Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's budget is for armed forces (a) uniforms and (b) protective clothing in the 2024-25 financial year; and what the value is of orders placed with companies in Northern Ireland to provide (i) uniforms and (ii) protective equipment for the armed forces in the same period.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Logistics Commodities and Services Transformation (LCST) budget for all Clothing Raw Materials and Consumables purchases in the 2024-25 financial year (FY) is £79.839 million.
The value of orders placed with companies based in Northern Ireland for FY 2024-25 to date totals £16,441,905. We are forecast to spend an additional £11,755,371 for the remainder of the FY2024-25.
It has not been possible to identify which items are classed as uniform or which are protective clothing within the timeframe permitted.
Notes:
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the application process for Veteran's ID cards for those who left the armed forces prior to 2018 will be introduced.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 October 2022 to Question 68602 to the hon. Member for Warrington North (Charlotte Nichols).
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish an update on the outcome of the Rented Living Accommodation Project tender.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As the Rented Living Accommodation Project Tender is still an ongoing procurement, we are unable to provide any detail on the possible outcomes or next steps as to do so would prejudice our commercial position.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made of the award of the tender for the Queen Elizabeth Class dry dock contract.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence is currently conducting a commercial competition for Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier dry-docking periods, with work ongoing to identify a preferred bidder. This process is expected to conclude in early 2022, with the first dry-docking period planned for 2023.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department is making on the awarding of the contract for the Fleet Solid Support ships.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Warley (John Spellar), on 16 April 2021, in response to Question number 174726.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on (a) items of clothing, (b) uniform and (c) personal protective clothing in each year since 2015.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence has a number of contracts for clothing, uniforms and personal protective clothing with a number of suppliers, but also procures items through local procurement arrangements. Details of the spend on items of clothing, uniform and personal protective clothing in each year since 2015 are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the drop-out rates were for applicants to the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by James Heappey
Responses from the single Services are as follows:
Naval Service
Application Year | Applications | % Withdrawn | % Rejected | % Entered Service | % of applications still Active |
2019-20 | 28,420 | 50.3% | 29.2% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
Army
Recruiting Year 2019-20
Stream | Total Applications | Total Withdrawn | Withdrawn – Non Productive Enquiry | Withdrawn - Other | Basic Training Started |
Regular Officer | 10,113 | 6,051 | 3,673 | 2,378 | 701 |
Regular Other Rank | 89,114 | 53,320 | 38,419 | 14,901 | 8,905 |
Royal Air Force
Recruiting Year 2019-20
|
Note:
The figures include applications processed via the Defence Recruiting System and all completed applications prior to initial eligibility vetting but do not include in-progress applications. Candidates who have been rejected or withdrawn their applications can reapply.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken was to process applications to join the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force Reserves in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by James Heappey
Responses from the single Services are as follows:
Naval Service
At the end of Recruiting Year 2019-20, applicants to join the Regular Naval Service took a median of 244 days from the point of application to being offered a start date for basic training. For the Maritime Reserve, the median was 256 days.
Army
At the end of Recruiting Year 2019-20, applicants to join the Regular Army took a median of 176 days from the point of application to being offered a start date for basic training. The average for Army Reserves is not measured.
Royal Air Force (RAF)
Recruiting Year 2019-20 (Regulars) | |||||||
Career Type | Average Days between Application submission to Entrant | ||||||
Regular Officer | 469 | ||||||
Regular Other Rank | 315 | ||||||
Regular Senior Non-Commissioned Officers | 425 | ||||||
| |||||||
Recruiting Year 2019-20 (Reserves)
The average time taken to process applications to join the Royal Air Force Reserves, in the last recruiting year 2019-20, is shown in the following table:
| Average Days between Application submission to Entrant |
RAF Reserves Officer | 618 |
RAF Reserves Other Ranks | 437 |
Notes:
Data for Officers and Other Ranks is shown separately as the length of time in the RAF recruitment process differs for Officers and Other Ranks. The Officer data includes sponsorship candidates who can stay in the system for 2-4 years.
The data provided for the RAF spans the time a candidate fully completes their application form to the point that they commence phase one training (rather than the point at which they are offered a start date for basic training). Individuals are not recorded as entrants to the RAF until they have commenced their phase one training and have attested into the RAF. Figures include all application scheme types, except for reactivated applications.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken was to process applications to join the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by James Heappey
Responses from the single Services are as follows:
Naval Service
At the end of Recruiting Year 2019-20, applicants to join the Regular Naval Service took a median of 244 days from the point of application to being offered a start date for basic training. For the Maritime Reserve, the median was 256 days.
Army
At the end of Recruiting Year 2019-20, applicants to join the Regular Army took a median of 176 days from the point of application to being offered a start date for basic training. The average for Army Reserves is not measured.
Royal Air Force (RAF)
Recruiting Year 2019-20 (Regulars) | |||||||
Career Type | Average Days between Application submission to Entrant | ||||||
Regular Officer | 469 | ||||||
Regular Other Rank | 315 | ||||||
Regular Senior Non-Commissioned Officers | 425 | ||||||
| |||||||
Recruiting Year 2019-20 (Reserves)
The average time taken to process applications to join the Royal Air Force Reserves, in the last recruiting year 2019-20, is shown in the following table:
| Average Days between Application submission to Entrant |
RAF Reserves Officer | 618 |
RAF Reserves Other Ranks | 437 |
Notes:
Data for Officers and Other Ranks is shown separately as the length of time in the RAF recruitment process differs for Officers and Other Ranks. The Officer data includes sponsorship candidates who can stay in the system for 2-4 years.
The data provided for the RAF spans the time a candidate fully completes their application form to the point that they commence phase one training (rather than the point at which they are offered a start date for basic training). Individuals are not recorded as entrants to the RAF until they have commenced their phase one training and have attested into the RAF. Figures include all application scheme types, except for reactivated applications.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2020 to Question 38930, how many Military Aid to Civil Authority (MACA) requests were (a) made of and (b) approved by his Department from Northern Ireland up to 12 January 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
Between 27 April 2020 and 12 January 2021, 10 MACA requests related to Northern Ireland were received by Defence, all of which were approved. Of these 10, seven are related to COVID-19 support.