Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they were invited to participate in the recently announced Franco-German Main Ground Combat System which is intended to jointly provide a successor tank to the Leopard and Leclerc.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has requested observer status for the Main Ground Combat System programme.
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the comments by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 14 January, and by the Secretary of State for Defence on 15 January, regarding global instability and possible conflicts, what immediate improvements they plan to make to national defence capabilities.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Command Paper 2023 (DCP23) set out how the Armed Forces and wider Defence would modernise and adapt to the changing context. We are investing over £50 billion in Defence to ensure we can protect the nation and help it prosper. We will continue to review our holdings of all essential expendable items, and will invest in such capabilities as complex weapons, general munitions, and operational spares stocks to meet the needs of sustained operations.
As DCP23 set out, strengthening our resilience is critical. That is why we will continue to work with our partners across Government to identify vulnerabilities and test how we would better secure and defend the homeland in times of war.
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they believe that the Ministry of Defence still needs to employ 60,000 civilian personnel, in the light of the declining number of regular forces.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The size of the Regular Armed Forces and that of the Civilian workforce are not directly linked.
The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is significant; they perform over 200 different, vital roles and are key to the delivery of Defence outputs. Defence is unique in that it comprises a variety of workforce types including Civilians and both Regular and Reserve Service Personnel, which together, as the ‘Whole force’ is essential for providing the critical services which Defence delivers on behalf of the nation.
Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 2 October regarding the immediate cap on Civil Servant headcount over this spending review and further reductions longer term, Defence is engaging in broader strategic workforce planning activity to ensure it plays its part in delivering increased productivity and efficiency.
Defence, in line with other Government departments, segments its Civilian workforce by profession. The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is illustrated in ‘Defence in Numbers’ which shows some of the main professions that make up the Defence workforce. For security purposes we have not provided information about the number of Civil Servants who work in sensitive roles.
(Source: Defence in Numbers 2022 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137992/UK_Defence_in_Numbers_2022.pdf
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what broad categories of employment the 60,000 civilian personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence fall into.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The size of the Regular Armed Forces and that of the Civilian workforce are not directly linked.
The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is significant; they perform over 200 different, vital roles and are key to the delivery of Defence outputs. Defence is unique in that it comprises a variety of workforce types including Civilians and both Regular and Reserve Service Personnel, which together, as the ‘Whole force’ is essential for providing the critical services which Defence delivers on behalf of the nation.
Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 2 October regarding the immediate cap on Civil Servant headcount over this spending review and further reductions longer term, Defence is engaging in broader strategic workforce planning activity to ensure it plays its part in delivering increased productivity and efficiency.
Defence, in line with other Government departments, segments its Civilian workforce by profession. The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is illustrated in ‘Defence in Numbers’ which shows some of the main professions that make up the Defence workforce. For security purposes we have not provided information about the number of Civil Servants who work in sensitive roles.
(Source: Defence in Numbers 2022 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137992/UK_Defence_in_Numbers_2022.pdf
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 25 September (HL10042), whether the Ministry of Justice or HM Prison and Probation Service keep a record of how many times a Prime Minister has visited one of His Majesty's prisons since 2010, and in which years.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they have on which different species of fish inhabit the tidal reaches of the River Thames, particularly in the Richmond and Teddington sections.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for managing freshwater fisheries in England and carries out biannual fish surveys at eight locations on the tidal Thames, between Gravesend and Richmond.
From 2010-2022, the EA recorded 19 fish species at Richmond. These were: bleak; brown trout; bullhead; chub; common bream; common carp; dace; European eel; flounder; common goby; gudgeon; minnow; perch; roach; rudd; sand smelt; sea bass; smelt; and three-spined stickleback.
Teddington has not been surveyed recently but between 1989 and 1993 11 species were caught at Teddington. These were: bleak; common bream; common goby; dace; European eel; flounder; gudgeon; perch; roach; sea bass; and three-spined stickleback.
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many times a Prime Minister has visited one of His Majesty's prisons since 2010, and in which years.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This information is not centrally collated. However, information on the Prime Minister’s official visits can be found on the gov.uk website as part of the government’s transparency agenda.
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy on the storage, disposal or re-use of any serviceable inflatable craft or similar craft used by cross-Channel migrants.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided to PQ HL7826 on 23/05/23.
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government how long they expect the construction of the proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens will take; and what proportion of those Gardens they estimate will be occupied by the Centre (1) during construction, and (2) on completion.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The construction phase is expected to last around three years. Provision will be made to ensure as much of Victoria Tower Gardens as possible is open to users during construction works.
The design uses around 7.5 per cent of the area of Victoria Tower Gardens.
Asked by: Lord Lee of Trafford (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for regulating whether publicly listed companies should hold hybrid annual general meetings which enable shareholders to attend either in person or participate digitally.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Companies Act 2006 permits hybrid annual general meetings to be held. The format of annual general meetings is a matter for companies and their shareholders.