Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on providing live flight experiences to all members of the RAF Air Cadets.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing live flying opportunities to Royal Air Force Air Cadets and Combined Cadet Force (Royal Air Force) cadets and aims to provide each cadet with one 20-minute flight per year, subject to them meeting the necessary medical requirements.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the RAF Air Cadets are trained through Air Experience Flights each year.
Answered by James Heappey
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Data on the number of individuals undertaking flights is not held centrally, however, the number of flying hours flown by cadets is recorded and can be found in the table below:
Financial Year | Hours flown |
2014-15 | 10,144 |
2015-16 | 10,649 |
2016-17 | 10,268 |
2017-18 | 9,102 |
2018-19 | 9,360 |
Up to three cadets can complete a flight during one hour, depending on several factors that may include but are not limited to, an individual’s fitness to fly and weather conditions.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the gender ratio is of Air Cadets who receive an Air Experience Flight; and what that ratio was at the start of the current Air Experience Flight contract.
Answered by James Heappey
Royal Air Force Air Cadets does not collate information regarding the gender of cadets who participate in Air Experience Flights.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if she will publish the terms of the review of the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association undertaken by Mr Rob Sullivan.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The agreed Terms of Reference for the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association Review is attached. This document covers the planned timeframe for publication of the review, which is expected by the end of November 2019.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timeframe is for the publication of the review on Reserve Forces and Cadets Association.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The agreed Terms of Reference for the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association Review is attached. This document covers the planned timeframe for publication of the review, which is expected by the end of November 2019.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions she has had with the Chairman of the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association on the contribution that associations make to the defence of the realm; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
As part of the review into the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations (RFCAs) is currently under way, Ministry of Defence officials are in regular conversation with the Chairman of the Council of RFCAs and key staff at all thirteen RFCAs across the country. The review is looking into the functions carried out by the RFCAs and their contribution to Defence outputs, their efficiency and efficacy of delivery and corporate governance, and potential new tasks the RFCAs may be best placed to deliver on behalf of Defence.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the volume of UK citizens’ data held by companies (a) supplying cloud services to his Department and (b) contracted to deliver cloud services on behalf of his Department that is subject to information requests from US Government bodies.
Answered by Guto Bebb
It will take some time to gather the information required to answer the hon. Member's question. I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of his Department’s cloud-hosting contracts have been awarded to (a) hyperscale cloud providers and (b) UK SMEs; and what the value was of those contracts in each of the last three years.
Answered by Guto Bebb
It will take some time to gather the information required to answer the hon. Member's question. I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what security measures his Department has in place relating to the receipt by his Department of incoming post and parcels; and what discussions he has had with the British Forces Postal Office on providing such services.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
All mail received by the British Forces Postal Office (BFPO) is screened for potential security threats. These security measures are reviewed annually.
The BFPO screens mail to international security standards assured by the Civil Aviation Authority.
No discussions between Ministers and BFPO about security measures have taken place.
Asked by: James Gray (Conservative - North Wiltshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the protection of ship wrecks and the remains of their personnel or passengers within or near the area subject to Marine Aggregate Dredging Application MLA/2016/00227, South Goodwin Sands, Area 521.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The matters associated with Goodwin Sands are currently under consideration and I will write to the hon. Member shortly.