Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Armed Forces onsite Single Living Accommodation was last upgraded across the Defence Estate.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) undertakes repairs and maintenance to its Single Living Accommodation (SLA) across the MOD estate as and when required.
The Single Living Accommodation Model (SLAM) modernisation project, invested £1.2 Billion in SLA in the UK, in improving or creating more than 22,000 bedspaces, over a period of 12 years, completing in 2015.
MOD remains committed to improving the 'Lived Experience' of Service personnel accommodated in SLA and have plans to invest approximately
£1.5 Billion on upgrades and new-build SLA between 2020 - 2030.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the refresh of the National Shipbuilding Strategy is planned to include a commitment that Government-funded vessels will be built in the UK through a competitive process.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Defence and Security Industrial Strategy set out the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) policy that the procurement approach for each class of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel will henceforth be decided on a case-by-case basis. As well as considering the specific capability requirements, we will consider the long-term industrial impact of different options, including delivering value for money for our overall programme and maintaining the key industrial capabilities required for operational independence. Overall, we consider that a regular drumbeat of design and manufacturing work is needed to maintain the industrial capabilities critical for our national security and to drive efficiencies which will reduce longer-term costs in the shipbuilding portfolio.
Other Government-funded shipbuilding programmes will be run in accordance with our international treaty obligations and the UK's procurement regulations. The Government is also taking steps to continue the roll out of a minimum of 10 per cent social value weighting to defence procurement.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many female service personnel had an abortion whilst serving between 2000 and 2020; and how many were subsequently discharged from service after the termination.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2020, 1,275 Armed Forces personnel had a read code in their electronic medical record for a termination of pregnancy. Like for like data prior to 1 January 2010 is not held, as this preceded the roll-out of the Defence Medical Information Capability Programme, the source of electronic, integrated healthcare records of Armed Forces personnel.
Of the 1,275 personnel, 486 are no longer serving as at 1 January 2021. It is not possible to determine an association between their termination of pregnancy and subsequent discharge from service. However, between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2020 there were no medical discharges officially recorded with a principal or contributory cause of termination of pregnancy.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the new independent body proposed in the Armed Forces Bill will allow people and external organisations to review historical decisions made by the Military Police or Army Legal Services where the survivor thought the investigation into an alleged rape and/or sexual abuse case was unsatisfactory and unjust.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Armed Forces Bill will create a new regime for complaints against the Service Police. The proposal seeks to create a new statutory police complaints regime that mirrors the framework in place for independent oversight of the civilian police forces in England and Wales.
The Service Police Complaints Commissioner (SPCC) will oversee the new regime and will have an equivalent role to that carried out by the Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct in England and Wales. The Commissioner will carry out investigations into the most serious allegations against the Service Police and will also have overall responsibility for securing the maintenance of suitable arrangements for making complaints and dealing with other serious matters.
The new procedures will only relate to the Service Police forces. We are giving careful consideration to how the procedures will work in practice and how the new regime might apply to historic cases. These procedures will be detailed in a set of regulations that will undergo Parliamentary scrutiny before they are formalised.
The new regime will set out the role of the SPCC, as well as those already responsible for the three Service Police forces as well as the forces themselves. It will not give other people or organisations a role in the new complaints system.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) will be involved in super-complaints about the Service Police, as super-complaints about civilian forces in England and Wales are made to HMICFRS. Organisations who might be designated to make such a complaint will be detailed in the super-complaints regulations that will be made in due course.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there any ongoing investigations regarding maltreatment of recruits at any of the army training centres that host under-18s.
Answered by James Heappey
The recruitment of under 18 year olds by the Army meets all legal obligations. Both recruits and instructors are empowered to raise concerns where the maltreatment of an individual is suspected. There are a number of routes of investigations that can be undertaken, these usually interlink and can be captured multiple times when incidents involve more than one individual.
The table below provides the total number of ongoing investigations at Army Training Centres that host under 18’s, but does not show the number of investigations involving under 18’s rather the whole establishment irrespective of the age of those involved.
Type of Investigation | Number |
RMP Investigation | 20 |
Service Complaint | - |
Discipline/Admin Action Service Requests | 80 |
Notes/Caveats
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many COBRA meetings regarding the Covid-19 pandemic he attended.
Answered by Ben Wallace
It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruits were discharged as (a) voluntary and (b) non-voluntary outflow during the first 6 weeks of their training at the Army Foundation College in 2019.
Answered by James Heappey
Regular Army Foundation College (Harrogate) Recruits Outflow During First six Weeks of Training from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 by Exit Reason.
Exit Reason | 2019 |
Total | 150 |
Non-Voluntary | 40 |
Voluntary | 70 |
Not Required for further Army Service.* | 30 |
Reason not Recorded | 10 |
Notes/Caveats
*Not Required for further Army Service - Queens Regulations code 9.411 apply.
1. Figures are for AFC (Harrogate) Trainees only.
2. Information is as recorded by the Army Administration Systems.
3. Exit reasons have been supplied by Army Recruitment Initial Training Command (ARITC). Exit reasons are based on the Queens Regulation paragraphs under which they have been discharged.
4. Figures have been rounded to 10 for presentational purposes; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
5. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts.
6. Recruits under the age of 18 may change their minds about joining the army after applying and are free to do so. (Recruits must serve 28 days before they are able to exercise this right).
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 Nov 2020 to Question 109376 on Army: Young People, what the outcomes were of the 60 cases of violent behaviour by staff.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
It will take some time to gather the information required to answer the hon. Member's question and I will write to her shortly.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the data recorded in the Joint Personnel Administration system, how many complaints have been made by Junior Soldiers or their parents or guardians about (a) violent behaviour by staff and (b) inappropriate relationships between Junior Soldiers and staff since 1 January 2014.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Any reports of such behaviour are taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly. Anyone found to be not upholding the high standards that we expect of our personnel will be dealt with accordingly.
Year Incident(s) Reported | Number of cases: a) violent behaviour by staff | Number of cases: b) inappropriate relationships between Junior Soldiers and staff |
01 January 2014 – 31 October 2020 | 60 | 0 |
Notes/Caveats
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
What assessment he has made of the effect on the delivery of integrated operations in support of the UK’s continuous at-sea deterrent of the move from a single source supplier at HM Naval Base Clyde to multiple contractors.
Answered by Ben Wallace
As the Future Maritime Support Programme is currently under commercial tender and negotiation, the number of future providers is yet to be finalised. My Department always looks to secure improvements in performance where possible, maximising efficiencies and incentivising delivery to time and cost.
The transition of support services at HM Naval Base Clyde from the existing Maritime Support Delivery Framework will be carefully managed in order to avoid any adverse effect on operations.