Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of the commercial service to bridge the availability gap for rotary capability in (a) Brunei and (b) Cyprus.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence signed a £122 million contract in 2024 to purchase six H-145 aircraft. These aircraft will replace the aging Puma aircraft to fulfil key capabilities in Cyprus and Brunei. A range of options are being explored to fill the capability gaps in the interim period before the arrival of H-145.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the cost of building (a) the Western link and (b) all current and future stages of the Eastern Link if that route was primarily overland via pylons instead of offshore cabling.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem reviews proposed project costs and ensures that network companies spend efficiently. Electricity network reinforcements are only approved where they are in the interests of consumers and help reduce system costs.
Ofgem identified a net lifetime benefit for Western Link, due to lower project and constraint costs compared to alternatives. [1] The system operator set out the project need case in 2007.
Ofgem’s analysis [2]of Eastern Green Link 1 and 2, noted that onshore reinforcements would not achieve required delivery dates resulting in increased constraint costs.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7495 on Global Combat Air Programme, whether the Strategic Defence Review will consider whether the core programme will be piloted.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Strategic Defence Review will guide future capability development priorities, to ensure the United Kingdom is secure at home and strong abroad - now and for the years to come.
The Global Combat Air Programme core aircraft is being designed to be crewed when it comes into service, but the programme sustains an important technological and industrial pathway to developing advanced uncrewed capabilities, allowing the programme to maximise the benefits of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence in a crewed aircraft as well as to explore options for uncrewed capability augmentation in the future.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) causes and (b) consequences of the recent road traffic incident in Estonia involving British armed forces personnel.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The safety and welfare of our personnel is of the utmost importance. An Estonian investigation is underway and it would be inappropriate to comment whilst inquiries are ongoing. In addition, as with all incidents of this nature, an internal review is being conducted in-theatre about further preventative measures to ensure the safety of our deployed personnel.
My thoughts are with all those affected, and I wish those injured a full, swift recovery.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason his Department has removed the Chief of the Defence Staff from the Department’s Finance and Economics pre-release access lists, other than the Departmental resources and Statistical Bulletin-MOD Regional Expenditure with UK Industry and Supported Employment releases.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Pre-release access for Official Statistics are restricted to eligible personnel and regularly reviewed. This is in line with our responsibility under the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order (2008) and the Code of Practice for Statistics. In line with the order, these lists must be:
The MOD Regional Expenditure with UK Industry and Supported Employment (last released 3rd August 2023) has now been rearranged into two statistical releases:
In the routine review of access for these statistics the Chief of Defence Staff was omitted from the new pre-release access lists and has been re-added.
The Chief of the Defence Staff has full access to comprehensive data on MOD programmes and finances, including that which is not published as part of statistical releases.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has revoked the Chief of Defence staff’s pre-release access to his Department’s Departmental resources and statistical bulletin-M.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Pre-release access for Official Statistics are restricted to eligible personnel and regularly reviewed. This is in line with our responsibility under the Pre-release Access to Official Statistics Order (2008) and the Code of Practice for Statistics. In line with the order, these lists must be:
The MOD Regional Expenditure with UK Industry and Supported Employment (last released 3rd August 2023) has now been rearranged into two statistical releases:
In the routine review of access for these statistics the Chief of Defence Staff was omitted from the new pre-release access lists and has been re-added.
The Chief of the Defence Staff has full access to comprehensive data on MOD programmes and finances, including that which is not published as part of statistical releases.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his decision to retire HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion on the operational capability of the Royal Marines.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The retirement of HMS Albion and Bulwark will not impact the operational programme of the Royal Marines, who continue to deploy globally.
Both are currently held at lower readiness having not been to sea since 2023 and 2017 respectively. On current planning, neither was due to go to sea again before their planned out of service dates of 2033 and 2034.
The Royal Marines are supported by the three Bay Class Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary)s and RFA ARGUS, which also provides aviation support and acts as a hospital ship. These ships will continue to support amphibious capability until they are succeeded by planned Multi Role Support Ships.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of repairing the structural damage to HMS Devonshire.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There is no ship of the name HMS Devonshire currently in service with the Royal Navy.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review Public Works Loan Board rates offered to councils.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The PWLB lending facility exists to provide cost effective loans to local authorities to support investments and service delivery. HMT keeps all PWLB rates under review, including the discounted rate for investment in social housing which we extended in Autumn Budget to the end of 2025-26 to give LAs certainty with their capital plans for the year ahead.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the cost of running the UK-US military base in Diego Garcia was covered by the United States in financial year 2023-24.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
It is not possible to determine relative proportions of the running cost of the base in Diego Garcia. The United States is responsible for any costs it incurs, while the UK remains responsible for the cost of the UK element of the base only.