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 26 January 2016 to Question 23171, to which countries RAF Reaper drones have been deployed on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sorties since 26 January 2016.
Penny Mordaunt
Since 26 January 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 2016-02-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 17914, which change programmes are expected to contribute to the planned reduction in the size of his Department’s civilian workforce over the current Parliament; and what size of reductions he expects to result from each such change programme.
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, 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 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) military and (b) civilian personnel are deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in each operational theatre.
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, with reference to paragraph 4.47 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, which of the two Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers will be enhanced to support amphibious capability.
Mr Philip Dunne
The two new Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers, currently under construction in Rosyth have a planned service life of 50 years each. They will be capable of a spectrum of roles including battlefield helicopter support to littoral operations. The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 made provision to enhance this capability in the QEC aircraft carriers.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many patrols of UK waters have been conducted by Border Force Cutters in each year since 2010.
James Brokenshire
Border Force does not record individual vessel patrols as a measure of productivity, as this does not represent the full activity of a Border Force vessel. The Border Force vessels operate 365 days per year and in accordance with the vessel capability in force at the time. Deployments include:
– being at sea;
– being at 30 minutes notice for sea;.
– law enforcement work whilst in port, e.g. rummage of moored vessels; road deployments to remote wharfs and marinas
It is not in the public interest for Border Force to disclose vessel working patterns further, as this is likely to compromise border security.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-03-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department’s cyber strike capability was used in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.
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 2016-04-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of how many non-extremist opposition fighters in Syria have fought against Daesh since 21 December 2015.
Penny Mordaunt
We share the Joint Intelligence Organisation’s assessment that opposition numbers have held up despite recent pressure and that there are significant numbers of non-extremist opposition inside Syria. Numbers in groups fighting Daesh are likely to have increased.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned duration is of the current deployment of UK military personnel to Tunisia.
Penny Mordaunt
The Ministry of Defence has 10 military and no civilian personnel currently deployed in Tunisia. Two personnel form the enduring British Embassy Defence Section, comprised of the Defence Attache and his assistant. The remaining eight personnel are deployed on a temporary basis, subject to regular review, and are either coordinating or delivering training to Tunisia’s security institutions or supporting UN and EU missions in-country.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the German Bundeswehr’s M3 Amphibious Rig bridging vehicles were loaned to UK armed forces in each of the last six years.
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 |