Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 21 of the Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Annual Report 2018, to what incident or incidents the £88.2 million for detected fraud in his Department refers.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes the risk of fraud, bribery and corruption seriously and is fully committed to delivering a robust counter-fraud and corruption capability. MOD is the only Department that has fully met all the functional standards set by the Cabinet Office for Government, followed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which has met them for internal fraud only.
To better understand the value of fraud allegations being reported to MOD, a review of values attributed to new allegations received was undertaken. MOD has developed a Nominal Offence Value framework based on historic values of fraud experienced. The Nominal Offence Value is used when no valuation is available at the time of reporting. This approach has been reviewed and approved by the Cabinet Office Prevention Panel (an independent panel of cross Government experts).
The £88.2 million refers to 861 separately reported incidents. It includes cases with an estimated value based upon the MOD's Nominal Offence Value framework.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of contracts issued by his Department and contractors include provisions to impose, as between parties to the subcontract, that any payment due from the contractor to a subcontractor under the contract is to be made no later than the end of a period of 30 days from the date on which the relevant invoice is regarded as valid and undisputed, as required by the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Through the Public Contract Regulations 2015, all public sector buyers must include 30-day payment terms in new public sector contracts and require that this payment term be passed down the supply chain. Public sector buyers must also publish annually on their payment performance. Her Majesty's Government strongly encourages businesses to report poor payment practice and instances of late payment, including late payment through the supply chain, in public sector contracts to its Mystery Shopper service. Mystery Shopper will then investigate.
The Ministry of Defence has a contract condition (DEFCON 534) which states that all contractors shall pay subcontractors any sums due under an invoice no later than 30 days from when the contractor has determined the invoice is valid. The number of contracts that explicitly include DEFCON 534, or other clauses to this effect, is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees relating to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence publishes spend over £25,000 on a monthly basis as part of its transparency data routine publication which is accessible at the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751545/Annex_B_Expenditure_over_25000_30-09-2018
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department are classified as contingent labour.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
As at August 2018, there were 840 staff classified as contingent labour in the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference page 15 of the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund annual report for 2016-2017, which organisations received funding from the Deployed Military Assistance Pool for the purpose of counter-Daesh activities.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Deployed Military Assistance Pool exists to provide initial funding for emergent military activity conducted by the Ministry of Defence, which in Financial Year 2016-17 included some counter-Daesh operations.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department has been unable to notify Parliament of the particulars of a liability and thus fulfil the required 14 days’ notice prior to that liability going live in the last 12 months.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The only occasion in the last 12 months that the Ministry of Defence has failed to allow Parliament the full 14 Parliamentary sitting days was for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship Manufacture Phase 1 Contract. The Departmental Minute and Written Ministerial Statement were laid on 27 June 2017, but only provided limited notice (under 14 sitting days) for Parliament to consider and raise any objections before contract signature which took place on 30 June.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The number of Ministry of Defence invitations to tender that have received no bidders in the last two years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many IT systems which his Department uses are more than (a) three, (b) five and (c) eight years old; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all his Department's IT systems are updated promptly.
Answered by Guto Bebb
This information is being withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of his Department's estate is (a) rented, (b) owned and (c) occupied through any other type of agreement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The amount of the Department's estate that is rented, owned or occupied through any other type of agreement is shown below:
Rented - 19,549 hectares (ha)
Owned - 209,806 ha
Occupied through any other type of agreement - 578,349 ha
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the 91 sites referenced on page 5 of his Department's document entitled A Better Defence Estate, published in November 2016, how much land has been released for development since the publication of that document; and how many homes have (i) begun and (ii) completed construction on that land since the publication of that document.
Answered by Guto Bebb
Since November 2016, four sites have been released, these are Hullavington Airfield, Chalgrove Airfield (transferred to Homes England), Rylston Road London (transferred back to the freehold owner), and Lodge Hill (transferred to Homes England).
The timeline for construction on these sites is a matter for the future land owners.