Parliamentary Answers – to 8th February 2012

This is a regular round up of Parliamentary questions and answers from ministers relevant to defence issues In addition to oral questions, MPs and Peers can ask government ministers questions for written answer. These are often used to obtain detailed information about policies and statistics on the activities of government departments. In the House of Commons ‘ordinary’ questions do not have to be answered on a specific date. An MP will date a written question for two days after they have tabled it (ie, submitted it for answer via the Table Office). The convention is that the MP can expect it to be answered within seven days of the question being tabled.

Question

Gareth Thomas (Harrow West, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to measure progress on the implementation of policies supporting the Big Society initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

The Ministry of Defence continues to engage with local communities in a number of ways, including through initiatives such as the Armed Forces Community Covenant and our Sponsored Cadet Forces.

The Armed Forces Community Covenant complements the Armed Forces Covenant, a voluntary statement of mutual support between the armed forces community and wider society. There is now a statutory requirement for the Defence Secretary to report on progress with the covenant each year. An interim report was published on 20 December 2011 which reviews the progress on the Armed Forces Community Covenant. Copies are available in the Library of the House.

The Ministry of Defence Sponsored Cadet Forces encourage teamwork, respect, initiative, selflessness and experience through the use of military themes based upon the culture and ethos of the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. This in turn allows young people to appreciate the importance of making a contribution to the communities to which they belong. This is currently being considered as part of our Youth Engagement Review.

 

 

Question

Jim Shannon (Strangford, DUP)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he plans to take to improve support services available to current and former armed forces personnel who (a) are homeless and (b) have financial problems.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to work closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government, devolved Administrations, other Government Departments, ex-service organisations and other service providers to ensure a co-ordinated and structured approach to the issue of homelessness amongst former members of the armed forces. Our aim is to prevent new service leavers becoming homeless and to provide an effective safety net for those ex-service personnel who find themselves in that position. Specialist housing advice is provided by the Joint Services Housing Advice Office. This has been established to provide service personnel and their families with information and advice on the wide range of civilian housing options. These include: Homebuy Direct, New Home Build Buy and First Buy. Members of the armed forces are given the highest priority for these schemes.

Measures have been introduced making it easier for former service personnel to access social housing, become home owners, or remain in their previous property at market rate as an interim measure, should a surplus be available.

We work with local authorities to ensure that the use of surplus MOD property in this way does not inadvertently disadvantage the service leaver’s position on social housing waiting lists. The MOD has also gifted land and provided financial support for supported housing projects at Aldershot and Catterick.

Service personnel are encouraged to contact their chain of command when they face financial difficulties. General advice on debt is available to personnel at all levels, and ranges from written guides, financial expertise of pay staff and service family organisations, to ensuring there are good links to national organisations such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and Money Advisory Service. Work continues on the development and delivery of improved financial education, and the increased availability of financial information and advice throughout the career of service personnel. This is being produced in phases. The first phase, which is well under way, targets education for new entrants; the following two phases will concentrate on remaining serving personnel and service leavers.

All service leavers are entitled to some form of resettlement advice which includes financial related briefings, to which spouses/partners are also invited, covering budget and debt management. If individuals wish further advice in-depth one-to-one meetings are also offered and organisations that can provide advice on debt management are signposted by resettlement staff.

 

 

Question

Priti Patel (Witham, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which EU (a) directives, (b) regulations and (c) other legislation affecting his Department require transposition into UK law; and what estimate he has made of the cost to (i) the public purse and (ii) the private sector of such measures.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) was responsible for the transposition of the defence and security directive (2009/81/EC). That directive was transposed by the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/1848). The regulations were laid before Parliament on29 July and came into force on21 August 2011.

The direct cost to the MOD of transposing the directive was estimated to have been in the region of £325,000. With regard to the private sector, it was concluded in the impact assessment produced with the regulations that while some initial familiarisation costs would certainly be incurred, such as training, it was not possible to estimate the overall costs and benefits with any precision as no suitable data was available. Consequently, the overall net impact could not be forecast or monetised.

There are currently no further EU measures, for which the MOD is responsible, requiring transposition into UK law.

 

 

Question

Frank Dobson (Holborn and St Pancras, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many jobs in (a) his Department and (b) the agencies and non-departmental bodies for which he is responsible were transferred to the private sector in 2010-11.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

Numbers on transfers to the private sector in financial year 2010-11 were as follows:

	Headcount
MOD Main	460
Trading Funds	*
Total	460
Notes: 1. All totals have been individually rounded to the nearest 10, and may not sum precisely to totals, “*” indicates between 1 and 4. 2. Data listed excludes Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and locally engaged civilian (LEC) personnel for whom exit data are not available. 3. Separate data are not held for non-departmental public bodies. 4. The departmental figure represents the number of civilian staff transferred. 5. It is also possible for a temporarily vacant post to be transferred, but such information is not held centrally.

Question

Julian Lewis (New Forest East, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2010, Official Report, columns 597-98W, whether it remains his policy that no other UK location (a) offers the benefits available at Marchwood Sea Monitoring Centre and (b) could deliver the military port functions as cost-effectively as Marchwood; whether any sale of the site to private owners would depend upon their continuing provision of the military port facilities; and if he will make a statement.

Answer

Peter Luff (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative)

I recognise my hon. Friend’s interest in the Sea Mounting Centre at Marchwood and welcome the discussions that we have had on the subject since his question in November 2010. As I indicated at the time, the cost-effectiveness of providing the sea mounting capability from Marchwood is being tested against alternative options throughout the sale process.

It remains the Ministry of Defence’s view, as set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, that we no longer need to retain ownership of a Sea Mounting Centre to deliver Defence outputs. The MOD is in the process of assessing the sale options, including alternative UK locations, to ensure value for the taxpayer while still maintaining the required capability for Defence. As I explained when we met in December 2011, no decision has yet been made on the future of the site, as the assessment process is ongoing. It is too early to rule out any options.

 

 

Question

Adam Holloway (Gravesham, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether celebrities have accepted payments from his Department for visiting service personnel in hospital in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

The Ministry of Defence can confirm that no celebrity has accepted any form of payment from this Department for their visit to injured service personnel at Selly Oak hospital or the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, or at hospitals in operational theatres in the last five years. Visits are private in nature and are deliberately not publicised. The numbers of visits are carefully controlled so as not to interfere with the operation of the hospital or compromise in any way patient care, but are very much welcomed by the patients and staff.

 

 

Question

Kevan Jones (North Durham, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2012, Official Report, column 178W, on animals: euthanasia, what local contracts his Department uses for the disposal of bodies of working military animals.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

holding answer30 January 2012

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 January 2012, Hansard, column 178W. The Ministry of Defence only ever puts down military working animals as a last resort because it has been judged unsafe to re-home the animal or where veterinary reasons indicate that re-homing would conflict with the animal’s welfare. Where this proves necessary the animal is put down humanely.

The bodies of deceased military working dogs and horses at the Defence Animal Centre are disposed of via a contract with Nottingham University Veterinary School. This contract covers the majority of military working animals that are put down.

In addition, there are around 90 veterinary practices in the UK that are contracted to dispose of military working animals should the need arise.

In Germany and Cyprus military working animals are normally put down by military veterinarians and then disposed of through local contract arrangements. In the Falkland Islands deceased military working animals are buried by service personnel at a site set aside for that purpose.

 

 

Question

Jim Shannon (Strangford, DUP)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has considered increasing the use of drones to monitor Taliban activity in Afghanistan.

Answer

Philip Hammond (Secretary of State, Transport; Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)

The provision of military capability and equipment to support operations in Afghanistan is under constant review. We have a mix of airborne surveillance capabilities, of which, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are but one part, providing real time intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance. Current UAS capability is being upgraded via the Watchkeeper programme which will begin to replace the Hermes 450 from the latter half of 2012. In December 2010, the Prime Minister also announced an increase in the number of the UK’s reaper remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) which continue to provide high-quality, persistent armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support to UK and international security assistance force forces. New nano-UAS are also being acquired and planned for introduction in 2012.

 

 

Question

Jim Shannon (Strangford, DUP)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has discussed with the Government of Pakistan his planned date for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Answer

Philip Hammond (Secretary of State, Transport; Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)

I have not yet had discussions with the Government of Pakistan. However, the Ministry of Defence has a programme of regular engagement with the Government of Pakistan and the Pakistan military, during which a variety of topics of shared interest have been discussed, including Afghanistan.

 

 

Question

Jim Shannon (Strangford, DUP)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the Government of Turkey on continued use of that country’s airspace by RAF planes flying from the UK to Afghanistan

Answer

Philip Hammond (Secretary of State, Transport; Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)

I have not been involved in any discussions on the issue of continued use of Turkey’s airspace with the Government of Turkey. However, I can confirm that representatives of my Department and the RAF are in regular dialogue with their Turkish counterparts on this issue.

 

 

Question

Jim Shannon (Strangford, DUP)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is taking steps to improve wi-fi access for UK personnel serving in Afghanistan.

Answer

Andrew Robathan (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans), Defence; South Leicestershire, Conservative)

There is extensive wi-fi provision for UK personnel serving in Afghanistan. Wi-fi is provided in all locations where there are more than 100 personnel. Additionally, around 150 stand-alone computers providing an internet connection for personal use are distributed across smaller bases. By the end of 2012, we expect that a number of these computers will be replaced by new machines with an additional voice over internet protocol (VOIP) capability, which allows the user to make telephone calls over the internet.

 

 

Question

Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of piracy to the UK economy in the last five years; and what steps his Department has taken to minimise this cost.

Answer

Henry Bellingham (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Africa and the United Nations), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; North West Norfolk, Conservative)

The turnover of the British shipping industry is worth £10.7 billion of our national GDP; nearly $1 trillion of trade to and from Europe travelled through the Gulf of Aden in 2008 and this is the second busiest international trade route in the world. One World Future has estimated that piracy could be costing the global economy up to $12 billion a year in direct costs and indirect costs such as increased insurance premiums.

Britain is playing a leading role in the counter-piracy operations at sea, and we are leading international work with regional countries to build penal, judicial and law enforcement capacities in support, with more than 1,000 pirates now in custody. The first line of defence remains self-defence measures by ships to minimise the risk of a successful highjack. But the long-term solution lies on land, with rule of law and increased stability.

 

 

Question

Mike Hancock (Portsmouth South, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the potential cost of piracy to the UK economy in 2012; and what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on ways of minimising that cost.

Answer

Henry Bellingham (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Africa and the United Nations), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; North West Norfolk, Conservative)

It has been estimated by One Earth Future that maritime piracy could be costing the global economy up to US$12 billion a year, both directly and indirectly such as through increased insurance premiums. The turnover of the British shipping industry is worth £10.7 billion of our national GDP. Approximately US$1 trillion of trade to and from Europe travels through the Gulf of Aden, the second busiest international trade route in the world and a key area affected by piracy.

Britain is playing a leading role in counter-piracy operations at sea off the Horn of Africa, and in the same region we are leading international work with regional partners to build penal, judicial and law enforcement capacities in support, with more than 1,000 pirates now in custody. We are also playing an active role to take steps to address piracy off the western coast of Africa.

The first line of defence remains self-defence by ships to minimise the risk of successful hijack. But the long-term solution to maritime piracy lies on land, with the development of justice and rule of law capacity and increased stability

 

 

Question

leine Moon (Bridgend, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts on the deployment of planes in Turkey in the last two months; and if he will make a statement.

Answer

Nick Harvey (Minister of State (Armed Forces), Defence; North Devon, Liberal Democrat)

There have been no such discussions.

 

 

Question

Jim Fitzpatrick (Poplar and Limehouse, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department will publish its plans for the future use of RAF Northolt.

Answer

Peter Luff (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative)

No decision has been made to change the use of RAF Northolt, although as with all Ministry of Defence assets we continue to scrutinise defence expenditure to ensure we get the best return for the taxpayer.