Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the presence of two anchors from the former HMS Prince of Wales among the metal looted from the wreck and currently held in Malaysia.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Malaysian authorities have primacy over the investigation into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales. As these investigations are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment on the alleged perpetrators at this stage, or speculate on the future preservation of the artefacts, including any metal recovered, until they have concluded.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are aware of any plans for the disposal of metal illegally looted from the wreck of the former HMS Prince of Wales currently held in Malaysia.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Malaysian authorities have primacy over the investigation into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales. As these investigations are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment on the alleged perpetrators at this stage, or speculate on the future preservation of the artefacts, including any metal recovered, until they have concluded.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the men responsible for looting the wreck of the former HMS Prince of Wales have been released from Malaysian custody.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Malaysian authorities have primacy over the investigation into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales. As these investigations are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment on the alleged perpetrators at this stage, or speculate on the future preservation of the artefacts, including any metal recovered, until they have concluded.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they have taken to recover metal illegally looted from the wreck of the former HMS Prince of Wales.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Malaysian authorities have primacy over the investigation into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales. As these investigations are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment on the alleged perpetrators at this stage, or speculate on the future preservation of the artefacts, including any metal recovered, until they have concluded.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any ships of the HMS Prince of Wales task group currently en route to the Far East will visit Malaysia or Singapore.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
While the exact details of Operation Highmast cannot be released to preserve operational security, I can confirm that port visits to Malaysia and Singapore are part of the deployment.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are aware of any human remains being held alongside the metal looted from the wreck of the former HMS Prince of Wales.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has not received any information to suggest any human remains have been found.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Coaker on 27 January (HL4169), whether the proposal to convert the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations into a non-departmental public body is supported by members of the Council of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations; and what consultations with members have taken place.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As stated in my Written Answer of 27 January (HL4169), the views of the membership of the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs) were taken into account as part of the 2019 Review of the RFCAs which recommended that the Council of RFCAs (CRFCA) and the 13 RFCAs should be merged into a single Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), with a National Office and a set of regional organisations.
There will of course be divergent views in any organisation which is potentially subject to change. However, notwithstanding individual perspectives, it is critical that the delivery model is regularised as it currently does not comply with the principles set out in Managing Public Money: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money
Under current legislation, the CRFCA was not intended to be a separate legal entity. Through section 116 (s116) of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 (RFA96), it is a Joint Committee that is part of, and subordinate to, the Associations that have created it. This means that in its current form, RFA96 vests in the Association Voluntary Membership executive authority which, through s116, has been delegated to the CRFCA Board via Association Chairs and then sub-delegated to the CRFCA Chief Executive. As noted in the RFCA Framework Agreement 2016, this creates inevitable tension between an Association’s autonomy and its application of delegation, and any directive authority vested in CRFCA Chief Executive.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what work is being undertaken, and by who, regarding the integration of AI in nuclear (1) command, (2) control, and (3) communications systems; and whether they have commissioned research to identify and manage high-risk AI applications.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK’s nuclear weapons are operationally independent and only the Prime Minister can authorise their use. It is a long-standing policy that we do not discuss detailed nuclear command and control matters and so will not be able to provide any additional detail.
Research to identify, understand, and mitigate against risks of AI in sensitive applications is underway. We will ensure that, regardless of any use of AI in our strategic systems, human political control of our nuclear weapons is maintained at all times.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Coaker on 19 November 2024 (HL2338), whether the investigations referred to are now complete.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Investigations into this matter are still ongoing and I will write to the Gallant and Noble Lord once these investigations are complete.
A copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any decisions have been made to convert the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations into a non-departmental public body in advance of the strategic defence review; and whether members been asked to agree to such a proposal.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The 2019 Review of the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (RFCAs) was published on 24 March 2020 and placed in the Library of the House. The Review recommended that the Council of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations (CRFCA) and the 13 RFCAs should be merged into a single Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), with a National Office and a set of regional organisations. The views of the membership were taken into account as part of the review which can be found at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-reserve-forces-cadets-associations-2019.
The NDPB implementation work was paused in March 2023 due to it failing to obtain a legislative slot in the last Parliament, but this work has now re-commenced.