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.
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 days was the Union Flag flown on the Ministry of Defence Main Building in (a) 2024 and (b) 2025 to date.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Union Flag is flown permanently on the Ministry of Defence Main Building.
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 his Department has spent money on promotion through social media influencers since July 2024.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
A full Departmental response could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Directorate of Defence Communications as the lead department for communications has not had any spend for promotion through social media influencers since July 2024.
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 full-time equivalent civil servants are working on policy related to nuclear test veterans.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK's security.
Many officials from across the Ministry of Defence are working on policy related to nuclear test veterans. Collating information on the precise number of officials is not possible, as some officials will spend periods of time focused on nuclear test veterans when certain matters arise and will then focus on other areas as and when needed.
The Secretary of State for Defence and I were glad to recently meet with the Right Honourable member and others to provide reassurance that the Department is taking seriously our commitment to Nuclear Test Veterans and that appropriate resource has been dedicated to this matter.
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 place an interim report in the House of Commons Library on the findings from the review of (a) blood and (b) urine tests taken from those servicemen who witnessed the tests in the 1950s of Britain's first nuclear weapons as soon as possible.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government is resetting the relationship with nuclear test veterans and those that support them, and we remain committed to listening to their concerns and working collaboratively to address them.
As of 30 June 2025, officials have reviewed over 43,000 files, including files from the Merlin Database, as part of the exercise that is looking at points raised with me about some Nuclear Test Veterans' medical records.
I will update the House when we are in a position to share the findings of the exercise.
More information can be found in my statement to the House here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-06-30/hcws748
This Government continues to celebrate the stories of our nuclear veterans. Most recently the Universities of South Wales and Liverpool led a Government-funded oral history project which was published in early July.
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 expand the qualifying criteria of the nuclear test medal so that veterans of the (a) 1960s, (b) 1970s and (c) 1980s who flew sampling missions through nuclear clouds of foreign nations are eligible.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government has reset the relationship with Nuclear Test Veterans and the organisations that support them, and we remain committed to listening to their concerns and working collaboratively to address them.
As at 30 June 2025, officials had reviewed over 43,000 files, including files from the Merlin Database, as part of the exercise that is looking at concerns raised with me about some Nuclear Test Veterans’ medical records. I will update the House when we are in a position to share the findings of the exercise.
This Government continues to celebrate the stories of our Nuclear Test Veterans. Most recently, the Universities of South Wales and Liverpool led a government-funded oral history project which was published in early July.
In 2024, the eligibility criteria for the Nuclear Test Medal (NTM) were expanded to include UK personnel who actively participated in all US atmospheric tests. Further requests for the expansion of the NTM eligibility criteria may be considered, and any formal proposal to do so would need to be endorsed by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) and approved by His Majesty The King.
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 stage of the approval process his request of the Advisory Medal Sub-Committee for an expansion of the criteria of the nuclear test medal is at.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government has reset the relationship with Nuclear Test Veterans and the organisations that support them, and we remain committed to listening to their concerns and working collaboratively to address them.
As at 30 June 2025, officials had reviewed over 43,000 files, including files from the Merlin Database, as part of the exercise that is looking at concerns raised with me about some Nuclear Test Veterans’ medical records. I will update the House when we are in a position to share the findings of the exercise.
This Government continues to celebrate the stories of our Nuclear Test Veterans. Most recently, the Universities of South Wales and Liverpool led a government-funded oral history project which was published in early July.
In 2024, the eligibility criteria for the Nuclear Test Medal (NTM) were expanded to include UK personnel who actively participated in all US atmospheric tests. Further requests for the expansion of the NTM eligibility criteria may be considered, and any formal proposal to do so would need to be endorsed by the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) and approved by His Majesty The King.