Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further assistance and support they intend to provide to Mr Keith Darby and his family in China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO continues to provide consular assistance to Mr Darby. Ministers have previously raised Mr Darby's case with the Chinese authorities. The FCDO's Permanent Under Secretary raised his case during his visit to China last year and HMA Beijing raised the case in January this year. The Foreign Secretary and FCDO Ministers will raise his case in engagements with China, and have asked that FCDO officials raise Mr Darby's case again with the Chinese Embassy in London and the Chinese MFA in Beijing.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Westminster Council over providing listed status for any gas lamps that are currently not listed.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Historic England, the Government’s statutory advisor on heritage, is in discussions with Westminster City Council about this matter and is currently undertaking a project assessing Westminster’s unlisted gas-lit lamp-posts. These listing applications will be carefully considered by the Secretary of State, or me on her behalf.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to changing the policies determining retirement dates for members of the Armed Forces.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The single Services have responsibility for setting their own retirement ages.
Royal Navy
With the exception of Medical, Dental and Nursing Officers who can serve up to age 60 in some cases, retirement age in the Royal Navy is typically age 55. Service beyond age 55 to age 60 or beyond is offered on a case-by-case basis in order to meets the needs of the Service. The Royal Navy is considering implementing a retirement age of 60 for all personnel but has not yet undertaken the work needed to determine the implications and cost of doing so.
Army
There is no single retirement age for Army personnel; retirement age varies depending on the commitment made with each Service Person. Engagements of differing lengths are offered to accommodate the operational needs and outputs of the Army together with the requirement to maintain the structure of a hierarchical organisation. Individuals may apply to serve beyond 60 where there is a Service need including senior staff officer appointments, deep specialists, and full-time reserve service contracts. Retirement age is frequently reviewed in light of changing Defence tasks, the needs of the Army and the benefit of Service Personnel, whilst aligning them with changes to Armed Forces Pension Schemes.
Royal Air Force (RAF)
The RAF carries out an annual review of its Terms and Conditions of Service legislation to ensure that it remains fit for purpose and provides the right personnel support required to achieve its operational commitment. This includes the engagements, commissions, and consequential retirement dates of its personnel. Although no changes are currently planned, we continually assess this policy to ensure it provides the appropriate platform from which the RAF can deliver its operational output. Individuals can have their service extended beyond their mandatory end-of-service date based on an exceptional Service need.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reintroduce local recruiting offices for the Armed Forces.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Armed Forces Careers Offices (AFCO) continue to provide core support to the Armed Forces' national recruiting activities. The geographic footprint of AFCO across the UK is complemented by dedicated call centres and online recruiting operations, ensuring that members of rural or isolated communities have the same opportunity to apply to the Armed Forces as anyone else. In addition, the Services conduct outreach engagement programmes across the whole of the UK, delivering events such as career fairs and roadshows, supported by web-based information services and social media campaigns. These recruitment activities are further supported through strategic partnerships such as with JobCentrePlus, who provide additional face-to-face touchpoints with potential applicants. The Armed Forces regularly review their recruiting activities and associated resource in accordance with the requirement.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to re-examine Capita’s involvement in recruitment in the Armed Forces.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are no plans to re-examine Capita’s involvement in recruitment in the Armed Forces. The Army will continue its Recruiting Partnering Project contract with Capita, which has been extended to March 2026.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many men and women were recruited into the armed forces reserves in each of the past five years; and how many vacancies are there currently.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Data on recruitment into the three Services is presented in the tables below.
The Integrated Review and Spending Review (IR/SR) introduced greater flexibility in how Defence could employ its workforce types (Armed Forces Regular, Reserve, Defence Civilian and Contractors). This has made the continued use of a fixed workforce requirement for individual components of the Whole Force less appropriate. We are in the process of agreeing a new Indicative Planned Strength (IPS) which reflects both the Whole Force Strategic Workforce plans that are being finalised and changes in organisational structure introduced following the IR/SR. Comparison of the IPS and published statistics on Armed Forces strength will make any shortfalls evident.
Table 1: UK Regular1 Personnel Intake2 by Gender4 in the past five years5 in each Service |
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| 1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019 | 1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020 | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | 1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022 | 1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023 |
Total | 14,880 | 14,590 | 17,070 | 11,980 | 10,470 |
Female | 1,600 | 1,630 | 1,940 | 1,420 | 1,220 |
Male | 13,280 | 12,960 | 15,130 | 10,570 | 9,250 |
RN/RM | 3,290 | 3,780 | 3,950 | 3,160 | 2,400 |
Female | 350 | 390 | 420 | 310 | 280 |
Male | 2,940 | 3,400 | 3,520 | 2,850 | 2,120 |
Army | 9,080 | 8,470 | 10,600 | 6,760 | 6,310 |
Female | 820 | 880 | 1,030 | 730 | 660 |
Male | 8,260 | 7,590 | 9,570 | 6,030 | 5,650 |
RAF | 2,510 | 2,330 | 2,520 | 2,060 | 1,760 |
Female | 440 | 360 | 490 | 380 | 280 |
Male | 2,080 | 1,970 | 2,040 | 1,680 | 1,480 |
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| Source: Analysis (Tri-Service) |
Table 2: FR203 Personnel Intake by Gender4 in the Past five Financial Years5 in each Service |
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| 1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019 | 1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020 | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | 1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022 | 1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023 |
Total | 5,710 | 5,020 | 5,700 | 3,720 | 3,780 |
Female | 900 | 760 | 950 | 600 | 540 |
Male | 4,820 | 4,270 | 4,750 | 3,120 | 3,240 |
RM/RN | 970 | 800 | 770 | 350 | 470 |
Female | 150 | 150 | 150 | 70 | 50 |
Male | 820 | 640 | 610 | 280 | 420 |
Army | 4,080 | 3,680 | 4,440 | 2,890 | 2,880 |
Female | 540 | 470 | 690 | 400 | 390 |
Male | 3,540 | 3,210 | 3,750 | 2,490 | 2,490 |
RAF | 660 | 550 | 500 | 480 | 430 |
Female | 200 | 130 | 110 | 130 | 100 |
Male | 460 | 420 | 390 | 350 | 330 |
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| Source: Analysis (Tri-Service) |
Notes/Caveats:
1. UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, Non Regular Permanent Staff, High Readiness Reserve and Expeditionary Forces Institute personnel. Unless otherwise stated, includes Trained and Untrained personnel.
2. Intake comprises all personnel joining the Armed Forces either as new entrants or re-entrants.
3. Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or Full Time Reserve Service contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute, University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.
4. Gender is a self-reported field on the Joint Personnel Administration System.
5. The yearly Intake-Periods are defined as the 12 months ending 30 September for each respective year.
6. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias. Please note that due to rounding, the total figures in the above tables may not equal the corresponding sum of figures for each Service.
7. These figures can be found in Tables 7 and 23 in the last five October Editions of the "UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics" published on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many men and women were recruited into (1) the Army, (2) the Navy, and (3) the Air Force, in each of the past five years; and how many vacancies there are currently in each service.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Data on recruitment into the three Services is presented in the tables below.
The Integrated Review and Spending Review (IR/SR) introduced greater flexibility in how Defence could employ its workforce types (Armed Forces Regular, Reserve, Defence Civilian and Contractors). This has made the continued use of a fixed workforce requirement for individual components of the Whole Force less appropriate. We are in the process of agreeing a new Indicative Planned Strength (IPS) which reflects both the Whole Force Strategic Workforce plans that are being finalised and changes in organisational structure introduced following the IR/SR. Comparison of the IPS and published statistics on Armed Forces strength will make any shortfalls evident.
Table 1: UK Regular1 Personnel Intake2 by Gender4 in the past five years5 in each Service |
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| |||
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019 | 1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020 | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | 1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022 | 1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023 |
Total | 14,880 | 14,590 | 17,070 | 11,980 | 10,470 |
Female | 1,600 | 1,630 | 1,940 | 1,420 | 1,220 |
Male | 13,280 | 12,960 | 15,130 | 10,570 | 9,250 |
RN/RM | 3,290 | 3,780 | 3,950 | 3,160 | 2,400 |
Female | 350 | 390 | 420 | 310 | 280 |
Male | 2,940 | 3,400 | 3,520 | 2,850 | 2,120 |
Army | 9,080 | 8,470 | 10,600 | 6,760 | 6,310 |
Female | 820 | 880 | 1,030 | 730 | 660 |
Male | 8,260 | 7,590 | 9,570 | 6,030 | 5,650 |
RAF | 2,510 | 2,330 | 2,520 | 2,060 | 1,760 |
Female | 440 | 360 | 490 | 380 | 280 |
Male | 2,080 | 1,970 | 2,040 | 1,680 | 1,480 |
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| Source: Analysis (Tri-Service) |
Table 2: FR203 Personnel Intake by Gender4 in the Past five Financial Years5 in each Service |
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| 1 Oct 2018 to 30 Sep 2019 | 1 Oct 2019 to 30 Sep 2020 | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | 1 Oct 2021 to 30 Sep 2022 | 1 Oct 2022 to 30 Sep 2023 |
Total | 5,710 | 5,020 | 5,700 | 3,720 | 3,780 |
Female | 900 | 760 | 950 | 600 | 540 |
Male | 4,820 | 4,270 | 4,750 | 3,120 | 3,240 |
RM/RN | 970 | 800 | 770 | 350 | 470 |
Female | 150 | 150 | 150 | 70 | 50 |
Male | 820 | 640 | 610 | 280 | 420 |
Army | 4,080 | 3,680 | 4,440 | 2,890 | 2,880 |
Female | 540 | 470 | 690 | 400 | 390 |
Male | 3,540 | 3,210 | 3,750 | 2,490 | 2,490 |
RAF | 660 | 550 | 500 | 480 | 430 |
Female | 200 | 130 | 110 | 130 | 100 |
Male | 460 | 420 | 390 | 350 | 330 |
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|
|
|
| Source: Analysis (Tri-Service) |
Notes/Caveats:
1. UK Regulars comprise Full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel, Non Regular Permanent Staff, High Readiness Reserve and Expeditionary Forces Institute personnel. Unless otherwise stated, includes Trained and Untrained personnel.
2. Intake comprises all personnel joining the Armed Forces either as new entrants or re-entrants.
3. Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserve (HRR) and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on Additional Duties Commitment or Full Time Reserve Service contracts. Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20. Non Regular Permanent Staff, Expeditionary Forces Institute, University Officer Cadets and Regular Reservists are excluded.
4. Gender is a self-reported field on the Joint Personnel Administration System.
5. The yearly Intake-Periods are defined as the 12 months ending 30 September for each respective year.
6. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias. Please note that due to rounding, the total figures in the above tables may not equal the corresponding sum of figures for each Service.
7. These figures can be found in Tables 7 and 23 in the last five October Editions of the "UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics" published on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Callanan on 22 November that "it is up to 10 times more expensive" to bury power lines (HL Deb col 740), what evidence they have to support that conclusion.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The evidence to support the claim that underground lines can be up to 10 times more expensive than overhead lines comes from an independent 2012 report endorsed by the Institution of Engineering & Technology called “Electricity Transmission Costing Study”, which can be found at https://www.theiet.org/impact-society/factfiles/energy-factfiles/energy-generation-and-policy/electricity-transmission-costing/ (also attached).
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the involvement of President Bashar al-Assad, family and friends in the manufacture and export of Captagon.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to engage extensively with international partners on Syrian captagon, including those across the Middle East and the Gulf who are most directly impacted by this illicit trade. The UK also continues to raise captagon at the UN Security Council.
This illicit industry allows Asad to fund his war machine whilst spreading instability across the region. The Syrian regime are at the heart of producing and manufacturing captagon, this includes Asad's immediate family members and other malign groups. The UK, working with partners, sanctioned individuals directly involved in the captagon industry in March 2023, including two of Asad's cousins.
Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with international partners about stopping the illegal export of Captagon from Syrian criminals.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to engage extensively with international partners on Syrian captagon, including those across the Middle East and the Gulf who are most directly impacted by this illicit trade. The UK also continues to raise captagon at the UN Security Council.
This illicit industry allows Asad to fund his war machine whilst spreading instability across the region. The Syrian regime are at the heart of producing and manufacturing captagon, this includes Asad's immediate family members and other malign groups. The UK, working with partners, sanctioned individuals directly involved in the captagon industry in March 2023, including two of Asad's cousins.