Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which military accommodation sites are in most urgent need of repair.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking an extensive review of its entire military accommodation portfolio, including how the Department will make best use of the properties that have been reacquired from Annington, and which homes and locations can most benefit from investment.
The Defence Housing Strategy, to be published later this year, will set out wider plans to improve the standard of Service family homes. The sites that will be refurbished are being worked through carefully, with the ambition to fairly make improvements across the devolved nations within the UK. It is too early to say where funding will be spent.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of releasing documents relating to the 1994 RAF Chinook crash on the Mull of Kintyre early.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The early release of the closed records held at The National Archives would breach those individuals’ data protection rights as they contain personal information relating to third party individuals. However, as part of the Ministry of Defence’s business as usual activity to renew the Retention Instrument associated with these closed records, an assessment of the potential merit of removing the 100-year closure status is due to take place in 2029.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Child Maintenance Service meets its two-year arrears recovery target in cases where a paying parent has a significantly increased income; and what safeguards are in place to help prevent changes in frequency of support payments to receiving parents without (a) notice or (b) mitigation.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service take proactive actions to influence Paying Parents who are not paying their child maintenance back into compliant behaviours as soon as a missed payment is identified. The service will initially negotiate repayment of arrears that is feasible for the parent to pay, taking into account the individual circumstances of each case.
The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible, taking into account all relevant circumstances i.e. full arrears payment by one lump sum, partial lump sum payment and a schedule of on-going payments to recover any remaining arrears within a maximum of two years, and a schedule of on-going payments to recover the full arrears within two years.
Discretion can be applied to extend the timeframe of recovery. The Service first seeks to address the cause for non or partial payment and attempts to find a sustainable solution for the Paying payment which can then provide stability for a Receiving parent and enable the repayment of any arrears in the shortest possible period of time.
If this is unsuccessful the service will consider all available enforcement options including deduction from earnings orders or deductions direct from bank accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including order for sale, where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removal of driving licences, disqualification of passports, and committal to prison.
Further we aim to provide fast, accurate and transparent assessments, based on the paying parent’s income, primarily their gross annual income provided by HM Revenue and Customs. If there are no significant changes in circumstances occurring, the maintenance calculation remains in place for a year at which point the Service calculates a new liability as part of the annual review service. However, the Service do continue to deal with unexpected events and major changes in year, in circumstances such as a move into or out of employment, or only where income changes by at least 25% from the latest annual income information provided by HM Revenue and Customs.
This helps to keep calculations up to date and reduces the need for changes in income to be reported during the year. Having a scheme with limited income changes during the year means more certainty for both parents. The paying parent knows for the year ahead how much they are expected to pay, and the receiving parent can budget with much more certainty.
The full information requested in relation to how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases meet two-year arrears recovery is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases meet the two-year arrears recovery target.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service take proactive actions to influence Paying Parents who are not paying their child maintenance back into compliant behaviours as soon as a missed payment is identified. The service will initially negotiate repayment of arrears that is feasible for the parent to pay, taking into account the individual circumstances of each case.
The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible, taking into account all relevant circumstances i.e. full arrears payment by one lump sum, partial lump sum payment and a schedule of on-going payments to recover any remaining arrears within a maximum of two years, and a schedule of on-going payments to recover the full arrears within two years.
Discretion can be applied to extend the timeframe of recovery. The Service first seeks to address the cause for non or partial payment and attempts to find a sustainable solution for the Paying payment which can then provide stability for a Receiving parent and enable the repayment of any arrears in the shortest possible period of time.
If this is unsuccessful the service will consider all available enforcement options including deduction from earnings orders or deductions direct from bank accounts.
If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including order for sale, where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removal of driving licences, disqualification of passports, and committal to prison.
Further we aim to provide fast, accurate and transparent assessments, based on the paying parent’s income, primarily their gross annual income provided by HM Revenue and Customs. If there are no significant changes in circumstances occurring, the maintenance calculation remains in place for a year at which point the Service calculates a new liability as part of the annual review service. However, the Service do continue to deal with unexpected events and major changes in year, in circumstances such as a move into or out of employment, or only where income changes by at least 25% from the latest annual income information provided by HM Revenue and Customs.
This helps to keep calculations up to date and reduces the need for changes in income to be reported during the year. Having a scheme with limited income changes during the year means more certainty for both parents. The paying parent knows for the year ahead how much they are expected to pay, and the receiving parent can budget with much more certainty.
The full information requested in relation to how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases meet two-year arrears recovery is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many full-time equivalent roles are being recruited at Great British Energy.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy (GBE) is currently developing its operating model and the capabilities it will need. Ultimately this will be a matter for GBE to determine, within their agreed budget.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of including the time people already living in the UK have accrued on their route to settlement via the Indefinite Leave to Remain routes.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2025 to Question 49938 on Nuclear Submarines: Safety, what the Category (a) A and (b) B Nuclear Site Event Reports recorded at (i) Coulport and (ii) Faslane were.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Nuclear Site Event Reports are raised to foster a robust safety culture that learns from experience, whether that is equipment failures, human error, procedural failings, documentation shortcoming or near-misses.
I cannot provide specific detail for the events as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of any relevant forces, I can assure the hon. Member that none of the events listed in Question 49938 caused harm to the health of any member of staff or to any member of the public and none have resulted in any radiological impact to the environment.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of competition for North Channel ferry crossings on economic growth in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Competition and Markets Authority, the “CMA”, is responsible for competition investigations and enforcement within the UK, including Northern Ireland. It is therefore not appropriate for Government to make assessments on the impacts of conduct on competition.
As an independent authority, the CMA has discretion to investigate competition cases which, according to its prioritisation principles, it considers most appropriate. The government has ensured that the CMA has significant powers to investigate and act to ensure markets remain competitive, and consumers are protected from unfair or exploitative market practices.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date the Strategic Defence Review will be published.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As the Prime Minister said in his Statement on Defence and Security in the House of Commons, the Strategic Defence Review is advanced and we will bring it to the House as soon as we can.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of when the Aberdeen headquarters of Great British Energy will be operational.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy is initially headquartered in DESNZ’s second headquarters in Aberdeen, Crimon Place, to ensure the organisation can get to work as quickly as possible. As a Government Property Agency (GPA) onboarded department, DESNZ is pursuing property options through the GPA. Due to the commercial sensitivity of any lease negotiations, specific details or timescales cannot be provided at this time.