Reserve Forces

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the work that he is obviously already doing in supporting the reserves agenda, which is about raising awareness of reserves, particularly in communities where reserve units are significantly under-recruited—essentially getting behind a “use it or lose it” challenge to those communities. We have now created a space and will be putting in place a substantial recruiting drive. Those units need to show that they can make a sustained militarily significant contribution to the Army reserves.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

SME support is essential for the success of the growth of our reserve forces, so I really welcome the financial and procedural package that has been put in place for them. What support or advice has the Secretary of State received from business organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses to ensure that we get exactly the right package to encourage our employers to support this issue?

[Mr Hammond]

The FSB has been involved with us in the consultation process, along with many others. I am glad to be able to say that it, along with the other four major employer organisations, has signed the corporate covenant that my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces launched last Friday, which includes a pledge to support reserve service. In this White Paper we explicitly recognise that reserve service impacts on different types of employer differently, and the offer that we make has to be tailored to recognise that. That will make a significant difference to our relationships with small and medium-sized employers.

Operation Herrick

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Tuesday 14th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

The hon. Lady raises a fair point, and through the employers advisory committee we are constantly in touch with the views of employers. As we come to the end of the Herrick campaign, we are likely to use fewer reservists in the last couple of rotations of that campaign, and we will be sensitive to the views of reservists and their employers if they do not wish to serve. It is unlikely that many reservists will be required to serve because of their particular skill sets if they express a clear wish not to do so.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that these changes are based purely on military advice from service chiefs, and are not about cutting costs?

[Mr Hammond]

Yes, I am happy to do that, and it is not yet clear whether there will be any significant financial savings from the measures announced today. Clearly, we will not have to train a final, much smaller brigade for deployment to Afghanistan. That does not mean that the training will not be conducted;, it means that those troops will be training for contingent operations post-Afghanistan. That will present itself as a dividend to the military in terms of an increased readiness for return to contingent operations.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Monday 26th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

T3. May we have an update on the Government’s policy towards Syria and a commitment that British ground troops will not be sent there?

[Mr Hammond]

I can tell my hon. Friend that our policy in relation to Syria remains that we believe that a diplomatic and political solution is necessary to deliver a sustainable solution to the crisis. While we pursue such a solution, we will not rule out any option that is in accordance with international law and might save innocent lives in Syria and prevent the destabilisation of a region that is of critical importance to the United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I have answered that question in the House before. People who came back from Afghanistan in April will have had their post-operational leave scheduled. It is possible that some people who have post-operational leave scheduled for the period of July and August will be asked to reschedule it. However, I can confirm to the right hon. Gentleman that everyone will receive their full entitlement of post-operational leave, or any other kind of leave, and that people who have to change their personal arrangements and incur any financial loss as a consequence will be fully reimbursed for that loss.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that the Scout specialist vehicle will go ahead, giving much needed certainty both to the armed forces and the supplier, General Dynamics, a valued employer in my constituency?

[Peter Luff]

I can confirm that. The Scout specialist vehicle programme is currently in the demonstration phase. The first vehicle platform test rig was rolled out on 6 June this year and pre-production vehicle prototypes are due to begin delivery from 2013. The successful completion of the demonstration phase will lead to a main investment decision at main gate, currently planned for 2016. That is good news for my hon. Friend’s constituents, and I thank them, through her, for what they are doing to create that important capability for the Army.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Monday 20th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Peter Luff]

I understand and respect the hon. Lady’s concern, but she is simply wrong. We will maintain effective and proportionate levels of security on all our sites, including Coulport and Beith.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

8. What plans he has for defence deployments to the Falkland Islands; and if he will make a statement.

[Mr Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

12. What plans he has for defence deployments to the Falkland Islands; and if he will make a statement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Amber Rudd]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. May I press him on the defence plans? Is he confident that the United Kingdom has sufficient naval assets in the area to prevent any naval attack?

[Mr Hammond]

Yes, we are quite confident that we have sufficient naval assets in the area, and we have the ability to reinforce those naval assets should there be any evidence of intent to carry out any form of attack.

Oral Answers to Questions

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I would say two things to my right hon. Friend. First, the only reason why women were not eligible for the submarine service was that until recently the best medical evidence suggested that there could be a risk to foetal health. It is now clear that that risk does not exist. I would also say that the United States navy has made the change already, and has found the arrangements to be perfectly satisfactory.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

3. What food and entertainment his Department plans to provide to service personnel on operations during the Christmas period.

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Nick Harvey)]

Where the security situation allows, troops and support staff in Afghanistan will be served an English breakfast, a traditional turkey lunch with trimmings and a buffet supper. The Scots band will tour UK bases and there will be a carol concert in Camp Bastion. A variety of arrangements are similarly in place for those deployed elsewhere. Christmas decorations have been delivered to Camp Bastion already, and boxes of welfare and morale-boosting goods have arrived from UK4U, in addition to what is provided by the MOD.

[Amber Rudd]

Last weekend I spoke to my constituent Valerie Hindson, whose son, Lance Corporal Joel Hindson, is serving with 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment in Afghanistan. She is concerned about Christmas provision for him, because he is not at Camp Bastion, but out at a patrol base. Can my hon. Friend reassure me, and the friends and family of many brave men and women, that extra effort will be made to reach those out at patrol bases, as well as those at Camp Bastion?

[Nick Harvey]

Yes, I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance. Special Christmas packages are going out to all forward operating bases and patrol bases. In most cases there is a chef on site and proper catering facilities to ensure a Christmas lunch. That will not be possible for a small number of people in very remote locations, but even in those cases, special Christmas provision is being made.

Libya

Amber Rudd Excerpts

Tuesday 24th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nick Harvey]

The purpose of our being there is to carry out UNSCR 1973, the objective of which is to reduce the threat to civilian life. What the hon. Gentleman refers to as regime targets are in fact command and control targets—military targets. They are targets relating to the regime’s ability to persecute its own civilians, so those are the targets we have been aiming to hit. I do not accept a narrative from that that regime change is the objective of the exercise. The aim is to prevent the regime from slaughtering its civilians and that will continue to be the aim.

[Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

If the decision is made, will the Apache helicopters be allowed to land on Libyan soil?

[Nick Harvey]

I say again that this is simply an option that is being considered, and the detail of how exactly these things would be organised has not yet been worked up. It is not the intention that the helicopters would land. The intention is that they would be deployed, if at all, from naval assets, most probably from HMS Ocean, but that is the sort of detail that is being worked through at present as the option is worked up and considered. It certainly should not be inferred that there is any intention to use helicopters in order to land ground troops and take off in a different direction.