Tag: Tom Watson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222435, what the name and date was of the agreement pursuant to which five personnel from Squadron 329 are on loan service to US Forces.

Mr Mark Francois

UK loan service (LS) personnel assisting the United States Air Force are covered by the terms of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (1949), the US-UK Chapeau agreement (1993), the US-UK Provision of medical support agreement (2014), and US-UK discussions to determine working-level arrangements. LS personnel are subject to UK Service regulations; they are administered and receive pay and allowances from the UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Karen Bradley

The information requested is shown in the following table:

The volume and value of duplicate supplier payments identified since the 2010-11 Financial year up to June 2014 is 54 payments for a total value of £2,495,793.63. We have recovered 53 payments totalling £2,494,661.63; the remaining payment was partially recovered and the company went into liquidation with the balance outstanding.

In the last two financial years the proportion of duplicate payments recovered by value was:
2013-14: 100%
2012-13: 99.53% (amount outstanding is for a company that went into liquidation after partial payment).

The volume and value of duplicate payments since 2010 have decreased significantly compared to the financial years prior to 2010-11.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effects of lethal targeting by remotely-piloted air systems on security in Afghanistan.

Mr Mark Francois

UK forces, and the wider ISAF mission, have materially improved the security of Afghanistan since 2001. This allowed the developed Afghan National Security Forces to assume lead security responsibility for their own country from June 2013. As an integral capability of UK forces, Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS) are assessed to have made a valuable contribution, both in their surveillance and strike roles, to the improved security situation.

All UK forces operate in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, following the principles of distinction, humanity, proportionality and military necessity. The UK’s clearly defined Rules of Engagement, which cover the use of RPAS, are formulated on this basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 30 January 2014, Official Report, column 691W, on Yemen, whether his Department has undertaken any impact assessment of drone strikes in Yemen.

Mr Mark Francois

The Ministry of Defence has not conducted any impact assessment of kinetic strikes by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in Yemen. As my hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Hugh Robertson) said on 30 January 2014 (Official Report, column 691W), UAV strikes against terrorist targets in Yemen are a matter for the Yemeni and US Governments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on how many UK-based registered users of the paedophile file sharing network website boylover.net have been identified by international authorities in (a) the US and (b) Holland; what proportion of those was passed to UK authorities for investigation; what steps her Department is taking to trace those registered users; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker

I refer the Hon. Member to the reply given on 19 June 2014, Official Report, columns 666-667W.
Following two linked international investigations into the boylover.net
website, information was provided to the Child Exploitation and Online
Protection Centre (CEOP) by US authorities and Europol that related to UK-based
registered users. CEOP was, at that time, an affiliate of the Serious Organised
Crime Agency. We do not maintain a record of the number of UK-registered users
of the website identified by United States or Dutch authorities, nor of what
proportion of those users were passed to CEOP. However, as a consequence of the
information provided and through CEOP’s own investigations, 240 intelligence
packages were prepared and subsequently disseminated to police forces across
the UK. Further information regarding charges, convictions and open
investigations is handled at a local level by the relevant police force and
is not recorded nationally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 10 February 2014, Official Report, column 473W, on unmanned air vehicles, when the Joint User Group for Reapers will become active; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois

Although a final decision on when the Joint User Group for Reaper should become active has yet to be taken, it is expected to start functioning during the autumn.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with its US counterpart on identifying how the US will support the new Joint User Group for Reaper.

Mr Mark Francois

Officials representing all user nations, including the US, have had initial discussions exploring the scope, formation and management of a proposed Joint User Group for Reaper. Further discussions are planned to take place in the coming months.