Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill on the number of convictions of armed forces personnel.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Impact Statement for the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill was published on 17 September.
It is not possible to estimate how many potential future prosecutions will not proceed as a result of the statutory presumption against prosecution measure as there is limited available data. In addition, it would not be appropriate for the Government to "play prosecutor" and try to assess what decision a prosecutor might have made in an historical case if the presumption measure had been in place at the time.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) service personnel and (b) veterans were charged for crimes which allegedly took place during overseas operations in each of the last 20 years.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
As this data is not held centrally it is taking some time to compile, and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) service personnel and (b) veterans were convicted for crimes which allegedly took place during overseas operations in each of the last 20 years.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
As this data is not held centrally it is taking some time to compile, and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in each case in which a (a) member or (b) veteran of the armed forces has been charged for a crime which allegedly took place during an overseas operation over the last 20 years, what length of time passed between the alleged criminal act and charges filed.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
As this data is not held centrally it is taking some time to compile, and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for each case in which a (a) veteran or (b) member of the armed forces has been convicted of a crime which took place during an overseas operation over the last 20 years, what length of time passed between the criminal act and conviction.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
As this data is not held centrally it is taking some time to compile, and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to the letter of 28 May 2020 from the hon. Member for Glasgow North West on Commonwealth-born veterans applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The correspondence from the hon. Member was received by the Ministry of Defence on the 28 May 2020. The Home Office accepted transfer of this case on 1 June 2020 and will reply shortly.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of recruits to the armed forces with a reading age of between (a) five and seven, (b) seven and nine and (c) nine and eleven years in 2019.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
In 2019 the number of Army recruits with reading ages between five and eleven were as follows:
Reading age | Number of recruits |
Five – seven | 20 |
Seven - nine | 220 |
Nine – eleven | 760 |
Notes:
In 2019 the Royal Air Force had no recruits join with a reading age below 11.
The Royal Navy does not assess recruits’ reading ages.
All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
Candidates have been permitted to join the Army with a reading age of five to seven on the understanding that they attend organised training at a local college to bring them up to the required minimum standard (Entry Level 2) before they commence Basic Training.
No recruits have joined the Armed Forces to date in 2020 with a reading age of five to seven years.
The UK Armed Forces use standard academic qualifications as entry criteria where relevant, and requirements vary depending on trade group. Entry is not determined by reading levels.
Over 94% of non-commissioned recruits, no matter their age, will enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year.
In line with Government Apprenticeship policy, all Service personnel undertaking an apprenticeship are required to attempt to gain a Functional Skills (FS) Level 2 award in literacy and numeracy - equivalent to at least a Grade 4 at GCSE level.
Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (English) and (Mathematics) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all Service personnel accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of recruits with a reading age of five to seven years that will join the armed forces in 2020.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
In 2019 the number of Army recruits with reading ages between five and eleven were as follows:
Reading age | Number of recruits |
Five – seven | 20 |
Seven - nine | 220 |
Nine – eleven | 760 |
Notes:
In 2019 the Royal Air Force had no recruits join with a reading age below 11.
The Royal Navy does not assess recruits’ reading ages.
All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
Candidates have been permitted to join the Army with a reading age of five to seven on the understanding that they attend organised training at a local college to bring them up to the required minimum standard (Entry Level 2) before they commence Basic Training.
No recruits have joined the Armed Forces to date in 2020 with a reading age of five to seven years.
The UK Armed Forces use standard academic qualifications as entry criteria where relevant, and requirements vary depending on trade group. Entry is not determined by reading levels.
Over 94% of non-commissioned recruits, no matter their age, will enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year.
In line with Government Apprenticeship policy, all Service personnel undertaking an apprenticeship are required to attempt to gain a Functional Skills (FS) Level 2 award in literacy and numeracy - equivalent to at least a Grade 4 at GCSE level.
Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (English) and (Mathematics) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all Service personnel accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the minimum reading age requirements are for recruits to the armed forces.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
In 2019 the number of Army recruits with reading ages between five and eleven were as follows:
Reading age | Number of recruits |
Five – seven | 20 |
Seven - nine | 220 |
Nine – eleven | 760 |
Notes:
In 2019 the Royal Air Force had no recruits join with a reading age below 11.
The Royal Navy does not assess recruits’ reading ages.
All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
Candidates have been permitted to join the Army with a reading age of five to seven on the understanding that they attend organised training at a local college to bring them up to the required minimum standard (Entry Level 2) before they commence Basic Training.
No recruits have joined the Armed Forces to date in 2020 with a reading age of five to seven years.
The UK Armed Forces use standard academic qualifications as entry criteria where relevant, and requirements vary depending on trade group. Entry is not determined by reading levels.
Over 94% of non-commissioned recruits, no matter their age, will enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year.
In line with Government Apprenticeship policy, all Service personnel undertaking an apprenticeship are required to attempt to gain a Functional Skills (FS) Level 2 award in literacy and numeracy - equivalent to at least a Grade 4 at GCSE level.
Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (English) and (Mathematics) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all Service personnel accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the reading age of recruits to the armed forces is determined.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
In 2019 the number of Army recruits with reading ages between five and eleven were as follows:
Reading age | Number of recruits |
Five – seven | 20 |
Seven - nine | 220 |
Nine – eleven | 760 |
Notes:
In 2019 the Royal Air Force had no recruits join with a reading age below 11.
The Royal Navy does not assess recruits’ reading ages.
All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
Candidates have been permitted to join the Army with a reading age of five to seven on the understanding that they attend organised training at a local college to bring them up to the required minimum standard (Entry Level 2) before they commence Basic Training.
No recruits have joined the Armed Forces to date in 2020 with a reading age of five to seven years.
The UK Armed Forces use standard academic qualifications as entry criteria where relevant, and requirements vary depending on trade group. Entry is not determined by reading levels.
Over 94% of non-commissioned recruits, no matter their age, will enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year.
In line with Government Apprenticeship policy, all Service personnel undertaking an apprenticeship are required to attempt to gain a Functional Skills (FS) Level 2 award in literacy and numeracy - equivalent to at least a Grade 4 at GCSE level.
Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (English) and (Mathematics) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all Service personnel accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision.