work that can arise on a day-to-day basis. Figures shown are the average for December 2015, the most recent data available.

Query	Sea King HC4	Wildcat BRH Mk1	Wildcat HMA Mk2	Gazelle	Apache	Chinook HC2/3 Note 1	Puma HC2	Merlin Mk 3/3A
Forward Available Fleet	7	19	14	19	32	0	13	17
Sustainment Fleet	0	8	3	7	18	0	10	8
Short-Term Unserviceable	2	12	7	12	13	0	4	10

Note 1:

All Chinook HC2/2a aircraft have undergone modification with new cockpit avionics and are now HC4 variants. In December 2015 there were 26 HC4 aircraft in the forward fleet and 12 in sustainment.

The (eight) Chinook HC3 were all removed from the forward fleet last year and are undergoing modification with new cockpit avionics and a new digital automatic flight control system. Once modified, these aircraft become Chinook HC5 variants.

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 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.45 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015, when he expects to announce further details of the Government’s proposed new armed forces offer.

Penny Mordaunt

In order to deliver the battle-winning forces which the UK needs for the future, we are looking at developing a new "offer" for new joiners into the Armed Forces which meets the expectations of future recruits. It will ensure our future expenditure on personnel is sustainable and applied in the most efficient way. We have now begun the conceptual stages of evidence gathering and initial policy development which will determine whether the concept of a new offer is viable and when it could be delivered. We will engage stakeholders including the Armed Forces Pay Review Body as usual on our proposals when they mature. The new offer for new joiners will not impact on existing Service personnel.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2016 to Question 26688, how much his Department spent in contracts on commercial civilian guarding in each of the last six years.

Mark Lancaster

This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his policy for the House to be given an opportunity to debate in advance any decision to use his Department’s cyber strike capability.

Penny Mordaunt

We continue to develop the ability of our Armed Forces to deploy a broad range of offensive cyber capabilities as an integrated part of military operations. As with other sensitive defence capabilities, we do not reveal specific details in order to safeguard national security. As we have previously made clear in the context of the war powers convention, we do not propose to define the circumstances in which we would consult Parliament about the use of particular military capabilities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress the UN Support Mission in Libya has made on resolving the competing claims for (a) chairmanship of the Libyan Investment Authority and (b) governorship of the Central Bank of Libya.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

These matters are questions of Libyan sovereignty and we fully support the new Government of National Accord in resolving them.

Resolution 2259 (2015), supported by the UK and adopted by the Security Council on 23 December 2015, highlighted the importance of these institutions continuing to function for the benefit of all Libyans, and stressed the need for the Government of National Accord to exercise sole and effective oversight over the National Oil Company, the Central Bank of Libya, and the Libyan Investment Authority as a matter of urgency, without prejudice to future constitutional arrangements pursuant to the Libyan Political Agreement.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what procedures his Department had in place to monitor any changes in estimates of the cost of the Successor submarine programme during preparations for his Budget statement in March 2016.

Greg Hands

The Treasury maintains a regular and frequent dialogue with the Ministry of Defence over the costs of all significant elements of defence spending, including the Successor programme.