The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the United States Department of Defense about safety of the F-35 ejection system.
Mr Philip Dunne
The UK is in daily dialogue with the United States Department of Defense on the safety of the F-35 Lightning II, of which the ejection system is a part.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had on the F-35’s digital logistics system and its potential vulnerability to cyber attacks.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence has regular discussions with the US Government and F-35 industry partners about the F-35 Lightning II programme, including the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS). The ALIS has been subject to a comprehensive programme of testing and risk assessment. It has been designed to be resilient against cyber-attack and will continue to be the subject of testing throughout the life of the programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which projects in (a) Georgia, (b) Armenia and (c) Azerbaijan have received funds from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.
Mr David Lidington
There are 34 projects worth £3,188,896 in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, funded under the Caucasus Programme of the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) in Financial Year 2015-16. These projects are listed in the attached table, broken down by country.
CSSF Programme work in the region has focused on maintaining stability by supporting conditions for on-going reconciliation mechanisms. Projects are focused on peace-building initiatives, demining, strengthening civil society, security sector reform, and strategic communications.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-05-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government has taken to recover funds it is owed by Odyssey Marine Exploration from the deduction of salvage expenses from the Government’s share of the silver recovered from SS Gairsoppa.
Mr Robert Goodwill
Odyssey Marine Exploration deducted 29,228,972 US Dollars as salvage expenses from the total value of silver bullion recovered from the SS Gairsoppa.
The question as to whether or not Odyssey Marine Exploration deducted excessive salvage expenses under the contract, which was awarded in January 2010, is disputed between the parties, and would accordingly need to be the subject of legal proceedings in the United Kingdom and possibly also in the United States of America to resolve. This issue is being kept under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-06-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what future ground surveillance capabilities his Department plans to develop for the P-8 Poseidon programme.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence expects the P-8 Poseidon to be principally used in the Maritime Patrol Aircraft role, although it does have a limited overland surveillance capability. We will be examining options to improve its overland capability but no plans are yet in place and no decisions have yet been taken.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the consequences for the viability of the Successor submarine programme of the conclusions of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s assessment of that programme.
Harriett Baldwin
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s assessment of the Successor submarine programme accords with our own. That is why we have established a new Director General Nuclear sponsor organisation and will set up a new submarine delivery body, as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. The assessment recognises the complexity and scale of delivering the most advanced submarines ever commissioned by the Royal Navy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the size of his Department’s Rapid Deployment Teams in terms of personnel was in each year since 2010.
James Duddridge
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office Rapid Deployment Teams are a volunteer cadre of Foreign & Commonwealth Office staff trained to be deployed to augment crisis response overseas. Since 2010 we have had Rapid Deployment Teams based in London, Asia Pacific and the Americas. A fourth Rapid Deployment Team covering the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) was introduced in 2012. In total, we have 185 active members of the Rapid Deployment Team globally consisting of 64 in London, 36 in Asia Pacific, 48 in the Americas and 37 in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia area. On call each week we have 12 London-based staff, 8 Middle East, North Africa and South Asia based staff, 10 Asia Pacific based staff and 11 Americas-based staff. These can be supplemented by additional specialists from the military, Police or British Red Cross. Around 72 new Rapid Deployment Team volunteers are trained each year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 4.57 of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, in which month of 2016 his Department plans to (a) complete its study of the physiological impacts of combat roles in the armed forces on women and (b) announce a final decision on women undertaking the full range of combat roles.
Penny Mordaunt
A final decision is expected to be made before the summer recess. The physiological research programme will inform this decision and its report will be published shortly after.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-02-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which government departments and agencies plan to participate in Exercise Joint Venture later this year.
Penny Mordaunt
Defence Exercises such as Joint Venture 16 require the assistance of Partners Across Government to replicate the interoperability and inputs which a deployed Joint Task Force would face on operations. The following Government Departments and agencies have been invited to participate in Exercise Joint Venture: the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development, the Stabilisation Unit, Dstl and various Intelligence Agencies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-03-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which projects in Kosovo have received funds from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.
Mr David Lidington
There are 39 projects worth £4,236,948 in Kosovo, funded under the Western Balkans Programme of the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) in Financial Year 2015-16. These projects are listed in the attached table. CSSF programme activity in Kosovo has focused on promoting political, economic and security sector reform – including in the areas of rule of law, reconciliation, addressing corruption and increasing cross-border cooperation with Serbia – in order to address the causes of instability and to help support Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic accession path.