Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their new Shipbuilding Strategy, published on 10 March, will ensure that new naval vessels will be built in British shipyards.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh reiterates the Ministry of Defence (MOD) shipbuilding procurement policy set out in the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy (DSIS). This states that the procurement approach for each class of ship will be determined on a case-by-case basis. As well as considering the specific capability requirements, the MOD will consider the long-term UK industrial impact of different options, including delivering value for money for the overall programme and maintaining the key UK industrial capabilities required for operational independence.
The MOD is clear that for national security reasons, the UK needs to maintain a shipbuilding enterprise.
Across all parts of the Government's 30 Year Cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline, the National Shipbuilding Office will seek to maximise the opportunity for UK industry, within our international and legal obligations. This is not limited to naval vessels; the pipeline includes vessels of all types, sizes and complexity, creating a baseline of volume to encourage industry investment in facilities, infrastructure, innovation and skills.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) cadet forces, and (2) combined cadet forces, are available in schools; what is the breakdown of the types of schools that operate such forces; and what is the (a) number of girls involved, and the (b) total number of young people involved.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence sponsors 504 cadet units in schools across the UK. The vast majority of these are Combined Cadet Force (CCF) contingents which contain one or more sections from the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines, or Royal Air Force CCFs. Instead of CCF contingents, a small number of schools have Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) or Army Cadet Force (ACF) units or, in Scotland only, Linked Detachment units.
Of these 504 cadet units, 474 are CCF contingents, 20 are SCC units, four are ACF units, and six are Linked Detachment units (five ACF units and one Air Training Corps unit). 303 (60%) are in state sector schools and 201 (40%) are in schools in the independent sector.
There are 46,070 cadets in the CCF, of whom 16,380 (36%) are female. In community cadet units, there are a total of 74,040 cadets of whom 24,780 (33%) are female (all figures are as at 1 April 2021).
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether catering and retail staff members of the House of Lords receive the full amount of any "tip" given to them when paid by debit card.
Answered by Lord Laming
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. The full amount of any tip paid by debit card, or any other form of payment, is distributed amongst Catering and Retail staff, less a deduction for Employer’s National Insurance at the appropriate rate.
Gratuity payments are made to staff via the payroll, therefore a deduction for tax and Employee’s National Insurance is made at the relevant rate.
Any administration charges linked to payments via credit or debit cards are not deducted from the gratuity amount.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the UK ship building industry has the opportunity to tender successfully for the new Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Guto Bebb), in the House of Commons on 24 April 2018 to Question 136757 to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard).
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to complete the training review, publication and roll-out of training programmes on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, for training delivered (1) in the UK to military officers from overseas, and (2) to foreign military forces.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Our Armed Forces already undertake high quality training on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) but a training needs analysis (TNA), which will report shortly, is assessing the level of future WPS/PSVI training required for UK and overseas militaries. Every year around 150 military officers from more than 50 countries attend UK Defence Academy courses that include lectures on WPS; and students on the Advanced Command and Staff Course are offered an additional two week 'elective' on "Gender, War, and Armed Forces", which some of the overseas officers choose to attend.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is also delivering WPS and PSVI in-country training to foreign militaries through the deployment of short term training teams and deployable experts, and via our overseas training establishments. The MOD is developing a standardised core syllabus for the training on WPS and PSVI delivered to foreign forces, which is expected to be finalised in January 2017. Building on the core syllabus, the training is then theatre-specific and tailored to the needs of troops being deployed, based on the level of training they have already received.
The MOD does not routinely publish its training materials but, as part of an accreditation process, it will share course materials with allies in NATO, the European Union, and the United Nations.