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.
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 seek a Royal reception with His Majesty the King to honour nuclear testing veterans.
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 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 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 veterans. Most recently the Universities of South Wales and Liverpool led a government-funded oral history project which was published in early July.
It would not be appropriate for me to comment specifically on Royal receptions, which are matters for The Royal Household.
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 VALOUR support centres for veterans he plans to locate in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government remains committed to delivering on our manifesto promise to ensure that veterans achieve the recognition, support and opportunities they deserve. That is why we recently launched VALOUR, our commitment to establish the first-ever UK-wide approach to veteran support. This will be an institutionally resilient system that will reform the system at the local, the regional, and the national level, ensuring that support is available across the country, and that it is tailored to the needs of veterans in the communities where they live.
The first VALOUR pilot was launched on 26 June 2025, in partnership with Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire, and will help to develop a blueprint as VALOUR is rolled out across the country next year.
Details regarding the VALOUR development funding will be released in the coming months. Existing organisations will be able to apply for this funding and, if successful, will be recognised as a VALOUR support centre. This process will recognise existing best practice while maintaining agility and flexibility across the sector.
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 much his Department has spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Department embraces flexible working arrangements where appropriate.
In some cases the Department may provide additional equipment to support flexible working patterns, but to gather the costs of these across the Department would require disproportionate time.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 30 June 2025 on Nuclear Test Veteran records exercise and the Merlin database, HCWS748, which office the staff that are reviewing (a) the Merlin Database and (b) other archives are based in.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Teams from across the Ministry of Defence are involved in the Nuclear Test Veterans records exercise, and have reviewed so far over 43,000 files. The files in scope of the records exercise are primarily being reviewed by each of the Single Service Historic Branches and the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). The release of the Merlin database to the National Archives is being led by the Defence Nuclear Organisation with AWE preparing the records for release.