Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many engineers there were in the Army on 1 April 2024; and what the requirement was.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

As of 1 April 2024, there were 26,030 Army Trade Trained Regular, Gurkha and Trained Reserve Engineers.

We do not routinely release the workforce requirement figures of Army regiments for reasons of operational security.

The Trade Trained Regular Army only exclude Gurkhas, Full Time Reserve Service, Mobilised Reserves, Army Reserve and all other Reserves, but includes those personnel that have transferred from Gurkha Trained Army Personnel (GURTAP) to UK Trained Army Personnel (UKTAP).

Reserve figures are for Trained Army Group A Reservists for Army. Group A includes Volunteer Reserves, Mobilised Volunteer Reserves, High Readiness Reserves and University Officer Training Course (OTC) Support & training staff.

The 'Engineering' trades listed above are defined in line with the agreed definition from the Defence Engineer Remuneration Review (DERR).

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Army training budget was in each year since 2010.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Department has interpreted training to mean the budget for direct training exercises only. This includes Phase 1 (basic training) and Phase 2 (initial training) costs.

The below table highlights the Army’s budget for training between financial years (FY)2018-19 and 2023-24. As a result of changes in accounting practices, it is not possible to provide figures for the entire period requested.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Navy training budget was in each year since 2010.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The below table highlights the Royal Navy’s budget for training between financial years (FY) 202018-19 and 2023-24. This includes Phase 1 (basic training) and Phase 2 (initial training) costs. In accordance with standard financial practice in all public and private organisations, it is not possible to provide figures for the entire period requested.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the RAF training budget was in each year since 2010.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The below table provides the Royal Air Force budget for training between financial years (FY)2018-19 and 2023-24. This includes Phase 1 (basic training) and Phase 2 (initial training) costs. It is not possible to provide figures for the entire period requested.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) number of and (b) requirement for medical service personnel was on 1 April 2024.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Whilst a statistical release of overall Armed Forces strength is published annually, strength and capability statistics for certain specialisations are not released.

Releasing the current strength and requirement of medical service personnel, or indeed other specialised professions, could be exploited by our adversaries to target, disrupt and degrade an important element of Armed Forces capability.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average waiting times for a first appointment following a routine referral to vascular services at (a) Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and (b) Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The mean average waiting time from referral to the first outpatient appointment for patients under vascular services at the Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is 78 days. For the Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, a breakdown of the data on vascular services is not currently held by the Department.

The Elective Reform Plan outlines our commitments on reforming outpatient care to reduce waiting times for first and subsequent appointments. These include improving the NHS App and the Manage Your Referral Website to give patients more control over their outpatient care, increasing Advice and Guidance to ensure that patient care takes place in the right setting, and reducing missed appointments and less clinically valuable follow ups. These reforms will help to free up clinicians’ time and reduce waiting times for those patients who most need care, including first appointments and clinically necessary follow ups. Outpatient transformation will help fulfil the Government’s commitment that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average waiting times in Accident and Emergency for each Acute Hospital Trust in the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB area.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Information on accident and emergency performance is published monthly by NHS England. The headline metric used is the four-hour accident and emergency waiting time standard. This data is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

Provisional data is published on median average waiting times in emergency departments by National Health Service provider. This data is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/provisional-accident-and-emergency-quality-indicators-for-england

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the bed occupancy rate is in each Acute Hospital Trust in the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB area.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Bed occupancy rates for each National Health Service trust are published monthly by NHS England. The latest data is for December 2024, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/bed-data-overnight/

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many chefs were in post in the Army in each year since 2010; and what the requirement was in each of those years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The number of chefs in post for the Army since 2010 are as follows:

*The figure for each year was extrapolated from the number in post on 01 April for each respective year

We do not routinely release the workforce requirement figures of Army regiments or specialist professions as doing so is likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) air and (b) ground stewards were in post in the RAF in each year since 2010; and what the requirement was in each of those years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The number of Logistics (Air Ground Stewards) in the Royal Air Force in each year since 2010 is as follows:

Data is unable to be broken down by Air Steward and Ground Steward specialisation.

I am withholding the information requested for the workforce requirement as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterinary officers were in post in the Army in each year since 2010; and what the requirement was in each of those years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The number of veterinary officers in post for the Army since 2010 are as follows.

*The figure for each year was extrapolated from the number in post on 01 April for each respective year

We do not routinely release the workforce requirement figures of Army regiments or specialist professions as doing so is likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many nurses were in post in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF in each year since 2010; and what the requirement was in each service in each of those years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I hope that my Rt Hon friend will understand that I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Whilst a statistical release of overall Armed Forces strength is published annually, strength and capability statistics for certain specialisations are not released.

Releasing the current strength and requirement of medical service personnel could be exploited by our adversaries to target, disrupt and degrade an important element of Armed Forces capability.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he decided not to release the workforce requirement figures of Army regiments for reasons of operational security.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

In 2022, with Departmental support, the Army adopted a position not to release the workforce requirement of its internal organisations following the announcement of the Integrated Review and Future Soldier transformation.

I am happy to speak to my hon. Friend about this further.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many agency nurses were employed in each acute hospital trust in the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board area in each year since 2019; and what proportion of all nurses they were.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information requested is not available.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many overseas army training exercises took place each year since 2010.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Army invests significantly in skills, education and training for its people to build the problem-solving attributes, teamwork, resilience, intellect and creativity needed to be successful now and in the future.

The Army maintains an active overseas training programme that delivers against robust training objectives and supports UK defence engagement efforts overseas, as well as demonstrating our clear commitment to our Allies and partners.

The information requested is not held centrally, but I have provided a broad estimate of approximate figures. An illustrative estimate of the number of overseas training exercises conducted as part of the Overseas Training Exercise (OTX) programme is provided below. Please be aware however that some exercises are not included (such as those for specialist units) in the figures provided and the table represents only a partial picture. Information required to answer the question in full is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

*Detailed information on training activity prior to 2020 is no longer held in accordance with MOD data retention policy, as a result this figure is strictly an estimate of annual activity

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS clinical staff were armed forces reservists in each year since 2010.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This information is not collected nationally. NHS Employers is working with National Health Service organisations to support them in being flexible and supportive employers, so that they can enable their staff to participate in the Armed Forces reserve, and train and deploy when required.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) budget for and (b) amount spent on Defence medical services was in each year since 2015.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The table below presents the budget and amount spent by Defence Medical Services in each year since 2016. Figures prior to 2016 are not held in the format requested:

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many medical rank reservists there were in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF in each year since 2015.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Whilst a statistical release of overall Armed Forces strength is published annually, strength and capability statistics for certain specialisations are not released.

Releasing the current strength and requirement of medical service personnel could be exploited by our adversaries to target, disrupt and degrade an important element of Armed Forces capability.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of officer cadets entering Sandhurst since 2015 attended a (a) state and (b) private school.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The table below shows the proportion of officer cadets entering Sandhurst in the last 10 years who attended independent and state schools.

This data has been provided from a Single Service source rather than official statistics produced by Defence Statistics as the latter do not collate this information.

Note:

Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number for presentational purposes.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many working dogs the Army had in each year since 2010; and what the requirement was in each of those years.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As at 23 January 2025, there were 113 trained Military Working Dogs (MWD) in the British Army.

Determining whether an annual breakdown of MWD in the Army could be provided for each year since 2010 could only be achieved at a disproportionate cost due to information being held in different formats.

We would not routinely release the requirement for Military Working Animals due to reasons of operational security.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 24413 on Cardiovascular System: Health Services, for what reason his Department does not hold a breakdown of the data on vascular services for Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no patients coded as waiting on the Referral to Treatment waiting list at the Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for Vascular Surgery Service. This may be because the vascular service is being coded under a different treatment function, such as under general surgery service which would likely contain data for other services, as well as vascular. As such, the Department does not hold centrally any further breakdown of the data for the waiting time for a first appointment with vascular services at this trust.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which Departments were involved in discussions with Astra-Zeneca on the expansion of the vaccine production plant at Speke Merseyside.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

A cross-Government approach is taken to support the UK’s Life Sciences sector. This was the case for Government’s work to explore AstraZeneca’s potential investment in Speke, which involved No10, HM Treasury, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Business and Trade.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the required domestic capacity for vaccine production in the event of a pandemic.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

As we saw in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that the United Kingdom’s population has ready access to pandemic vaccines as soon as they are available is critical to our ability to respond to and recover from any future pandemic. Whilst it is not possible to predict the cause of a pandemic in advance, the Government is investing in a range of capabilities to support the development and manufacture of pandemic vaccines when needed. These capabilities include:

¾ an advance purchase agreement with CSL Seqirus, which guarantees the UK’s population access to over 100 million doses of a pandemic influenza vaccine, entirely manufactured in the UK; and

¾ a partnership with Moderna, which aims to bring mRNA vaccine production capability to the UK and build resilience in the event of a new health emergency by investing in mRNA research and development.

In addition to these specific contractual arrangements, the Government is committed to making the UK one of the best places in the world to develop and manufacture new and innovative medicines, including vaccines. This is underpinned by broader support for the life sciences sector, including through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, which is a capital grant fund of up to £520 million over five years, from 2025 to 2030, to support UK health resilience and help ensure a robust response to potential future health emergencies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many vaccine doses have been purchased for this year’s Flu campaign; and where they were sourced from.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

Information on the number of doses procured by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is commercially sensitive.

The UKHSA secures sufficient volumes of flu vaccines for the children’s flu programme, to ensure that eligible children aged less than 18 years old who present for vaccination can be offered an appropriate vaccine. General practitioners and community pharmacists are directly responsible for ordering flu vaccines from suppliers, which are used to deliver the national flu programme to all other eligible groups.

Found: Q12 Derek Twigg: Can I cover one thing briefly?

Found: Martin MP Edward Morello MP Lord Robathan Lord Sarfraz Andy Slaughter MP Viscount Stansgate Derek Twigg

Found: Bailey; Alex Baker; Lincoln Jopp; Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck; Ian Roome; Michelle Scrogham; Fred Thomas; Derek Twigg

Found: Jopp; Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck; Mike Martin; Jesse Norman; Ian Roome; Michelle Scrogham; Fred Thomas; Derek Twigg

Found: Jopp; Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck; Mike Martin; Jesse Norman; Ian Roome; Michelle Scrogham; Fred Thomas; Derek Twigg

Submit Evidence (by 6 Mar 2025)

Undersea cables form the backbone of the world’s internet. The UK has around 60 cables which connect us to the outside world, carrying 99% of our data. Concern has been growing about the risk of these cables being sabotaged by foreign states. The consequences would be extensive. This inquiry will examine the UK’s ability to defend our undersea infrastructure, alongside the UK’s national resilience in the event of a major, protracted disruption to our internet connection.