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 Earl Howe on 22 October (HL2256), why 150 Recovery Company, part of 103 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, relocated from the Army Reserve Centre at Redhill to the one at Croydon, in the light of the fact that the related infrastructure developments had not progressed past the initial assessment phase.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The relocation of 150 Company from Redhill to Croydon was part of the redesign of the Army Reserve as part of Future Reserves 2020 and Army 2020. In this case the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were realigned to better integrate the Reserve component with their Regular Army partners. It also sought to maximise the potential for future recruitment, which in some cases necessitated the relocation of smaller units and sub-units.
While it was recognised that the infrastructure of the Croydon Army Reserve Centre required some improvement, it was deemed no worse than that at Redhill Army Reserve Centre. Therefore, an early move was agreed to realise the wider benefit of an increased recruiting footprint, thus ensuring that 103 Battalion REME could grow in strength and maintain the critical mass necessary for effective training and therefore operational capability
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much expenditure this financial year has been saved or postponed by not implementing enhancements originally planned in order to accommodate heavy recovery vehicles for the Army Reserve Centre at Mitcham Road, Croydon.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Infrastructure developments related to the relocation of 150 Recovery Company, part of 103 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, to the Army Reserve Centre in Croydon have not progressed past the initial assessment phase. Therefore, no detailed plans have been developed nor funds allocated. The unit continues to deliver its required outputs including training with heavy recovery vehicles.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, of the enhancements originally planned in order to accommodate heavy recovery vehicles for the Army Reserve Centre at Mitcham Road, Croydon, which have been implemented, and which have been deferred, cancelled, postponed, or otherwise not implemented.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Infrastructure developments related to the relocation of 150 Recovery Company, part of 103 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, to the Army Reserve Centre in Croydon have not progressed past the initial assessment phase. Therefore, no detailed plans have been developed nor funds allocated. The unit continues to deliver its required outputs including training with heavy recovery vehicles.
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 Earl Howe on 23 June (HL436), what is the average age of an Army Reserve commissioned officer.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As at 1 April 2015, the average age of an Army Reserve commissioned officer is 44.
More information about the age profile of the Reserve Force may be found in the annual National Statistics publication 'UK Reserve Forces and Cadets', located at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strength-of-the-uk, which is attached for ease of reference.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether any new armoured fighting vehicles were at the recent May Day parade in Moscow; and if so, what is their unclassified assessment of the vehicles seen.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
This year's parade featured the T-14 tank, Kurganets-25 series armoured fighting vehicles and the Bumerang armoured personnel carrier. We judge that all three systems represent significant improvement over their predecessors.
The T-14 will have improved projectile performance; a gun launched anti-tank guided missile capability and increased crew survivability.
The T-14, Kurganets-25 and Bumerang will have the new and improved Epoch remote controlled turret. Advanced defensive aid suites are likely to be common to all new vehicle types.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the full list of armoured fighting vehicles and protected mobility vehicles in operation with the British Army, and whether each vehicle is in general service on units' Equipment Tables, or an Urgent Operational Requirement.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The armoured fighting and protected mobility vehicles in operation with the British Army are: Challenger 2, Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle, Titan, Trojan, Warrior, Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle(Tracked), Bulldog, AS90, Terrier, Warthog, Mastiff, Ridegback, Wolfhound, Husky, Panther, Jackal, Coyote, Foxhound, Revised Weapons Mounted Installation Kit+ Land Rover/ Revised Weapons Mounted Installation Kit Land Rover and Snatch/Vixen.
Some of these vehicles were initially bought as Urgent Operational Requirements for operations. They have all now been brought into core funding and are shown on unit establishment tables.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average age of an Army Reserve Officer.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As at 1 April 2015, the average age of Army Reserve Officers was 26 years (untrained) and 44 years (trained), providing an overall average of 43 years.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many direct entry Army Reserve or Territorial Army Officers have been commissioned each year for the last 15 years.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
It is not possible to identify commissions of direct entry Army Reserve or Territorial Army Officers before April 2012. Rounded figures for the financial years from 2012-13 to 2014-15 are shown in the table below:
Financial Year | Direct Entry Commissions |
2012-13 | 30 |
2013-14 | 35 |
2014-15 | 50 |
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what lessons were learnt from Exercises Crusader in 1980 and Lionheart in 1984 with regard to using civilian ports not normally used for particular types of ships for loading particular types of vehicles.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The post exercise reports into the two exercises held in 1980 and 1984 make little mention of the use of civilian ports. However, both exercises were considered a success and found little difficulty in the loading of the vehicles onto ships at civilian ports.
Asked by: Earl Attlee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the British Army last inserted forces for combat operations by means of parachute drop at greater than platoon strength other than under the control of the Director of Special Forces.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
The last time the British Army inserted troops not under the control of the Director of Special Forces for combat operations, by parachute, was on 5 November 1956 during the Suez crisis.