Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the most recent assessment took place of Carillion's ability to fulfil its contractual obligations in the defence sector.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 January 2018 to Question 123319 to the hon. Member for North Durham, Mr Kevan Jones.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has met with representatives of Carillion since his appointment as Secretary of State.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
No official meetings have taken place between the Defence Secretary and representatives of Carillion since his appointment as Secretary of State.
Ministry of Defence Ministers and officials hold regular meetings with defence contractors and suppliers, to discuss a variety of subjects.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on (a) taxis, (b) first class train tickets and (c) business class air travel in each of the last four years.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Ministry of Defence (MOD) expenditure on taxi fares is not recorded separately from expenditure on other types of public transport where fares can be reimbursed to staff as business expenses, such as for bus and underground travel. MOD staff may use a taxi for official duty when there is a business benefit to the Department or when it saves money. A taxi is typically used where no other suitable form of public transport is available or where heavy baggage or equipment has to be carried.
MOD expenditure on first class train tickets and business class air travel booked through the MOD Travel Contract in each of the past four years has been as follows:
Category | Expenditure | |||
2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | |
First Class Rail Tickets Note (1) | £71,280 | £52,730 | £43,501 | £26,578 |
Business Class Air Travel Note (2) | £7,808,039 | £8,727,962 | £6,685,066 | £5,721,761 |
Notes:
(1) Standard Class must be selected, unless there are exceptional circumstances (for example, on disability/medical grounds, if travelling single occupancy on a sleeper or other exceptional circumstances approved by a Director of Resources).
(2) Overseas travel in other than economy class is permitted only where both the flight duration is over 4 hours and there is a business case to demonstrate that the circumstances warrant it (for example, where significant business has to be done on arrival following an overnight flight). These figures include both US and Middle East internal flights that are First Class. However, because they do not have Business Class available - only Economy and First - it is recognised within the airline industry that these equate to Business Class elsewhere in the world based on cost and standard of service/seating so we always report as such.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether officials of his Department in discussions with Saudi officials are critical of the actions and policies of the Saudi Government; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Gavin Williamson
No aspect of our relationship with Saudi Arabia prevents us from speaking frankly and openly and we will always be ready to speak out as a matter of principle. We raise our concerns with the Saudi authorities using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels of communication, including our Ambassador, the Embassy team and the European Union in Riyadh
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2017 to Question 109676, on military bases: fire prevention, on how many occasions a Minister from his Department has met the Director General Defence Safety Authority to discuss fire safety at military bases in the UK.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Defence Secretary and Ministry of Defence Ministers meet with the Director General Defence Safety Authority (DG DSA) routinely. DG DSA meets the Defence Secretary twice a year and the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans quarterly or more often. These meetings cover all aspects of safety in Defence which may include, but are not limited to, discussions relating to fire safety at military bases.
The former Defence Secretary, as a member of The Defence Board, was briefed by DG DSA on his Annual Assurance Report, which includes content relating to fire safety.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in ensuring that (a) adequate fire safety arrangements and (b) appropriate fire drills, including evacuations, are carried out for military bases in the UK.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Secretary of State for Defence Policy Statement for Health, Safety and Environmental Protection requires that all organisations across Defence comply with the relevant statutory requirements that includes the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO).
The assessment of compliance with the FSO is the responsibility of the Director General Defence Safety Authority (DG DSA) who operates under a Charter from the Secretary of State for Defence. This assessment is undertaken by the DSA Defence Fire Safety Regulator (DFSR) who as the enforcing authority for the FSO undertakes a programme of risk based audits of Defence-occupied premises to verify compliance with UK fire safety legislation.
The DFSR audit process includes an assessment of the level of compliance against all the relevant articles in the FSO that include those relating to fire safety arrangements and the procedures in place to provide appropriate evacuation drills to follow in cases of serious and imminent danger to persons.
In addition to allocating assurance levels across each Regulatory Domain and to reflect the importance attached to this issue, DG DSA raised fire safety as a strategic risk in his 2016/17 Annual Assurance Report that will shortly be published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dsa-annual-assurance-reports
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has received information obtained by the US Administration by means of provisions within the USA Patriot Act of 2001; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Fallon
I am not aware of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) having obtained information specifically under the provisions of the USA Patriot Act. However, the UK Government, including the MOD, receives a broad range of classified information from the United States under existing bilateral and multilateral information-sharing arrangements.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department respond to Freedom of Information requests.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) maintains a central Freedom of Information (FOI) team comprising eleven posts. In addition to these posts, the MOD has a network of focal points across the Department who are responsible for providing FOI guidance within their business area, although this is not their primary function.
All staff are responsible for ensuring that the Department as a whole is able to meet its legislative obligations under the FOI Act, and can be involved in preparing responses to requests.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department took longer than 30 working days to respond to a freedom of information request in each month since July 2016.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 22 March 2017 to Question 68040.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average response rate was of his Department to individual Freedom of Information requests in each month since July 2016.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Government publishes statistics on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 within central Government, including timeliness, on a quarterly basis. The figures for requests received from July to September 2016 have been published at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
The figures for October to December 2016 are to be published shortly and those for January to March 2017 are yet to be compiled. FOI statistics are Official Statistics and are governed by the standards set out by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) in their Code of Practice. To publish information outside of the release timetable would be a breach of Protocol 2 of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.