Tag: Emily Thornberry

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total crew complement of HMS Ocean was on its most recent deployment; of what the Embarked Military Forces she carried consisted; and how many helicopters of which type she carried.

Penny Mordaunt

Ships’ complements are not fixed; they vary, even across a class, depending on equipment fits and in response to specific tasking.

HMS OCEAN has a complement of 380 when in her normal operating role; however, this would have varied during her deployment on COUGAR 15 as personnel embarked and disembarked dependent on the activity. The Embarked Military Force (Royal Marines and Aviation Group personnel) was in the region of 620.

Similarly, the number and type of helicopters embarked varied depending on the activity. At points during the deployment, HMS OCEAN carried the following helicopters:

Chinook CH47	2
Apache	4
Wildcat	4
Merlin Mk2	2
Osprey MV 22 (US Marine Corps)	3

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 6.55 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015, what assessment he has made of the Royal Navy’s operational need for an additional two offshore patrol vessels; what estimate he has made of the total cost of each such vessel; and what estimate he has made of the size of crew required by each such vessel.

Mr Philip Dunne

As outlined in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review 2015 (Cmd 9161), we will buy new River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to deliver a more modern and capable fleet. These ships will support our destroyers and frigates in delivering routine tasks and to enhance our contribution to maritime security and fisheries protection, working with the Border Force, Marine Management Organisation and other law enforcement organisations.

We have begun the detailed work to take forward the plans to buy the new OPVs. The cost of each vessel and the size of the ships’ companies have yet to be determined.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2016 to Question 23290, for what reasons he will not make it his policy that the House be given the opportunity to debate any decision to deploy UK Reaper aircraft outside of Syria and Iraq.

Michael Fallon

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the then Minister for the Armed Forces (Mark Francois), on 23 June 2014 (Official Report, column 99W), to the hon. Member for West Bromwich East (Tom Watson).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17735, what change programmes are underway which are expected to reduce the size of his Department’s civilian workforce.

Mark Lancaster

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Defence Equipment and Support and the Trading Funds were included in the baseline workforce calculation.

The Ministry of Defence is managing a range of change programmes designed to deliver Defence outputs more efficiently and effectively, including Army 2020 and outsourcing logistics to Leidos. A Business Improvement Review has been set up to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of support activities across Defence. This Review will look at the total shape, size and structure of our civilian workforce, the functions and processes that they are engaged in, and how those can be made more efficient.

The Department expects the civilian workforce to reduce to around 41,000 by 2020. However, the timing and reductions associated with individual programmes are still to be determined and final decisions will be subject to consultation with employee representatives, value for money considerations and, where appropriate, commercial negotiation.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) funding the Government will provide to the Joint Security Fund, (b) funding his Department will receive from that fund, (c) funding Defence Intelligence will receive from that fund and (d) proportion of the funding his Department will so receive will be passed onto the armed forces.

Michael Fallon

The Treasury has allocated £3.5 billion to departments over this Parliament to provide joint security funding across government: the Ministry of Defence will benefit from £2.1 billion of that funding to deliver the investment for our Armed Forces set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) military and (b) civilian personnel have been deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in each of the last six years.

Penny Mordaunt

The tables below show the numbers of military and civilian personnel the UK has deployed to UN mandated peacekeeping and special political missions in the last six years, as at 26 February 2016:

Military Personnel

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
UNFICYP (Cyprus)	271	273	270	274	274	274
MINUSMA (Mali)			1	2	2	2
UNMISS (South Sudan)		3	2	4	3	3
MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo)	5	4	5	5	5	5
UNSOM (Somalia)					2	2
UNSMIL (Libya/Tunisia)					1	1
TOTAL	276	280	278	285	287	287

Civilian Personnel

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
MONUSCO	1	1	1	1	1
UNMISS		4	4	2
UNSMIL					1	1
MINUSTAH (Haiti)				3	3	3
UNMIL (Liberia)					1	1
TOTAL	1	1	1	8	10	7

The civilian figures represent deployments from the Stabilisation Unit; other Government Departments also deploy civilians on UN Peacekeeping missions.

The figures do not include deployments to UN Agencies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24278, how much has been set aside within his Department’s budget to cover potential costs associated with the decommissioning and disposal of HMS Ocean.

Mr Philip Dunne

Much of the work to decommission Royal Navy ships is undertaken using contracts that provide support services for all ships conducting Fleet activities at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. Costs are not attributed to individual vessels.

Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) will be responsible for the removal of classified equipment and known hazardous materials from HMS OCEAN after the ship has been decommissioned. The DE&S financial plan will include a provision for this work but a figure has yet to be approved.

The Disposal Services Authority (DSA), part of DE&S, disposes of defence equipment that is surplus to requirement. DSA costs are not attributed to individual platforms and information is not held in the format requested.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions RAF personnel were embedded with US forces during (a) operational deployments and (b) training exercises in each of the last six years; and how many such occasions involved the use of the P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

Penny Mordaunt

The use of the P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft in the US is predominantly limited to those personnel embedded with the US Navy as part of the Seedcorn Initiative. The Seedcorn programme in the US on P8 aircraft started in 2012 with 20 personnel involved and has remained at 20 for each subsequent year (allowing for minor fluctuations during transitory periods).

Outside of the Seedcorn Initiative, the total number of RAF personnel embedded with US forces over the past six years is as follows:

2010 – 52

2011 – 52

2012 – 48

2013 – 49

2014 – 46

2015 – 47

2016 – 46

Once personnel are embedded with another nation the RAF retains no command relationship with those personnel. Therefore, information on training exercises undertaken is not held.

With respect to operational deployments, I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by the Defence Secretary on 17 December 2015: (Official Report, column 98WS) where he provided data on the UK Service personnel embedded in other nations’ armed forces and deployed on or in support of operations. This will be updated in the next Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts. Information specific to RAF personnel is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Information on whether any of these deployments involved the P-8 aircraft is not available. However, I am able to confirm that one of the US embed posts does involve flying the P-8A outside of the Seedcorn Initiative.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether special forces deployments are discussed at meetings of the National Security Council.

Penny Mordaunt

This Government has demonstrated its commitment to our Special Forces by announcing a £2 billion programme of investment over the course of this Parliament. All military operations, including the activities of the Special Forces, are discussed and scrutinised at the highest levels of Government, including at the National Security Council. However, as it is the longstanding policy of the Government not to comment on our Special Forces, or to release information relating to them, I cannot comment on specific questions about personnel, equipment, discussions or activities in relation to these units.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) new contracts and (b) amendments to existing contracts placed by his Department in 2015 were not referred to the Single Source Regulations Office because the approval of the (i) Ministry of Defence and (ii) supplier was not granted.

Mr Philip Dunne

Each year the Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes an analysis of all new contracts which sets out whether they were placed competitively or non-competitively. This analysis appears in the Department’s Statistical Bulletin Trade, Industry and Contracts and the most recent period for which data is available can be found through the link below. Table six in the excel tables and page 11 of the pdf refer to the relevant information.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2015

Figures for amendments to existing contracts are not held centrally and, due to the large number of such cases, an analysis could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

All single source procurement contracts which met the criteria set out in Part two of the Defence Reform Act 2014 (DRA) are subject to the new single source procurement framework, apart from a very small number which have been specifically exempted from the framework by the Secretary of State for Defence, using the powers granted to him under section 14(7) of the DRA. The Department does not release details of these exemptions in order to avoid influencing future decisions.

Contracts which were signed prior to the new single source procurement framework coming into force can become subject to the regulations on amendment by agreement between the MOD and the contractor. To maximise the benefits from the regulations, the MOD intends to seek such agreement where appropriate, except where there are well founded commercial or practical reasons not to. However, the Department does not hold a central record of the number of contracts which have, on amendment, not been converted to Qualifying Defence Contracts, and the data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Contracts which fall under the Regulations are only referred to the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO) when there is a disagreement between the supplier and the contracting authority which cannot be resolved through negotiation between these two parties. The subjects that can be referred to the SSRO are set out in the DRA, and include whether or not costs are allowable, attributable to the contract and reasonable. Should a referral be made by either the MOD or the supplier, the consent of the other party is not required. One such referral was made in 2015, by the MOD.

The MOD is currently pursuing the recruitment of a Chair for the SSRO. The SSRO has an Interim Chairman in post and the Department plans to advertise this substantive position shortly.