Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress the Government has made on the delivery of the veterans ID card scheme.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 March 2023 to Question 169383 to the hon. Member for Canterbury (Ms Duffield).
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of moving the Defence Business Services Offices from Cheadle Hulme and Walker House to Blackpool; and what provisions his Department is making to support staff in that transition.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The decision to consolidate the Defence Business Services northwest estate in Blackpool was based on qualitative benefits and through life costs of potential sites based on several factors including operational risk, sustainability, and compliance with key user requirements.
Agreement with the Unions has been reached that relocation will be treated as a non-standard move for all staff. This means that all staff including 'non-mobile' administrative grades and part-time staff will access the mover and fares packages. All staff will be able to apply for the associated allowances which can include move of house or excess fares in accordance with policy and Trade Union negotiation.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment the Government has made of the role of (a) Whatsapp, (b) Signal, (c) Telegram and (d) other social media messaging services in Taliban military command, control and communications in (i) totality and (ii) the summer 2021 advance on Kabul; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Heappey
It is not Ministry of Defence policy to comment on intelligence matters.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials in (a) his private office and (b) the wider Department have been allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Please find below the information requested:
a) SofS private office – 0
b) Wider Departmental figures are as follows:
Year | Total number of officials in the wider Department allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media |
2018 – 2019 | 37 |
2019 – 2020 | 37 |
2020 – 2021 | 37 |
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials in their Department were dedicated to their Department's responsibilities associated with the delivery of the Industrial Strategy in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020 and (e) 2021.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence does not record the exact numbers of officials who contribute to the delivery of industrial strategy. A large number of teams across the department support work in this area. These include staff working on prosperity, industrial policy, strategic relationship management and the National Shipbuilding and the Future Combat Air Strategies. In March 2020 we announced the launch of the cross-Government Defence and Security Industrial Strategy review which will outline how we work with the defence sector in the future.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of climate change on the work of his Department; and what steps he is taking in response to that effect.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence recognises the need to adapt quickly to mitigate its own impact on the climate and to build resilience to new threats caused by climate change.
To face this challenge, the Department has established a team to review its current position and drive progress towards the Government's target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.