Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have found a solution to the problem of War Widows pensions, as referred to in the letter from Baroness Goldie to Lord Craig of Radley dated 11 Maerch 2020 and placed in the Library of the House.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Government recognises the unique commitment that service families make to our country and remains sympathetic to the circumstances of those who remarried and cohabited before 1 April 2015. The Ministry of Defence is exploring options that ensure consistency with established Government convention that such payments are not made retrospectively. The issue remains a priority for the Department, though it remains very complex. The Defence Secretary has taken a personal lead in this matter and wrote to Mrs Mary Moreland, the former Chair of the War Widows Association. The Department is ensuring that the necessary time and resource is committed to examine every reasonable option that remains possible.
Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 10 June (HL4948), what assessment they have made of extending the use of Sentinel beyond 2021; and whether this will be included in this year's Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Sentinel's radar and mission system are now increasingly obsolescent and will face increasing reliability issues as time progresses. Retaining the capability would have required significant upgrade expenditure and the March 2021 out of service date (OSD) has been retained. It is necessary to retire certain capabilities at planned OSDs to allow re-investment in future capability.
Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend the use of the Sentinel aircraft system beyond 2021 for ongoing operations in (1) the Middle East, and (2) elsewhere.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Out of Service Date for Sentinel was set at March 2021 in Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, this remains the case.
Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 11 October (HL Deb, col 249) indicating that references to "part-time" were included within a previous Armed Forces Act, to which Act he intended to refer.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
During the Report Stage for the Armed Forces (Flexible Working) Bill, I referred to Section 2(1A) and (1B) of the Armed Forces Act 1966. This reference was inaccurately transcribed in the official record of the debate but it has now been corrected in Hansard.
Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Army Air Corps personnel have been asked in the past 12 months to repay retention or other alleged overpayments; and in each case, who was responsible for the error.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 23 March 2016 (Official Report, column 2379) to the noble Lord, the Lord Trefgarne.
Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 1 July (HL754), what marginal cost amounts will be credited to the defence budget for providing such humanitarian assistance in Sierra Leone, Nepal and the Mediterranean; and, in each case, what percentage of the total cost of this assistance to the defence budget those marginal costs represent.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence has received £28.8 million for the marginal costs associated with providing humanitarian assistance in Sierra Leone. While costs are still being refined, the Ministry of Defence expects to receive up to £5 million for marginal costs incurred in support to the Nepal earthquake relief, and up to £11 million for costs associated with the deployment of HMS Bulwark and Merlin helicopters to the Mediterranean for search and rescue activities.
As there is a standing arrangement for the Ministry of Defence to recover the marginal costs associated with support to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the total costs are not available.
Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the cost of the armed forces' contributions to providing humanitarian assistance in (1) Sierra Leone for the Ebola crisis, (2) Nepal for earthquake relief, and (3) the Mediterranean for the rescue of illegal immigrants, will be met from the defence budget.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The marginal costs of providing humanitarian assistance in Sierra Leone and earthquake relief in Nepal will be met by DfID. The marginal costs of supporting search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean will be met by the UK aid budget.