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 defensive deployment of British forces in Estonia and Poland is being kept under review.
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.
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 9 January (HL Deb, col 1728), what steps are being taken to maintain the skilled workforce at GKN Yeovil.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
This Government fully recognises the capabilities of the UK aviation sector and the contribution that its skilled people make to our defence capability and national prosperity. This includes those engaged in supporting our helicopter capabilities in Yeovil. GKN has offered to relocate all of its skilled employees affected by the closure of its Yeovil site and, where individuals are not able to relocate, the Government has been providing support.
The best way to maintain the skilled workforce is through a thriving and competitive aerospace industry. The Ministry of Defence has a ten-year Strategic Partnering Arrangement in place with Leonardo Helicopters, and anticipates spending around £3 billion with the company over the next decade to upgrade and support our helicopter fleets. This, together with the work that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is doing on the Aerospace Growth Partnership and the Defence Growth Partnership, will undoubtedly be of benefit to the wider Yeovil region.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the deliveries of the nine P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft are on schedule; and when they will be delivered.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence is procuring nine P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft via a Foreign Military Sale arrangement from the US Government. Under the agreed schedule, the first UK aircraft is due to be delivered in 2019, and the final one is expected in 2021.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the infrastructure work at RAF Lossiemouth will be completed in time to enable the base to be used by the P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft can already operate from RAF Lossiemouth on a temporary basis, as has been demonstrated on various occasions by aircraft operated by the US Navy. RAF Lossiemouth has been designated as the Main Operating Base for the RAF P-8A Poseidon fleet and the aircraft is expected to begin operating from there in 2020. As part of the preparations for this, plans are being finalised to build the support and training infrastructure to create a well-established and permanent base as the home for the UK P-8A fleet.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are encouraging the retention and motivation of Armed Forces reserve medical professionals.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the pivotal contribution that Reserve medical professionals make to the Defence Medical Services (DMS) and we are doing a number of things to ensure their recruitment, retention and motivation.
It is estimated that over 50 per cent of DMS Reserves specialists are recruited by their peers. A financial incentive is now available to encourage every DMS Reservist to be a recruiter and for them to support their peers through to the completion of Phase 1 training. A 'Golden Hello' payment is also being proposed for Reserve Medical Officers, Dental Officers and nurses/Allied Healthcare Professionals, the value and eligibility criteria of which is currently being considered by the single Services.
Concerning retention, the MOD is determined to ensure that Reserve medical professionals feel valued and have the opportunity to take full advantage of the offer to them. Engagement with employers is critical to retention and our dialogue with several organisations has led to standardised HR policies across the country on the employment and use of Reserves. This is reflected in the fact that 36 NHS Trusts have received the MOD's Employers Recognition Award.
The MOD is able to monitor the morale and motivation of medical Reserves through the annual DMS Continuous Attitude Survey. This enables action plans and initiatives to be explored through the single Services and heads of cadre.
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 encourage employers to recruit service leavers and veterans.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a robust and effective resettlement system in place which includes the highly successful Career Transition Partnership (CTP). The CTP contract provides employers with unique access to the Service leaver talent pool. Employers can upload job opportunities to RightJob via the CTP website which receives over 50,000 unique hits per month, and promotes employment opportunities through regular e-bulletins sent to over 20,000 active clients. Through the resettlement contract, the CTP can link employers with the best Service leaver candidates for their vacancies. The CTP offers a high quality, no cost recruitment service for organisations looking to recruit highly motivated, skilled and experienced Service leavers.
The Government has set out plans for Prison Safety and Reform in a White Paper, committing to recruit an additional 2,500 prison officers across the estate. The MOD is working collaboratively with the National Offenders Management Service (NOMS) to recruit Service leavers as prison officers to support this recruitment drive, in recognition of the number of valuable transferable skills that Service leavers can bring to the Prison Service. The CTP works closely with NOMS to promote careers in the Prison Service. A NOMS official will be attending CTP employment fairs and a number of prison open days for Service leavers will run during the coming months. Additionally, NOMS are developing a recruitment campaign targeted specifically at Armed Forces which will be supported by the MOD.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for Defence on 19 December 2016 (HC Deb, cols 1215–1216), when they first became aware of the use of UK-made cluster bombs by Saudi Arabia in Yemen; and following assurances they have received from the government of Saudi Arabia that the use of such bombs has now stopped, what monitoring will take place.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Amnesty International wrote to the Prime Minister on 23 May 2016, and to the Ministry of Defence on 3 June 2016, on the alleged use of UK-produced BL-755 cluster munitions by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. That allegation was confirmed by the Coalition in their statement on 19 December 2016.
We welcome the Saudi commitment to cease use of UK-manufactured BL-755 cluster munitions and have offered to assist with the destruction of any remaining stocks of the weapon.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what date the new veterans gateway will become operational.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Veterans' Gateway is a £2 million programme run through a consortium of Combat Stress, PoppyScotland, SSAFA and Connect Assist, led by The Royal British Legion, to set up a one-stop service to better support the UK's Armed Forces Veterans community. The new service will provide a simple single point of contact through a 24/7 phone number with a professional voice at the end of the line, SMS access, a dedicated website and a mobile enabled web app to make it easier for former Service personnel to access support on a range of issues including housing, employability and health issues. Veterans in Northern Ireland, like other UK Veterans, will also be able to access the Veterans Gateway. Subject to successful trials, the Veterans' Gateway will launch in May 2017 through an event to be held on the same day in each of the home nations.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the length of time it would take to deploy Joint Force 2025 following authorisation of the Prime Minister, in the light of the maximum 66,000 personnel which may be deployed, as set out in <i>Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015: Defence Key Facts</i>.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Joint Force 2025 will be composed of a full spectrum of capabilities, and be able to conduct a wide range of operations, up to major combat operations. At the most demanding end of the scale we will be able to deploy a potent expeditionary force of around 50,000. Deployment times would depend on the scale, expected duration and location of the commitment.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to their consultation on changes to the definition of trained strength for the army, why this change has been proposed.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon) on 30 June 2016 (HLWS50).
The public consultation sought views on the inclusion of the revised Army Trained Strength figures within the Monthly Service Personnel Statistics publication. No external responses were received. The change was implemented from 1 October 2016.