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Written Question
Armed Forces: Housing
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in upgrading the accommodation provided to service personnel in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

Since 2016, the proportion of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) that meets or exceeds the Decent Homes Standard has risen from 94% to 97%. Only these homes are allocated to Service Families.

The Ministry of Defence has invested more than £936 million in SFA upgrades and improvements in the last seven Financial Years.

Through Financial Year 2022/23, the £185 million investment programme included approximately 150 major projects to an estimated 9,788 SFA, around 20% of stock. This included £73 million to improve the thermal efficiency of homes, which provided 600 properties with new boilers, 1,200 with new roofs, 1,740 with new doors and windows, and 900 with full external wall insulation.

Overall, we are spending circa £199 million on new SFA homes, with £80 million of that being spent over 4 years on programmes such as Defence Estates Optimisation Programme (DEOP).


Written Question
Ajax Lessons Learned Review
Monday 3rd July 2023

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what lessons they have learned from the Report of the Armoured Cavalry Programme (Ajax) Lessons Learned Review, published on 19 May.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The Review highlighted a culture that led to issues not being escalated and makes recommendations to improve that and information flows.

We are working to build and sustain an environment of psychological safety in our programmes where individuals feel they can raise issues, and reinforcing the requirement to share information across organisational boundaries in support of a "One Team" approach.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Furs
Wednesday 9th February 2022

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to stop using real animal fur in items of military clothing.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

I refer the noble Lord to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Jeremy Quin), in the House of Commons on 14 December 2021 to the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald) in response to Question 87697.


Written Question
Ammunition: Beaufort Dyke
Wednesday 26th February 2020

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of munitions dumped in Beaufort’s Dyke in the Irish Sea.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

Documents publicly available at The National Archives indicate that an estimated million tons of conventional munitions may have been dumped in Beaufort's Dyke between 1945 and 1973.

These documents can be found at:

https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121203135425/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/HealthandSafetyPublications/DSEA/DisposalOfMunitionsAtSea.htm

The Ministry of Defence holds no additional information relating to the amount of munitions dumped in Beaufort's Dyke.


Written Question
Air Force: Military Bases
Tuesday 7th August 2018

Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many airbases in the UK have been closed since 2010.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

Four stations have ceased to operate as airbases since 2010. However, they continue to be operational as part of the Defence estate and two still have active runways.