Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many merchant seafarers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary took voluntary redundancy in each year from 2008-09 to 2015-16.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
None.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's future requirement for (a) officer cadets and (b) ratings.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Under current planning assumptions the Royal Fleet Auxiliary expects to recruit the following number of Officer Cadets and Apprentice Ratings in each of the next five years:
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
Cadet | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
Apprentice | 128 | 128 | 117 | 117 | 93 |
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average cost is to the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary of training (i) an officer cadet and (ii) a rating.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many merchant seafarers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have retired in each year since 2008-09.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
There is no retirement age for Royal Fleet Auxiliary employees. I can provide the following numbers of those personnel who were aged 60 or Over on final date of service:
2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
20 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 35 | 30 |
All totals are rounded in accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his Ministerial colleagues on the potential effect of the recommendations of the Maritime Growth Study, published in September 2015, on the future supply of UK-domiciled merchant seafarers to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) recruits and trains UK Merchant Seafarers for service with the RFA. The RFA as one of the largest trainers of UK seafarers is fully engaged with the UK Chamber of Shipping and Merchant Navy Training Board in shaping the current and future training requirements of seafarers. The RFA as part of the wider Naval Service is represented at the Ministerial Working Groups for the Maritime Growth Study by the Royal Navy.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many merchant seafarers were employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in each year from 2008-09 to 2015-16.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The number of Royal Fleet Auxiliary employees on 1 Apr for each year 2008-09 to 2015-16 are as follows:
2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
2,245 | 2,275 | 2,300 | 2,330 | 1,975 | 1,890 | 1,810 | 1,895 |
All totals are rounded in accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) apprentice ratings and (b) officer cadets the Royal Fleet Auxiliary has trained in each year since 2009-10.
Answered by Julian Brazier
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) started an Apprentice scheme with Ratings in 2015 and so far 50 apprentices have started training.
The numbers of Officer Cadets the RFA has trained in each year since 2009-10 are as follows:
2009-10 | 25 |
2010-11 | 25 |
2011-12 | 25 |
2012-13 | 25 |
2013-14 | 25 |
2014-15 | 25 |
2015-16 | 30 (to date) |
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 1.17 of the UK National Strategy for Maritime Security, published in May 2014, how many policy decisions in relation to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have been taken to date by the ministerial working group on maritime security.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Ministerial Working Group has not made any policy decisions on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). The role of the RFA in providing logistic support to the Royal Navy (RN) is implicit within the support that the RN provides in delivering the National Strategy for Maritime Security.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to update the National Maritime Security Strategy to 2019 to include the Government's policy on the role of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The National Strategy for Maritime Security was published in May 2014 and remains relevant to today's challenges in the maritime domain. However, as we implement the outcomes of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we will consider whether the strategy should be reviewed.