Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to promote Armed Forces Covenant among (a) businesses and (b) the general population.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence has a network of Defence Relationship Management National Account Managers and Regional Employer Engagement Directors who promote the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant to the employers they work with. They also help organisations through the process of devising their bespoke pledges and arranging signing events.
The Government has met its manifesto commitment to strengthen the Armed Forces Covenant in law by introducing a new statutory Covenant Duty, which came into force in November 2022. The new duty helps promote better outcomes for the Armed Forces community when accessing key public services. Since 2015, local delivery has been supported by the Covenant Fund, looked after by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, of more than £10 million each year, which funds projects across the UK in support of the Armed Forces. The Trust have awarded over £14 million since 1 April 2022 to more than 300 projects that support the Armed Forces community across the UK.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will grant a pardon to people sentenced for the Salerno Mutiny.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Salerno mutiny of 1943 has been previously debated in the House of Commons and examined by legal authorities and the Department. Our position has not changed.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on phase two of the roll-out of veterans ID cards.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Phase one of the Veterans' Recognition Scheme is complete, with Service leavers receiving a HM Armed Forces Veterans' Recognition Card as part of the discharge process; since December 2018, over 56,000 such Cards have been issued to Service leavers. Phase two will extend the scheme to existing veterans so they can more quickly, easily, and securely prove they served in the UK Armed Forces.
As announced during Armed Forces week, more than £1 million in new money is being invested into a new digital service for veterans. This will make it easier and quicker to demonstrate military service in order to access a range of Government and charity services and will in turn help ensure that Recognition Cards are given only to those with verified service. The Government remains committed to delivering Veterans' Recognition Cards and will advise of a timescale for final delivery when this work is complete.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to prevent former RAF pilots from training the Chinese military.
Answered by James Heappey
We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt serving and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train People's Liberation Army personnel in the People's Republic of China. All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act, and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across Defence, while the new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges - including this one.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the UK's security of the decision to reduce the number of troops in the Army; and if he will make that decision subject to a vote in the House.
Answered by James Heappey
The protection of our people, homeland, and democracy is the first duty of any government and so we are investing over £24 billion to reform and renew our Armed Forces for this age of global and systemic competition, modernising and integrating our forces across sea, land, air, space, and cyberspace like never before.
In an era of robotics and artificial intelligence, we need to stop thinking about the strength of the Army simply in terms of numbers and focus on how successfully it can achieve what we ask of it. We have therefore designed a force that is more balanced, and ultimately more effectively matched to the threat, now and in the future. The Army will be better connected, faster, and pound-for-pound more lethal than ever before. It will be integrated across domains, with allies in NATO, and beyond.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress the Government has made in rolling out Virusend (a) in NHS settings and (b) for commercial use.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Defence is not responsible for Virusend's procurement by other Government Departments nor its availability for commercial use.