Tag: Steven Paterson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-03-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department has not provided substantive answers to written parliamentary questions by stating that disclosure of the information would likely prejudice the capability, effectiveness, or security of our Armed Forces or Allies in this parliamentary session.

Penny Mordaunt

Since the start of the 2015-16 session of Parliament to 17 March 2016, 47 written parliamentary questions (PQs) tabled to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) were not answered because disclosure would have been likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness, or security of our Armed Forces or Allies. This figure represents 2% of the total number of 2,318 PQs answered by the MOD during that period.

In 19 further PQs, only part of the answer was withheld so as to protect the capability, effectiveness, or security of our Armed Forces or Allies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Mk4A upgrade is planned to come into service.

Mr Philip Dunne

The UK currently fields the Trident Mk4 warhead as part of the Trident Strategic Weapons System. In order to ensure continuity of the Mk4-based capability, the Mk4A Arming, Fuzing and Firing system is a non-nuclear component being introduced into the UK Trident warhead to replace a similar component. The Mk4A programme will not increase the destructive power of the warhead.

Approval to procure the new Arming, Firing and Fuzing mechanisms, to manage obsolescence in Mk4 and to adopt a Mk4A component was given in January 2006. I am withholding further details of the date of the Mk4A component’s entry into service, the cost of the Mk4A programme and the extension in operational life expected for the purposes of safeguarding national security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect of benefit sanctions on levels of poverty.

Priti Patel

The current employment rate of 73.6% is a record high.

Work is the best route out of poverty, and the system of conditionality that underpins the welfare system is the most effective way to support jobseekers into work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many places of residence his Department has owned in each of the last five years.

Mark Lancaster

The total numbers of Service Family Accommodation properties owned by Ministry of Defence (MOD), has increased between April 2013 and October 2015 largely due to newly built homes in Wiltshire, Aldershot and Catterick in support of the moves back from Germany through the Army Basing Programme. We estimated we would provide around 1,200 new homes in the 2013 announcement. Properties owned by MOD are shown below.