Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that the Ministry of Defence's management of outsourcing contracts has wasted £3.9 billion, what plans they have to review such contracts for defence work.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) routinely reviews and monitors all its contracts, including outsourced services.
In February 2019, the Government Commercial Function launched the 'Outsourcing Playbook' which sets out Government policy and guidelines on outsourcing procurement activities. The aim is to improve both the decision making around outsourcing, and the quality of contracts.
The MOD has been engaged throughout the development of the 'Outsourcing Playbook' and is now implementing its policies.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review the contract with Capita for armed forces recruitment.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I can assure the noble Lord that the Army and Capita Recruiting Partnering Project, is being closely monitored.
A buoyant labour market with record employment rates, combined with significant demographic changes in society, represent a challenge to Army recruitment and retention. The Army needs to continuously adapt to this and is taking action to do so. It has been working closely with Capita on a recruitment improvement plan which is now being executed. Initial signs are promising and, prior to the transition to the new Defence Recruiting System, applications had increased this financial year.
The Ministry of Defence now expects Capita to deliver on improvements in converting these applicants to enlistees and will be monitoring progress closely in the coming months, including ensuring that the new Defence Recruiting System reaches full operating capability as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government whether they have conducted a lessons learned exercise relating to the performance of the Integrated Full Electric Propulsion system for the Type 45 Destroyers.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence has made extensive use of independent expertise to support the work on the Integrated Full Electric Propulsion system for the Type 45 Destroyers. This has given us confidence that the measures we have adopted will be effective in increasing reliability and resilience on the Type 45s, and has made a valuable contribution to ensure that the key lessons are available for future classes of warship.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government how many Royal Navy personnel left the service as a result of the cuts arising from the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
A total of 1,137 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel were made redundant under the Armed Forces Redundancy Programme announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government what technology they have employed to make personnel efficiencies in the Royal Navy.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Royal Navy (RN) continues to improve and refine the design, construction and reliability of ships and submarines while maximising technological advances: this allows complements to be smaller than previous generations. Development of autonomous systems such as unmanned underwater vehicles and underwater search and disposal systems are some of the main areas where we have experienced the greatest advances.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of the Integrated Full Electric Propulsion system for the Type 45 Destroyers.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
This information is not held.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government when they expect to make the main investment decision for resolution of the power and propulsion issues relating to the Type 45 Destroyers.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
We aim to take the main investment decision and award the contract for the Power Improvement Project in early 2018.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government what strategy is in place to meet recruitment and retention challenges faced by the Royal Navy.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Naval Service utilises a wide range of mechanisms to aid the recruitment and retention of personnel. For recruitment these include targeted marketing, specific recruitment events and staged remunerative awards to attract recruits in specialist areas. A number of initiatives have also been developed in order to retain experienced personnel, such as the use of targeted retention incentives and career extensions.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
Her Majesty's Government when they intend to bring forward proposals to introduce enhanced compensation for injured armed forces personnel as outlined their 2017 Manifesto.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
We will look to bring these proposals forward in due course.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 30 January (HL Deb, col 969), whether the Armed Forces have the capacity to increase the number of troops stationed in Estonia and Poland.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The UK and NATO constantly monitor the threats to the Euro-Atlantic security environment. The Enhanced Forward Presence we are deploying to the Baltic States and Poland is defensive in nature, but combat capable, and we will configure our forces appropriately in response to the challenges we face in the region. This may include adjusting the size and composition of our contributions over time.