Tag: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the establishment of (1) the Royal Navy, (2) the Army, and (3) the Royal Air Force, and how many vacancies there are in each service.

Earl Howe

The requested information, as at 1 March 2016, is provided below:

Service	Liability (establishment)	Full-time trained strength	Deficit (vacancies)
Royal Navy/Royal Marines	30,220	29,730	480
Army	83,580	79,840	3,740
Royal Air Force	33,150	31,000	2,150

Note: All figures are rounded. Totals and sub-totals are rounded separately and may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

Full details of liabilities and trained strengths are included in the UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics, which can be found at the following address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-2016

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-02-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what priority they attach to acquiring and deploying autonomous underwater vehicles, and for what purposes they plan to use those vessels.

Earl Howe

The Royal Navy (RN) currently deploys unmanned systems to enhance maritime surveillance and improve situational awareness in a number of operational theatres.

It is widely recognised that autonomous systems offer a unique opportunity to maintain our operational advantage and the RN will therefore continue to explore how such systems can further augment its capabilities into the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 February (HL6098), what progress they have made towards identifying and costing a long-term solution to the full integration of female soldiers in close combat roles in the Infantry and Royal Armoured Corps, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force Regiment.

Earl Howe

On 8 July 2016, the former Prime Minister (Rt Hon David Cameron MP) announced that following a recommendation by the Chief of the General Staff the previous exclusions on women serving in the Royal Marines (RM), Royal Armoured Corps (RAC), Infantry and Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regt) have now been lifted. This applies to both Regular and Reserve units.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) will initially open certain RAC units from November 2016, with all other Ground Close Combat roles opening from 2018. This will enable implementation to be rolled out in a deliberate, responsible and methodical manner that will allow mitigation measures, such as updated Physical Employment Standards, to be put in place.

Delivering the necessary organisational changes will be covered within current programmes and initiatives. Infrastructure changes across Defence will be achieved through existing development strategies and will not impact on the successful delivery of this policy change. The amount of funding required for longer term infrastructure solutions will be dependent on the number of women posted to particular establishments.