Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take with his European counterparts to help develop defence projects.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
European security is this Government’s foreign and defence priority. We will strengthen relationships with key European Allies through bilateral defence agreements, such as our recent Trinity House Agreement with Germany, and an ambitious UK-EU security pact which will bolster Euro-Atlantic security and complement our commitment to NATO.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment the potential impact on British Army personnel of possible exposure to dangerous levels of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between 1953 and 1987.
Answered by Sarah Atherton
An initial check of Army historical records has given no indication that Army personnel routinely trained at Camp Lejeune.
If any UK Armed Forces veteran believes there is evidence that they were affected by this issue they can apply for War Pension Scheme Compensation via the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Command Paper, Defence in a competitive age, published in March 2021, whether it remains his policy to reduce the armed forces to 72,500 by 2025.
Answered by James Heappey
There are currently no plans to reverse the decision to reduce the number of regular Army personnel to 73,000 by 2025.
The Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper made clear that we must focus on Defence capability rather than troop numbers in response to changing threats and priorities. The British Army will be more integrated and active, with a whole force of over 100,000 regulars and reservists, to address the current and future threats from across the globe.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he expects day-to-day departmental spending to fall in real terms by the end of the 2022-23 Parliament.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Department received a revised settlement of RDEL following the Spending Review 21 last autumn, which noted the cost pressures on the Department as a result of changes in the economic forecast.
The department has measures in place to limit the impacts including the forward purchase of foreign exchange, firm price contracts and purchase of long-lead items. The potential effects of the current levels of inflation on our pay and programmes remain under continuous review.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions a call out relating to a fault in armed forces accommodation resulted in a wait of more than one month for the repair to be completed in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
We are reviewing information sources. I will write to the hon. Gentleman in due course and place a copy of my response in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the potential cost savings of reducing the armed forces by up to 10,000 personnel by 2025.
Answered by James Heappey
Whilst the Regular Army reorganises to its new structure of 73,000, naturally this will result in workforce cost savings. The reduction of the Army to 73,000 by 2025 has been estimated to present £3.9 billion in savings over the 10 years following the financial year 2021-22.
The Department is delivering record investment in the Army, providing £41.3 billion in support of existing platforms and new equipment.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the EU's Action Plan on Military Mobility.
Answered by James Heappey
As a non-EU country, the UK is not subject to the EU’s Action Plan on Military Mobility but works closely with European partners on military mobility issues through NATO and the Northern Group. Moving military personnel and assets across Europe quickly and efficiently remains important, and the UK supports broader efforts that are coherent with NATO’s and the Northern Group’s.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the deployable strength of the Army (a) as of 12 May 2022 and (b) in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Heappey
Not all members of the Army are employed in deployable posts – those in staff roles or in training establishments, for example, would be included in the headline strength of the Army but would not be counted as deployable. Similarly, Reservists would not be included in the headline strength of the Army but many will be deployable if mobilised.
The “deployable” strength of the Army is perhaps best captured by the strength of the Field Army, which is summarised as follows:
Date | Deployable strength within FD Army |
May 2022 | 45,178 |
May 2021 | 46,480 |
May 2020 | 42,291 |
May 2019 | 42,739 |
May 2018 | 42,391 |
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average period of time taken was to make repairs to an armed forces accommodation property after a call out in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The longest, shortest and average period of time taken to make repairs to a Service Family Accommodation between November 2021 and March 2022 are shown below:
Longest 234 days (in respect to repairing a damaged fence)
Shortest 21 minutes
Average 15.9 days
The Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) Accommodation contracts came into effect on 1 April 2022. In developing the new FDIS Accommodation contracts DIO collaborated closely with key stakeholders, including the Single Services and the Families Federations, to ensure that Service families’ needs are fully considered and an improved ‘lived experience’ is provided.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armoured vehicles of each type are (a) in the service with the Army and (b) fit for purpose as of 12 May 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 7 March 2022 to Question 132161 to the Rt hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (Mr Healey).