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 Regular British Army, 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.
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 Regular British Army, 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.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 14 October (HL2815), how many (1) regular, and (2) reserve, members of the Armed Forces who hold the rank equivalent to a full corporal or below hold a group C HGV licence; and how many hold a group C + E licence.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Under Military Aid to Civilian Authority, Defence has made available approximately 250 military fuel tanker drivers and a similar number of support staff, to assist the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with ensuring the continuity of fuel supplies around Great Britain. As part of ensuring that Defence has a suitably qualified workforce, we train personnel in a variety of different categories of driving licences. This is primarily to enable the safe operation of military vehicles and equipment in worldwide operations and qualified personnel are regularly deployed overseas. It would therefore be misleading to specify numbers of qualified personnel against specific driving license requirements currently held within Defence or specifically in the UK.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) regular, and (2) reserve, members of the Armed Forces hold (a) a group C HGV licence, and (b) a group C + E licence.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The table below shows a count of Service Personnel by HGV Licence type. One person can hold more than one licence. The grand totals are distinct counts of Service Personnel.
Licence | Regular | Reserve | SP Count |
Cat C + E | 1,590 | 290 | 1,880 |
Cat C | 3,320 | 490 | 3,810 |
Grand Total | 3,880 | 650 | 4,520 |
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. Totals have been rounded independently and may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the cost of (1) the Challenger Tank’s 120mm high-explosive squash head (HESH) round complete with charge, and (2) a 120mm fin-stabilised discarding sabot round complete with charge, compare with the cost of one round of the 40mm cannon fitted to the Ajax reconnaissance vehicle in percentage terms.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank and Ajax vehicle are designed for different purposes and their armament and ammunition reflect this. We do not comment on the cost of the 40mm ammunition as this is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 4 March (HL13345), on which occasions in the last 20 years the British Army has deployed a largely fully formed and supported brigade for manoeuvre and deployment training; and when they expect that a similar scale of exercise will be conducted in order (1) to test the UK's ability and identify any weaknesses, (2) to reassure allies, and (3) to deter potential opponents.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The British Army has regularly conducted collective training at Brigade level over the years and has plans to do so in the future. Over the course of Operations HERRICK (2002 - 2014) and TELIC (2003 - 2011) the British Army continuously trained and prepared a series of Brigade level deployments, including full Mission Rehearsal Exercises on an enduring 6 monthly rotational basis. Other significant Brigade level training in the past includes Exercises SAIF SAREEA 2 in 2002 and SAIF SAREEA 3 in 2018.
The Army's Collective Training Group delivers a comprehensive programme of Mission Ready and Combat Ready Training to the Field Army. All training delivered at Battle Group level and above is delivered in a Brigade context as a minimum. Whilst this training methodology may not involve deploying the entire Brigade into the field at the same time, it does ensure that the skill sets involved in deploying a Brigade are practised regularly. Furthermore, use of simulation ensures that this type of training can be conducted efficiently whilst maximising the impact and utility of the training.
In addition to this continuous series of events delivered in a Brigade and Divisional context, there are also a series of planned exercises that focus on Brigade level and above training. Examples of these include the 16 Air Assault Brigade deploying of Ex SWIFT RESPONSE 22 in 2022 and the deployment of elements on Ex CERBERUS 22. Furthermore, the British Army regularly participates in the DEFENDER series, a US led multinational exercise in Europe, at the Brigade level.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the British Army last deployed a largely fully formed and supported division for manoeuvre and deployment training; and when it next plans to conduct an exercise of this scale in order (1) to test the UK's ability and identify any weaknesses, (2) to reassure allies, and (3) to deter potential opponents.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
I refer the noble Lord to the previous replies given by my noble friend the right hon Earl Howe (Minister of State, Ministry of Defence) to question HL5012 answered on 6 February 2017 and Oral question (volume 794, column 2118) answered on 8 January 2019.
The Army continues to have a sophisticated exercise programme in place to ensure that it is trained and ready to operate at the divisional level. This includes training with Allies and partners. The UK are due to take part in Exercise WARFIGHTER in March 2021, in which HQ 3 (UK) Division will deploy to the US as part of III (US) Corps.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are offering for sale at least seven ex-Ministry of Defence MAN HX18.330 SV6T flat-bed trucks in Germany, advertised as unused.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Due to a change in threat assessments, a surplus of MAN SV6T flatbed trucks has been identified. To economise storage and support costs, a number have been identified for sale.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the full cost of training a regular army recruit undertaking Phase one basic training, including (1) staff, (2) accommodation, and (3) logistics, costs; and how long that training takes.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Basic Training course at the Army Training Centre (Pirbright) is 14 weeks. This is the shortest basic training course for Regular soldiers, and recruits go on from Pirbright to train in their trade for longer periods which vary depending on their selected job role.
The average cost of basic training for a soldier successfully passing the Army Training Centre (Pirbright) is estimated at approximately £38,000. This can be broken down as follows:
Cost Category | £K/Trainee | Note |
Clothing | 1.9 |
|
Ammunition | 0.4 |
|
Trainee Pay | 9.0 |
|
Other stock consumption | 0.8 | Includes ration packs and respirators |
Manpower | 16.2 | Direct and indirect manpower costs for both military and civilian staff |
Infrastructure | 8.0 | Accommodation and training facilities |
Administration Overhead | 1.8 |
|
Total | 38.1 |
|
These costs represent the cost of 1,695 trainees completing basic training. Costs have been apportioned to the course on the basis of activity, however there may be further costs not shown, that are captured under the greater Pirbright establishment output.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average total number of (1) civilian, and (2) military, staff working for an army training regiment; and how many recruits such a regiment can train at any one time.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The capacity for Army Training Centre (Pirbright) for training year 2020-21 is currently planned to be 4,032. This is comprised of two training regiments with an overall establishment of approximately 570 staff, of whom 470 are military and 100 are civil servants.