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Written Question
Army
Tuesday 30th April 2024

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) establishment, and (2) personnel strength, of each of the battalions of the Foot Guards, broken down by (a) commissioned officers, (b) senior non-commissioned officers, and (c) other ranks.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The table below shows the Trade Trained Regular Army Personnel within Foot Guard Battalions serving at Regimental Duty by Paid Rank, as at 1 January 2024.

I am withholding part (1) regarding the workforce requirement (establishment) as disclosure would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the British Army.

Paid Rank

1st Battalion Grenadier Guards

1st Battalion Coldstream Guards

1st Battalion Scots Guards

1st Battalion Irish Guards

1st Battalion Welsh Guards

Total

530

490

540

390

410

Commissioned Officers

40

40

40

40

40

Warrant Officers

10

10

10

10

10

Senior Non-Commissioned Officers

50

40

50

40

40

Junior Non-Commissioned Officers

140

110

170

100

100

Privates

290

280

260

210

230

Source: Analysis Army

Table notes/caveats:

  1. The figures are for the Trade Trained Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but includes those personnel that have transferred from GURTAM to UKTAP.

  1. The figures only include personnel with a parent Arm / Service of Infantry serving at Regimental Duty within the specified Battalions. All other Infantry personnel who are not serving within a Foot Guard Battalion have been excluded from these figures. Figures also exclude any attached Arms serving with the Battalion.

  1. Figures exclude service personnel on the resilience margin.

  1. Senior Non-Commissioned Officers include all personnel with a Paid Rank of Staff Sergeant and Sergeant. Junior Non-Commissioned Officers include all personnel with a Paid Rank of Corporal and Lance Corporal.

  1. Figures have been rounded to 10 for presentational purposes; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

  1. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts.

  1. Public Duties Companies have been included (1st Battalion Grenadier Guards includes Nijm Coy (PDIC), 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards includes 7 Coy (PDIC), 1st Battalion Scots Guards includes F Coy (PDIC) and 1st Battalion Irish Guards includes 9 and 12 Coys (PDIC).
Written Question
Warrior Vehicles
Monday 18th September 2023

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration has been given to remanufacturing the hulls of the Warrior armoured fighting vehicles in order to overcome the problem of cracking in highly stressed areas.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

There is no requirement for new hulls as the existing fleet of Warrior armoured fighting vehicles can be refurbished, as required, to a standard suitable for the needs of Defence. Procuring new hulls would also not present the optimum Value for Money solution when compared to maintaining the existing fleet.

Written Question
Ajax Vehicles
Tuesday 25th July 2023

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government when an officer of (1) one-star, and (2) two-star, rank first rode in an Ajax armoured fighting vehicle at a speed of at least 30 miles per hour.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

According to information held by the Department, the first journeys made by a one and two star officer in the Ajax platform were in April 2019 (Director Land Warfare, a two star) and September 2020 (Commander 1 Armoured Brigade, a one star). There is no detail as to the speed travelled on either of these occasions. Noting it was within a trials environment, it is possible that 30mph was exceeded.

Written Question
Ukraine: Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Tuesday 27th June 2023

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 15 May (HL7499), whether it is the Ministry of Defence that is the Government department leading on ensuring that the government of Ukraine and its armed forces have all the armoured fighting vehicles that are required.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The Ministry of Defence is the UK Government Department leading on the granting of military equipment to Ukraine, including armoured fighting vehicles. To date, the UK has provided over 300 armoured and protected mobility vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Written Question
RAF Scampton
Monday 15th May 2023

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government who owns the former RAF Scampton airbase.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

RAF Scampton is currently owned by the Ministry of Defence pending disposal.

Written Question
Ukraine: Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Monday 15th May 2023

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government which Government department leads on ensuring that the government of Ukraine and its armed forces have all the armoured fighting vehicles that are required whilst not compromising the overall defence and security needs of the UK.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

Via the Ministry of Defence, the UK has gifted over 300 armoured vehicles, both from its own inventory and from other sources internationally. Vehicles gifted from the UK have been assessed to cause tolerable risk to readiness in the short term and will not result in any longer-term capability gaps.

Written Question
Challenger Tanks
Tuesday 7th February 2023

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the primary purpose of the Challenger II Main Battle Tank’s hull and automotive systems is to transport the Challenger II turret, its associated systems and crew, around the battlefield with an optimised balance of protection and mobility.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

Yes. The Challenger 2 hull primarily provides survivability, the automotive components provide mobility, and the turret provides lethality. All three are balanced and work in harmony to deliver an effective capability.

Written Question
Challenger Tanks: Exports
Tuesday 7th February 2023

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government, when the Challenger 3 tank is in service, whether they will be free to export, sell, loan or transfer these tanks to any government they should choose without the agreement of the government of Germany.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

Challenger 3 will be a highly capable Main Battle Tank with world-leading performance. In line with the Land Industrial Strategy, our ambition is for it to be in service in 2027 with the capability ready for transfer, loan, or export. We are closely working with partners, including Germany where certain Challenge 3 components will be made, in order to meet these ambitions.

Any and all such sharing would be subject to the relevant law of intellectual property, national export regulations, and licence conditions that identify and control the end user, and reflect international arms controls and human rights legislation.

Written Question
Army: Large Goods Vehicle Drivers
Tuesday 7th December 2021

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) for which trades in the British Army Reserve, and (2) at what level, is the holding of a group C +E HGV licence a mandatory requirement.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The answers to the noble. Lord's questions are provided in the attached table.

Written Question
Army: Large Goods Vehicle Drivers
Tuesday 7th December 2021

Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) for which trades in the British Army Reserve, and (2) at what level, is the holding of a group C HGV licence a mandatory requirement.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The answers to the noble. Lord's questions are provided in the attached table.