Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 30 November 2025, 1,020 civil servants are on fixed term contracts, amounting to two percent of Ministry of Defence civil servants. Consultants are not classed as civil servants.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will widen his internal review of material relating to nuclear test veterans to include information from the Defence and Science Technology Laboratory.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government has reset the relationship with nuclear test veterans and the organisations that support them. We remain committed to listening to their concerns and working collaboratively to address them. The Ministry of Defence is looking at what information the Department holds regarding nuclear test veterans' medical records, and the scope of that exercise was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement on 30 June 2025. There are no plans to alter that scope and we will update the House when we are in a position to share findings.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish all document titles from the Merlin database that have been declassified by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
All document titles from the Merlin database that have been declassified will be published. Over 4,700 records from the Merlin database are currently listed and accessible on The National Archives (TNA) website. Records are being regularly transferred from AWE to TNA who will make them available at the earliest opportunity.
Guidance on accessing these records can be found at: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/records-of-veterans-of-nuclear-testing-the-contents-of-the-merlin-database/
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any new veteran support centres will be located in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Applications are currently open for organisations to bid to become VALOUR recognised centres. The exact locations of centres will be dependent on the applications received, with consideration given to the geographic spread of centres. The programme guidance for applicants encourages them to consider how their bid will deliver more equity of access and consistency in service quality throughout the UK.
VALOUR recognised centres will facilitate in-person access to multiple services for veterans right across the UK. These centres will be required to meet high standards and provide timely data to the UK government regarding the needs and experiences of veterans to inform future service improvements.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where companies his Department has signed contracts with in relation to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy are based by local authority.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The total cost of the Afghan Response Programme (ARP) to the end of financial year 2024-25 is approximately £2.7 billion. The costs are shared cross-Government. This figure includes spend on contracts that were already acquired by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) which were then utilised for ARP as well as contracts directly acquired for the specific requirements of ARP. Due to the nature of how these schemes operate, it is not possible to provide a breakdown per scheme.
I am withholding details regarding the location of such companies that the MOD has contracts with as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse is of contracts his Department has signed with companies in relation to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The total cost of the Afghan Response Programme (ARP) to the end of financial year 2024-25 is approximately £2.7 billion. The costs are shared cross-Government. This figure includes spend on contracts that were already acquired by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) which were then utilised for ARP as well as contracts directly acquired for the specific requirements of ARP. Due to the nature of how these schemes operate, it is not possible to provide a breakdown per scheme.
I am withholding details regarding the location of such companies that the MOD has contracts with as its disclosure would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the companies his Department has contracts with under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am withholding the list of companies that the Ministry of Defence has contracts with under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) as its disclosure would prejudice the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence; and the information is operationally sensitive in nature.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the titles of all the events organised by Civil Service networks in his Department since 2023.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold a list of all the titles of events organised by Defence Networks and there is no centrally held record of MOD’s internal network events.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to compensate British servicemen who took part in sampling missions through Soviet mushroom clouds in 1961 and 1962.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Government has no current plans to develop a specific compensation scheme for Nuclear Test Veterans or their families, including those who took part in sampling missions through Soviet mushroom clouds in 1961 and 1962.
Service personnel and Veterans who believe they were negatively impacted by their service can apply for compensation through the existing War Pensions Scheme (WPS). The WPS is a no-fault scheme for Service personnel disabled or killed due to injury or illness caused or worsened by service before April 6, 2005. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Historical records, including medical records, will be reviewed to establish a causal link to service for Veterans seeking compensation.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service leavers have accessed the Career Transition Partnership in Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Registration with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) is mandatory for all Service leavers.
The most recent official statistics provided in Defence Statistics (published February 2025), states that 15,665 Armed Forces Service leavers were eligible for CTP for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
Since 1 October 2024 (the start of the current CTP contract and the earliest date at which such data is available) 1362 Service leavers have accessed the CTP through Cottesmore, the resettlement centre that services Lincolnshire.