Tag: Emily Thornberry

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 25006, for what reason the repair and maintenance costs of HMS Diamond were greater than those of the other Type 45 Destroyers.

Mr Philip Dunne

The primary cause of the greater repair and maintenance costs for HMS DIAMOND was a longer Docking Period than the other two routine docking cycles. HMS DARING and HMS DAUNTLESS are the only other Type 45 Destroyers to have completed a routine docking cycle. The additional length of the Docking Period was a reflection of the number of capability upgrades and modifications, fitted to HMS DIAMOND. This was entirely normal for a class of warship of this age and all future Docking Periods for the Class are now programmed for a similar duration.

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 were used for military flight training in each of the last six years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The following table shows the numbers of aircraft, broken down by type, for the previous six financial years:

FY	Sea King HC4	Wildcat BRH Mk1	Gazelle	Apache	Chinook HC2/3	Puma HC2	Merlin Mk 3/3A
14-15	2	12	4	11	4	10	2
13-14	2	61	3	12	8	41	2
12-13	2	–	4	12	10	–	2
11-12	2	–	2	11	10	–	2
10-11	2	–	3	12	11	–	2
09-10	2	–	6	12	15	–	2

Note ¹: Not in service before 2013-14.

All Chinook HC2/2a aircraft have undergone modification with new cockpit avionics and are now HC4. 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.

The Wildcat HMA MK2 entered service in January 2015, but was not used for training in that financial year as it was in a trials phase.

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

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 in his Department’s budget for 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 2016-02-23.

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 (a) regular RAF personnel and (b) RAF volunteer reserves have been deployed to (i) Iraq since September 2014 and (ii) Syria since December 2015.

Penny Mordaunt

The number of individual Regular RAF personnel who have been deployed to Iraq for a period greater than 24 hours at any point between 1 September 2014 and 31 January 2016 was 470.

There were fewer than 5 RAF Volunteer Reserve personnel who have been deployed to Iraq for a period greater than 24 hours at any point between 1 September 2014 and 31 January 2016.

There were no RAF personnel deployed to Syria between 1 December 2015 and 31 January 2016.

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 Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Joint Intelligence Committee has revised its estimate of the number of non-extremist opposition fighters in Syria since 2 December 2015.

Mr Oliver Letwin

The JIC regularly assess the numbers involved in fighting in Syria and their loyalties. The JIC has concluded that non-extremist opposition numbers have held up despite recent pressure. Numbers in groups fighting Daesh are likely to have increased.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what procedures his Department has in place to monitor any changes in the estimated cost of the Successor submarine programme subsequent to the publication of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to facilitate the start of negotiations on the proposed Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the last 12 months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK continues to push for the early start of negotiations, without preconditions, on a Fissile Material Cut off Treaty (FMCT) in the Conference on Disarmament (CD). In order to help unblock the current impasse, earlier this year we submitted a draft proposal to establish a formal working group and an associated programme of work for the duration of the CD’s 2016 session, which includes provision for FMCT issues to be included.

We also supported the resolution at last year’s UN General Assembly First Committee on issues surrounding an FMCT and we continue to work with partners in the CD to press Pakistan to start negotiations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2016-05-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 10 May 2016 to Question 36136, what additional financial contributions his Department has made to projects in support of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in each of the last six years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

In addition to the financial contribution the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has made directly to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, set out in answer to Question 36136, the FCO has supported a range of projects relating to the objectives of the treaty, these include conferences on issues related to the treaty, work in support of making progress towards a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone, and support for the universal ratification and implementation of International Atomic Energy Agency verification standards in nuclear non-proliferation. These projects total:

FY 10/11 = £139,084

FY 11/12 = £416,884.08

FY 12/13 = £580,895.57

FY 13/14 = £313,106.97

FY 14/15 = £325,297.80

FY 15/16 = £222,158.92