The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Thales Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle to come into full service.
Earl Howe
The Watchkeeper Tactical Remotely Piloted Aircraft System was brought into service with the Army in 2014 and subsequently deployed to support operations in Afghanistan. Full operating capability is forecast to be achieved in the second quarter of 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made towards realising receipts through the disposal of high-value Ministry of Defence estate in Scotland since the 2011 Basing Review.
Earl Howe
The receipts received by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) through the disposal of parts of the MOD estate in Scotland since the financial year 2010-11 are shown below:
|
Financial Year |
Disposal Receipts (£ million) |
|
2010-11 |
4.09 |
|
2011-12 |
4.08 |
|
2012-13 |
1.32 |
|
2013-14 |
12.66 |
|
2014-15 |
0.92 |
|
2015-16 |
0.41 |
|
Total |
23.48 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in Project Starter to acquire explosive ordnance disposal unmanned ground vehicles.
Earl Howe
Project Starter passed Initial Gate in October 2014 and is currently in the Assessment Phase.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 8 February (HL5631), what measures they are taking to address the shortfall of personnel in (1) the regular, and (2) the reserve, battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Earl Howe
The Army continues to offer exciting opportunities to young people. Over 7,800 new recruits joined the regular Army in financial year 2014-15 with intake increasing during financial year 2015-16, up to 29 February 2016 7,260 have joined the army of which, 175 Regulars and 140 Reserves have joined the Battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
There are two national recruitment campaigns currently running. The Army’s ‘A Better You’ for soldiers continues throughout 2016. After a principal focus on Regulars between June and March there will be a special emphasis on reserve-specific recruiting in April to June, September to October and January to February 2017. ‘A Better You’ will continue through the year with the reserve message forming an important aspect of the overarching campaign.
The Army’s current officer recruiting campaign, ‘With Heart. With Mind’, is aimed at attracting potential officer candidates into regular and reserve service. ‘With Heart. With Mind’ will have a specific emphasis on reserve officers during the period of March to July 2016, and again in November.
The national campaigns continue to be supported by regional level efforts. During financial year 2015-16 there were over 2,000 community engagement events in Scotland and nearly 300 targeted recruitment events.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) UK embassies, and (2) UK consular offices, have been closed since 6 May 2010, and where those closures took place.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), has not closed any Embassies over this period. Operations were suspended in Tehran, Damascus, Tripoli and Sana’a for security reasons. Tehran re-opened in August 2015.
The FCO currently has 268 posts (Embassies, Consulates-General, Consulates, Multilateral Missions and Trade and Investment Offices – Consular Offices are not classed as posts) worldwide. Since 2010 we have opened nine posts: in Juba (South Sudan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), San Salvador (El Salvador), Seattle (USA), Vientiane (Laos), Mogadishu (Somalia), Port au Prince (Haiti), Asuncion (Paraguay) and Wuhan (China). We have also upgraded eight posts: in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Calgary (Canada), Monrovia (Liberia), Recife (Brazil), Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad (India).
Since 2010, we have closed the following Consulates and Consular Offices in Europe and elsewhere:
2010: One: Consulate-General Geneva, Switzerland
2011: Three: Consulate-General Lille, France; Consulate-General Venice, Italy; Consulate Florence, Italy
2012: Three: Consulate-General Basra, Iraq; Consulate Funchal, Portugal; Consular Office Oporto, Portugal
2013: Four: Consulate Pattaya, Thailand; Consular Office, Thessaloniki, Greece; Consular Office, Andorra; Consular Office Willemstad, Curaçao
2014: Two: Consular Offices in Cali and Cartagena, Colombia. The FCO also withdrew its Provincial Reconstruction Team from Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan
2015: Two: Consulate Chiang Mai, Thailand; Consular Office Bodrum, Turkey.
The FCO downgraded the following Consulates-General and Consulates to Trade and Investment Offices since 2010:
2012: Two: Consulate-General Lyon, France; Consulate Naples, Italy
2014: One: Consulate Bilbao, Spain.
Since 2010, we have developed new technology and new ways of working that has enabled us to deliver services differently in some areas. We now have three Consular Contact Centres that take calls from all consular customers, and are able to support around 80 per cent of those calling without further escalation to post, helping to ensure that Consular staff in-country are able to focus their time on those most in need of help. Some services have also been centralised, with customers able to access them by post, and increasingly through digital channels.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have (1) commissioned, or (2) undertaken, an impact assessment on the local economy of the departure of RAF personnel from Leuchars.
Earl Howe
There has not been an impact assessment commissioned or undertaken by the Ministry of Defence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to operate from the UK Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft belonging to (1) the US Navy, or (2) other allied nations, with British crews prior to the first UK P-8s entering service.
Earl Howe
Although a number of options are under consideration to deliver early capability, there are no current plans to operate US Navy P-8A, or those of other Allied nations, from the UK with British crews.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount of investment (1) has been made to date, and (2) is estimated to be made, at Leuchars to equip the base for use by army units and associated personnel.
Earl Howe
To date approx £900,000 has been spent on enabling works.
Overall, the plan is to spend £8.5 million at Leuchars as part of the Army Basing Programme.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-27.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK service personnel embedded with allied nations maritime patrol capabilities under the Seedcorn Initiative are flying the Boeing P-8 Poseidon; and what are the relevant allied nations in each instance.
Earl Howe
There are currently 20 RAF personnel in the Seedcorn programme operating P-8A, three pilots and 17 mission crew. All are based in the United States.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions since Typhoon aircraft were deployed to RAF Lossiemouth such aircraft were required to use Leuchars as a diversionary airfield; how many such aircraft were involved on each occasion; and what the reasons were for those diversions.
Earl Howe
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr Francois) on 5 January 2015 to Question number 219126. There have been no further occasions of Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth being required to divert to Leuchars.