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Written Question
Marines: Defence Equipment
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability of the Royal Marines to fulfil their duties, given their current level of equipment and personnel.

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

The Royal Marines (RM) have been undergoing transformation through the Future Commando Force (FCF) programme. The FCF programme was fully endorsed at the Integrated Review 21 and reaffirmed at the Integrated Review Refresh and the Defence Command Plan 23. Significant enhancements have already been delivered, most visibly new vehicles, radios, uniforms and most recently new rifles.

The Secretary of State has commissioned a plan with a scope that will encompass how the Royal Marines work and capabilities can be bolstered and enhanced to protect Britain from a world that is growing more dangerous.

While undergoing this transformation, the RM continue to deploy globally, delivering disproportionate impact for a formation of their size.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Labour Turnover and Recruitment
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recruitment and retention figures for the armed forces in year 2022–23; and what steps they are taking to reverse any negative trends.

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

In 2022-23, Armed Forces recruitment was lower than we would have hoped given a difficult recruiting environment, and outflow was higher than planned. Nevertheless, the Armed Forces continue to meet all their operational commitments.

To address recruitment, a range of tangible short-term deliverables are being actioned to increasing the inflow into Armed Forces recruitment pipelines, all intended to increase the breadth of potential candidates and to drive efficiencies into recruitment systems. These ongoing and new initiatives are focused upon engaging the broad range of skills, experience and diversity needed to deliver that which our nation demands of our Armed Forces; and in the range of roles that are critical to enable this.

On retention, in June 2023 we committed to implementing the recommendations of the Haythornthwaite Review, a generational independent review of how we retain our current people and attract new ones. Its recommendations relate to policies and processes across a complex system of incentivisation and support. A formal Government Response, which will provide more detail on our approach to tackling each recommendation, will be published in early 2024. This will confirm which recommendations have been - or are in the process of being – delivered.

Other initiatives aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of our people include; Flexible Service, which introduces the potential for people to alter their career commitment for set periods of time, allowing more people to remain in the Armed Forces who may otherwise have decided to leave in order to meet competing demands and responsibilities; Wraparound Childcare, which Defence established in recognition of the importance of a robust childcare support system to enable the mobility, recruitment and retention of a Armed Forces personnel; acceptance of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body’s and Senior Salaries Review Body’s recommendations in full, ensuring that the overall remuneration package for Service personnel (which includes a good pension, subsidised accommodation, and a range of allowances on top of basic salary) remains competitive.


Written Question
HMS Prince of Wales
Wednesday 10th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what costs will be incurred to return HMS Prince of Wales to active service.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 3 April 2023 to Question HL6632.


Written Question
HMS Prince of Wales
Wednesday 10th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that equipment has been taken from HMS Prince of Wales to be fitted to HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

It is common practice in modern navies for equipment to be transferred amongst ships of the same class to allow ships to remain operationally available. This ensures the Royal Navy meets all its operational commitments.

For reasons of operational security, it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of equipment transfer.


Written Question
HMS Prince of Wales
Wednesday 10th May 2023

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether HMS Prince of Wales will be returned to active service; and if so, when.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 3 April 2023 to Question HL6891.


Written Question
Omagh: Military Bases
Thursday 23rd February 2023

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government when inspections and building condition surveys were last carried out on St Lucia Barracks in Omagh.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The Ministry of Defence owns the historic core buildings at St Lucia Barracks, the remainder of the site is owned by the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure.

A full building condition report was completed in September 2019 which identified repairs needed to the historic core buildings. Remediation works, undertaken by Defence Infrastructure Organisation contractors, were completed in September 2022.

Defence Infrastructure Organisation Officials last inspected the buildings on 8 February 2023.


Written Question
Omagh: Military Bases
Thursday 23rd February 2023

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they own St Lucia Barracks in Omagh.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The Ministry of Defence owns the historic core buildings at St Lucia Barracks, the remainder of the site is owned by the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure.

A full building condition report was completed in September 2019 which identified repairs needed to the historic core buildings. Remediation works, undertaken by Defence Infrastructure Organisation contractors, were completed in September 2022.

Defence Infrastructure Organisation Officials last inspected the buildings on 8 February 2023.


Written Question
Ukraine: Challenger Tanks
Wednesday 25th January 2023

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to acquire retired Challenger 1 tanks to supply to Ukraine in a greater volume to the announced supply of Challenger 2 tanks.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The British Army has no Challenger 1 tanks in service and the Ministry of Defence has no plans to acquire retired Challenger 1 tanks for supply to Ukraine. It would not be possible to provide a suitable sustainment package for these tanks, meaning they would have negligible combat effectiveness for the Ukrainians.


Written Question
Military Bases: Omagh
Friday 23rd December 2022

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what expenditure was incurred between 2007 and 2021 on (1) security, and (2) maintenance, at St Lucia Barracks in Omagh, County Tyrone.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The cost of security provision for St Lucia Barracks prior to 2015 is not held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD); security costs were managed by the Department for Education.

The cost of security provision incurred by the MOD for St Lucia Barracks for the period Financial Year (FY) 2015-16 to FY 2020-21 was £442,331. This is 60% of total costs; the remaining 40% is met by the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure.

Information on maintenance expenditure for St Lucia Barracks from FY 2006-07 to 2009-10 is not held.

Maintenance expenditure for St Lucia Barracks from FY 2010-11 to FY 2020-21 was £570,100.


Written Question
Dockyards
Tuesday 20th September 2022

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reliance on one dry dock facility in the UK by the Royal Navy given the susceptibility (1) to enemy attack, and (2) to occupation by other vessels.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The Ministry of Defence has adequate plans to deal with urgent dry docking requirements for all class of ships operated by the Royal Navy. Where there is not a sovereign dock capability, there are arrangements to use commercial facilities and there is no reliance on a single facility to undertake dry dock maintenance.

Maintenance and dry docking requirements, outside of an urgent requirement, are carefully planned in order to maintain the availability of Royal Navy ships.