Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to permit people living with HIV to serve (a) as pilots, (b) as air traffic controllers and (c) in other roles in the armed forces.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As a new Government, we are commissioning a review into the circumstances where those who are living with HIV are not permitted to fulfil some roles within the Armed Forces.
After recent changes there are only a very small number of roles where those living with HIV are currently excluded from serving, including aircrew and pilots. We note changes made to rules around civil aviation in respect of people living with HIV and I have asked the Department to consider whether the current policy measures, especially given advances in PREP, are consistent with the values and standards of our Armed Forces.
I have asked for this review to be delivered swiftly. I would be happy to meet the righ hon. Member and cross-party colleagues to discuss this matter further with a view to a decision being taken by the Ministers in the coming weeks.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) recent progress has been made on the Twenty Shilling Windfarm agreement and (b) assessment he has made of when that agreement will be concluded.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials are working collaboratively with the developer to see if a Mitigation Scheme could be devised to allow the Twenty Shilling windfarm to be built whilst protecting the nearby Eskdalemuir Seismological Array. The scheme is complex and covers noise monitoring, testing, reporting, compliance, and curtailment.
A legal agreement would need to be reached by all parties, that legal agreement is progressing. If a mitigation scheme is achievable MOD officials aim to be in a position to conclude the legal agreement in the next few months, subject to negotiation.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what schemes his Department has introduced to recognise the long service of non-military personnel.
Answered by Johnny Mercer
The mechanism by which civil servants are recognised for their long and meritorious service is the Imperial Service Medal, issued by the Cabinet Office. It is presented to selected civil servants who complete at least 25 years' service upon their retirement, to certain grades. In the Ministry of Defence, this is skill zone or Pay Band E grades.
Within the Ministry of Defence, there are likely to be schemes at unit level that are administered locally. A list of any such schemes are not held centrally.