Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the issue of Commonwealth-born UK Armed Forces veterans facing financial difficulties and deportation due to a lack of awareness about how to regularise their immigration status following discharge.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Commonwealth UK Armed Forces veterans are made aware of the process for regularising their immigration status on enlistment to the Armed Forces, during their service and again prior to discharge.
Following discharge, Veterans UK's Veterans Welfare Service and Defence Transition Services provide the same level of support to Foreign and Commonwealth veterans as they do to any other veteran. They provide relevant advice, information and support, assisting veterans to access the appropriate range of services to meet their individual needs and requirements. This support continues for as long as required as part of our commitment to providing 'through-life support' to veterans.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Commonwealth citizens are currently serving in the UK Armed Forces.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As at 1 October 2019, there were 4,490 Commonwealth citizens in the trained and trade trained strength of the Regular Armed Forces and 240 in the Future Reserves 2020 population.
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what change there has been in the proportion of energy used by the Ministry of Defence that is drawn from renewable sources since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Data on renewable energy consumed by the Defence Estate is not held centrally. The proportion of electricity used by the Department, drawn through the GB National Grid, from renewable sources has increased from 2.97% in 2010 to 32% in 2020.
The Department recognises its contribution is vital in the UK's response to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. As such, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has launched a Climate Change and Sustainability Review. The Review is currently at the scoping stage; setting the ambition, refreshing the baseline and establishing the MODs route to net zero. The Review aims to have a clear response plan in place by the end of 2020.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote sustainability in the supply chain during Ministry of Defence procurement.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes environmental and sustainability issues into account throughout its acquisition process. Our investment approvals policy includes a requirement to take sustainability into account in all initial business cases, and the use of an environmental management system is mandated for all acquisition projects.
This helps to ensure that our activities are compliant with Government sustainable development and environmental protection policy requirements. Where relevant, sustainability and environmental requirements are also defined in defence contracts, evaluated in the tender process and monitored and managed through the life of the contract to ensure MOD requirements are being met.
We also expect defence industry suppliers to play a key role in improving their own processes and supply chain education. Where sub-contractors are engaged, the prime contractor remains responsible for ensuring adherence to all obligations, including those relating to sustainability and environmental issues.
We expect our suppliers to abide by the Government's Supplier Code of Conduct, which requires suppliers to understand and reduce their impact on the environment. Underpinning this, the MOD has published a Defence Standard for assurance that contractors are operating suitable environmental management systems.
We also continue to work through the Sustainable Procurement Working Group to share good practice and maintain a dialogue with industry partners on this important issue.
More information on how the MOD manages sustainable procurement can be found on the Knowledge in Defence website at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/knowledge-in-defence-kid.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that low or zero carbon technologies are included in the (1) commissioning, and (2) construction, of Ministry of Defence buildings.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
All new Ministry of Defence Buildings are commissioned and constructed in accordance with the Department's Building Performance Standards Policy, as set out in the Joint Services Publication 315.
The policy contains an Energy and Performance standard that directs that "all new and major refurbishments should be designed to be 'nearly zero-energy buildings".
We intend to strengthen these standards and they are currently under review.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many former service personnel discharged from the services on disciplinary grounds have (1) applied to rejoin the armed forces and (2) been accepted and rejoined.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to recruit former personnel who were discharged on disciplinary grounds for the Armed Forces.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Individuals wishing to re-join the Armed Forces can apply to do so. The single Services will consider all the circumstances of an individual’s previous service in making a judgement on re-employment, including taking full account of the provisions set out by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, where appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any new hospital ship will be operational before the retirement of RFA Argus in 2024.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
RFA ARGUS is the Ministry of Defence's Primary Casualty Receiving Ship. The consideration of options to deliver the capabilities provided by ARGUS after she leaves service remains ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will procure another helicopter training vessel before the retirement of RFA Argus in 2024.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
RFA ARGUS is the Ministry of Defence's Primary Casualty Receiving Ship. The consideration of options to deliver the capabilities provided by ARGUS after she leaves service remains ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what lessons they learned from their decision to award Capita a contract to manage army recruitment; and what steps they are taking in response to that learning.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As identified by the National Audit Office in December 2018, responsibility for the challenges faced for Army recruiting lies with both the Army and Capita. Many of these challenges including some of the steps taken to address them are set out in the National Audit Office's report.
The Government has established a Strategic Partnering Programme which monitors performance of companies such as Capita across HMG contracts. This enables those closest to the day-to-day delivery, in this case the recruitment experts within both Capita and the Army, to work together with contract staff to make improvements. The aim is to resolve issues at the operating level using this expertise, rather than escalating the issue.