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Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Correspondence
Monday 25th October 2021

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve his Department's response times to correspondence from members of the public.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The Government recognises the importance of responding to members of the public in an effective and timely manner, and the Cabinet Office published an updated Guide to Handling Correspondence for government departments and agencies in July 2021.

The guidance reasserts the standards for handling correspondence, including a 20 working day deadline for departments to respond to members of the public, criteria outlining when a response to a member of the public is required, and when a piece of correspondence from a member of the public should be transferred to another department. Following publication of the updated guidance, all departments have been reminded that they must follow the processes outlined in the guidance.


Written Question
Veterans: Civil Proceedings
Thursday 23rd September 2021

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his oral contribution of 24 May 2021, Official Report, Column 16, if he will publish the statistical evidential basis for Northern Ireland veterans having been subject to vexatious claims and prosecutions; and how (a) vexatious claims and (b) vexatious prosecutions are defined in his Department's analysis.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

It is clear that the current system for addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland's past is not working well for anybody, most importantly victims and survivors. If our focus remains on achieving criminal justice outcomes, we will fail almost every family, as well as wider society. We have therefore put forward bold proposals which focus on information recovery and reconciliation, measures which are most likely to produce tangible benefits for victims and wider society, to effectively address legacy issues and help Northern Ireland to look to the future. The Northern Ireland Office Command Paper of July 2021 sets out some relevant statistics that have informed this proposed approach.


Written Question
Yemen: Military Intervention
Wednesday 22nd September 2021

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, entitled The cost of repression, published on 6 July 2021, what assessment the Government has made of the implications for its policies of the findings of that report that the Royal Saudi Air Force and the Joint Incident Assessment Team, beneficiaries of the Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF), have been accused of perpetrating illegal drone strikes against civilians in Yemen and conducting inadequate investigations into potential war crimes in Yemen; and if the Government will suspend GSF programmes pending an independent inquiry into their human rights implications.

Answered by James Heappey

All training and assistance to both the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) and the Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) - as well as any programmes funded by the Gulf Strategy Fund (GSF) - are subject to an Overseas Security Justice and Assistance Assessment (OSJA). These OSJAs consider human rights concerns about the institution/unit that will receive the assistance, are refreshed on a yearly basis, and are endorsed by Ministers.

GSF funded assistance to the Royal Saudi Land Forces is intended to support Saudi Arabia's efforts to protect their national security while improving their compliance with international humanitarian law.


Written Question
VJ Day: Anniversaries
Thursday 27th June 2019

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans the Government has made to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day in 2020.

Answered by Tobias Ellwood

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 June 2019 to Question 259289 to the hon. Member for Bristol West (Thangam Debbonaire).


Written Question
NATO: Joint Exercises
Thursday 16th May 2019

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Minister in her Department authorised UK participation in Exercise Joint Warrior; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of participation in that exercise.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

Joint Warrior is a longstanding exercise, directly supporting force capability and generation, and is a core Defence activity. As such, individual exercises do not require Ministerial approval and are not separately costed.


Written Question
United Arab Emirates: Armed Forces
Monday 20th November 2017

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2017 to Question 109061, what the function is of each of the armed forces stationed in the United Arab Emirates.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

The precise details of the UK military laydown within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is protected by a non-disclosure agreement with the host nation. This is an extant condition of the orignal arrangement for our presence in the UAE, due to operational sensitivities at the time.

However, we can confirm there are three personnel based in the British Embassy Defence Section conducting defence engagement activities.

All other UK military personnel in the UAE are fulfilling roles which support operations and regional security, the detail of which is not publically releasable.


Written Question
United Arab Emirates: Armed Forces
Thursday 26th October 2017

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK personnel from each of the armed forces are stationed in the United Arab Emirates.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

As of 25 October 2017, there were 229 UK military personnel stationed in the United Arab Emirates. This is broken down, by Service, below:

Royal Navy: 50

British Army: 37

Royal Air Force: 145


Written Question
Intelligence and Security Committee: Disclosure of Information
Wednesday 12th October 2016

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Ministers in his Department have delayed providing information to the Intelligence and Security Committee in order to make a determination as to whether to share that information as set out in Schedule 1 to the Justice and Security Act 2013.

Answered by Michael Fallon

None.


Written Question
Intelligence and Security Committee: Disclosure of Information
Wednesday 12th October 2016

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Ministers in his Department have declined to disclose information to the Intelligence and Security Committee under Schedule 1 of the Justice and Security Act 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Michael Fallon

None.


Written Question
HMS Queen Mary: Salvage
Monday 13th June 2016

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reports he has received of looting by salvage teams of the wreck of HMS Queen Mary which was sunk in the Battle of Jutland; and whether his Department has been presented with any evidence of such looting.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

The Ministry of Defence became aware of the possible illegal salvage of items from HMS Queen Mary in 2011. After due consideration, and following liaison with UK and international prosecution authorities, it was concluded by the Ministry of Defence Police that no further action could be taken. We are not aware of any British nationals being involved in this case or of any current illegal salvage on the Jutland wreck sites. Should such activity come to our attention the matter would be reported to the Ministry of Defence Police.