Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish a breakdown of what the money spent pursuant to the the target of 2 per cent of GDP to be spent on defence has been spent on in the last five years; and how much and what proportion of that money was spent on pensions.
Answered by Gavin Williamson
The 2015 Spending Review continued the commitment to meet the NATO investment pledge to spend 2% of GDP on Defence for the rest of this decade. This is evaluated using the NATO definitions of Defence spending which the UK complies with fully. Details and figures on NATO Defence expenditures can be found at the following link:
https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2018_07/20180709_180710-pr2018-91-en.pdf
The amount and proportion spent on pensions, by financial year (FY), is as follows:
Currency Unit: £million
Category | FY2013-14 | FY2014-15 | FY2015-16 | FY2016-17 | FY2017-18 |
Pensions | 3,532.172 | 3,615.597 | 2,617.655 | 2,515.559 | 2,517.501 |
Proportion of Total | 8.87% | 9.06% | 6.72% | 5.96% | 5.85% |
The UK complies with NATO’s definitions on defence spending.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for the West Freugh facility in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The Ministry of Defence West Freugh establishment is expected to continue delivering test, evaluation and training support services under the Long Term Partnering Agreement with QinetiQ which runs until 2028.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many training exercises have been carried out at the West Freugh facility in Dumfries and Galloway in the last five years.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Thirty-two training exercises were undertaken at the Ministry of Defence West Freugh establishment during the last five financial years (2013-14 to 2017-18).
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff are employed at the West Freugh facility in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answered by Guto Bebb
There are 30 staff employed at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) West Freugh establishment (26 QinetiQ and four sub-contracted staff). No MOD personnel are employed there.
Asked by: Alister Jack (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for the Dundrennan range in Dumfries and Galloway.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence does plan to develop and enhance the training facilities at Dundrennan Range, but these plans are in the very early stages of development.