Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many suppliers his Department has excluded from procurement on the grounds of (a) fraud, (b) corruption and (c) other grounds under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 from 2015 to 2022.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As part of its standard procurement processes, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) requires potential suppliers to confirm whether they have been convicted in the last five years of certain offences set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. These include offences relating to fraud and corruption.
Since Financial Year 2015-16, the MOD has placed over 14,000 contracts, and decisions on exclusion are made case-by-case. Information on how many suppliers have been excluded from procurement is therefore not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2023 to Question 167132 on Ministry of Defence: TikTok, which devices are being used to publish and monitor his Department's TikTok content; and what security measures are in place to prevent hacking and spyware on those devices.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) TikTok account has been implemented to communicate globally the ongoing efforts of the UK Armed Forces, including our work with nine partner nations, to train Ukrainian soldiers and prepare them for frontline combat.
To deliver our messages internationally we must leverage the largest digital platforms available to us with the most significant reach and scale. Defence communications needs to speak to both domestic and overseas audiences and as well as showcasing Defence events, our comms also form part of UK strategic messaging. TikTok is currently key to reaching vital overseas audiences.
Our TikTok channel showcases the amazing courage and determination of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to win the war and highlights the multilateral support for UK-led training of Ukrainian troops.
Whilst the benefits vs risk case is finely balanced, the MOD’s secure publishing model and long-standing experience of digital communication channels management enable us to operate the channel safely.
Robust processes are in place to control publishing to social media from within the MOD. Communications on social media are delivered by separate systems through a small number of communications staff. TikTok communications, like all social media publishing, are delivered via third-party software and no Government (or personal) devices are being used to publish or monitor the platform directly. The MOD’s secure publishing model means that no MOD staff are logged into TikTok using an official device.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department will shut down its TikTok account.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) TikTok account has been implemented to communicate globally the ongoing efforts of the UK Armed Forces, including our work with nine partner nations, to train Ukrainian solders and prepare them for frontline combat.
In order to deliver our messages internationally we must leverage the largest digital platforms available to us with the most significant reach and scale. Whilst we have been effective with our digital communications, in particular with our daily Defence Intelligence updates on Twitter which have been read over 400 million times, we must do more to reach audiences worldwide.
Robust processes are in place to control publishing to social media from within the MOD. Communications on social media are delivered by separate systems through a small number of communications staff. TikTok communications, like all social media publishing, are delivered via third-party software and no government devices are being used to publish or monitor the platform directly.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what responsibilities his Department has retained for oversight of cross-government work on veterans’ issues following the recent machinery of government changes.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The right hon. Johnny Mercer MP was appointed Minister of State for Veterans’ Affairs at the Cabinet Office on 25 October 2022, and will work with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs in the Cabinet Office to co-ordinate cross-Government work to support our veterans.
The Ministry of Defence retains responsibility for those matters relating to veterans for which the Ministry of Defence is directly responsible for delivering, including Armed Forces pensions, compensation, transition, the Armed Forces Covenant, legacy support, medals, and Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants are employed in his Department on overseeing the storage of Personal Protective Equipment.
Answered by Alec Shelbrooke
Defence uses a range of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from off-the-shelf generic PPE used in civilian settings to high-end PPE for specific environments only encountered in a military context. PPE is procured, stored and distributed both centrally and locally. For these reasons it is not possible to provide an answer to the question without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
As at 31 December 2019, three per cent of civilian staff employed by the Ministry of Defence are apprentices.
Asked by: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve the standard of housing for service personnel.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence is committed to improving the quality of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) provided to our Service personnel. 88% of SFA currently meet or exceed the decent homes standard. If a property fails to meet the standard, it will either be upgraded or disposed of.
Since financial year 2010-11 investment in housing has resulted in:
The separate installation of some 12,000 kitchens, bathrooms, or central heating systems and the insulation of 16,692 lofts.