Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Naval asset visits there have been to Northern Ireland ports in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There were 11 visits to Northern Ireland ports by Naval Ships in 2018 and five visits in 2019.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291280 on Bomb disposal: Northern Ireland, on how many occasions Army bomb disposal units were called out in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2016 and 1 July 2016.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Incidents requiring explosive ordnance disposal experts in Northern Ireland are dealt with solely by military personnel. Army explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel were called out in Northern Ireland 112 times between 1 January 2016 and 30 June 2016.
The information requested is published annually in the Report of the Independent Reviewer of the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 at the link below:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/599114/9th_Annual_Report_of_Independent_Review_of_Justice___Security.PDF
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions Army bomb disposal units were called out in Northern Ireland between 1 January 2019 and 1 July 2019.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Data for the period 1 January 2019 to 1 July 2019 can be found below:
Month | Total Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) Tasks | Total Conventional Munition Disposal (CMD)Tasks |
January | 21 | 3 |
February | 19 | 3 |
March | 17 | 4 |
April | 31 | 5 |
May | 16 | 6 |
June | 24 | 7 |
Total | 128 | 28 |
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Armed Forces Covenant Reference Group will meet in Northern Ireland this year.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Cabinet Office are responsible for arranging the meetings of the Covenant Reference Group (CRG). The Ministry of Defence is unaware of any plans to hold a CRG meeting in Northern Ireland this year.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many instances of alleged bullying have been made in Northern Ireland (a) in Army Cadet Force units and (b) where the complainant at the time of the complaint held the rank of Lieutenant or above in each of the last three years.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Allegations of this type are recorded under the category of bullying and harassment. On average, 10 allegations of bullying and harassment have been made within each of the three previous financial years by members of the Army Cadet Force units in Northern Ireland, although this should not be taken to assume there were 10 in each year; the numbers vary. This will include cadets and all Cadet Force Adult Volunteers (officers, adult instructors and non-uniformed volunteers). To provide the number of allegations made by those holding the rank of Lieutenant and above would be disclosive given the very small number involved.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, On how many occasions Army Bomb Disposal teams were called out in Northern Ireland between (a) 1 January 2014 and 1 July 2016 and (b) 1 July 2016 and 1 January 2019 as a result of (i) viable devices and (ii) hoax devices.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
For the information on Army bomb disposal activity in Northern Ireland for January 2014 to July 2018, I refer the hon. Member to my response of
23 November 2018 to his Question 193391.
Data for the period of 1 August 2018 to 1 January 2019 can be found below:
1 July 2018 – 1 January 2019
LOCATION | TASKS* | IED DECLARATION | HOAX DECLARATION |
Northern Ireland** | 77 | 10 | 9 |
* ‘Tasks’ refers to IED callouts (any task that may subsequently be classified by declaration as a Find, False, Hoax, IED, Explosion or Search Assist), as opposed to all callouts for all incidents, including Conventional Munitions Disposal callouts. These categories reflect the definitions of the Report of the Independent Reviewer Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007.
** All incidents requiring explosive ordnance disposal experts in Northern Ireland are dealt with solely by military personnel.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government plans to contribute any funding from the public purse to the EU Cooperative Financial Mechanism before 29 March 2019.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
No.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to support Regional Armed Forces' Day events in Northern Ireland in June 2019.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Armed Forces Day events provide opportunities for the nation to show their support for our Armed Forces. These events are community-led and can come in many different forms, from the national event through to events organised by councils, ex-Service organisations, community groups and schools. These events can be followed on Twitter using #SaluteOurForces.
The Ministry of Defence not only supports the National Event, which will be held next year in Salisbury on Saturday 29 June 2019, but also events throughout the United Kingdom. We invite local authorities and community organisations to consider hosting an event and to apply for funding from the Ministry of Defence on the dedicated Armed Forces Day website.
To date, no events in Northern Ireland have been registered. Based on the very many successful events of previous years, we anticipate that the Ministry of Defence will be supporting approximately 300 events.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK defence forces will participate in EU Battlegroups in 2019-20.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Subject to a deal on the EU Withdrawal Agreement, the UK will be able to continue to participate in certain EU missions and operations on a case-by-case basis, where it is in our mutual interest to do so, during the transition period. There are no plans to commit forces to the EU Battlegroup during this period.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK will continue to participate in the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The UK supports the EU's Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and has participated in the pilot stage. The CARD currently does not directly provide for Third Country involvement. However, the recent Political Declaration on the Future Relationship between the UK and the EU sets out our shared vision of close and lasting cooperation on external action, including cooperation on defence capabilities development.