Defence Equipment and Support

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Nick Harvey]

It will have no impact on existing contracts. It is the means by which we will secure better value for money in forming future contracts.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Can the Minister explain in a practical way how a complex and expensive equipment programme such as the future carriers would have been better carried out under the new arrangements? For example, somewhere along the line the idea that the carriers should be easily convertible to take catapults was left out of the design. Would that situation be improved by the new arrangements?

[Nick Harvey]

It is probably common ground throughout the House that defence procurement has not been an exemplar of success for a good many years. One reason for that is that despite the good work of good people working for DE&S, they do not have available to them the full range of skill sets that they need to negotiate on equal terms with some of the more complex providers. Granting DE&S the private sector freedoms I have described will enable it to take on board the necessary skill sets to ensure that in future negotiations and future project management there is a better match between those securing value for the taxpayer and good products for the armed forces and the private sector providers of complex programmes. That will be a marked improvement on how things have been in the past.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 16th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Robathan]

I have absolutely no idea.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

On that same theme, does the Minister agree that it would have been good if G4S had recruited more veterans to police the Olympics and ensure security? Will he confirm that what has happened will not result in a single serving soldier in Afghanistan having to stay on the front line for one day longer than would otherwise have been the case?

[Mr Robathan]

First, I can confirm that nobody will remain longer on operations in Afghanistan because of this debacle over the G4S contract. I will say to my hon. Friend, as he would expect me to, that I absolutely agree that former service personnel would do that job particularly well, but I have no responsibility for the recruitment practices of G4S. However, it appears that it was not recruiting that was the problem but the organisation of the Olympics in general in terms of security.

Army 2020

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Thursday 5th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

Nobody is going to be sacked as a result of today’s announcement. The brave men and women serving in the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh will continue serving in the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh, and when it is withdrawn, many of them—probably most of them—will be absorbed into what will then become a single-battalion Royal Welsh Regiment. We have well established arrangements in place for supporting those who leave the Army—70% of those who left in the last tranche of redundancies were volunteers, who had asked for redundancy—and we hope to make them even stronger in future.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I am sure that my right hon. Friend has done the very best possible under the fiscal constraints in which he is operating, but will he take back to his Cabinet colleagues the message that in parts of this House, and in the country, there is a feeling that expenditure on defence does not rank as highly as it should in the scale of the nation’s priorities?

[Mr Hammond]

My hon. Friend is very capable and has, indeed, effectively made that point and his view on it known to my Cabinet colleagues.

Nuclear-powered Submarines

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 18th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I appreciate that the Secretary of State was making a kind of rhetorical point, but I should say for the benefit of the House that there will be no further dollop of the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson), at any rate in respect of this matter, this afternoon. We await further particulars at a later stage.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Given that as long ago as 9 February 2011 the Prime Minister told this House:

“The replacement of Trident is going ahead… I am in favour of a full replacement for Trident, a continuous at-sea deterrent… it will remain Conservative policy as long as I am the leader of this party”—[Official Report, 9 February 2011; Vol. 523, c. 296.],

is there any reason for surprise that this step should have been taken, and is there any reason for the undue delay in the study of alternatives, which can only come to the conclusion that replacing Trident is the only sensible option?

[Mr Hammond]

Indeed. My hon. Friend is right. The written statement I made today was made in written form precisely because it does not convey any terribly new information. We have always made it clear that we would progress with the replacement for the Vanguard class submarines, subject to the main gate decision in 2016. He speculates on the conclusion of the review currently being conducted under the leadership of the Minister for the Armed Forces, and he may choose to do so. I can tell him that it is expected that the review will be completed by the end of this year and then presented to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 11th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Peter Luff]

I can confirm what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said on many occasions: as of the end of April, we had committed £39 million on conversion studies and a further £1 million on an air-to-air refuelling study. We do not think that the money has been wasted. Changing the variant was considered the best course of action under the SDSR, and these costs were necessarily incurred.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Can my hon. Friend confirm that it is our intention to build the two carriers so that both are able to operate fixed-wing aircraft and that we will purchase enough fixed-wing aircraft to operate from both of those carriers?

[Peter Luff]

I can confirm that both carriers will be built; it will be a decision in the next SDSR as to whether or not both are operated. Similarly, we are following an incremental acquisition policy on the joint strike fighter itself. Therefore, I cannot give my hon. Friend the comfort he is seeking at this stage, as this relates to a commercial negotiation and a strategic decision for the next SDSR.

Defence Budget and Transformation

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 14th May 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I am not willing to specify a precise budget. I must correct the hon. Gentleman on a point of detail: I think that the Apache was due to go out of service without life extension in 2025—we will have aircraft carrier capability long before that—and this programme will extend its life beyond 2025. However, I cannot give him the individual line item budget.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Will the balanced budget enable the previously agreed total of 25 frigates and destroyers to be maintained in the future, and will it allow the future Trident successor fleet to mount continuous at-sea deterrence, as personally favoured repeatedly by the Prime Minister in this House?

[Mr Hammond]

The answer to the second question is yes, the funding for the successor submarine is based on continuous at-sea deterrence. I am not sure about the 25 figure; the figure in the SDSR is 19 frigates and destroyers.

Afghanistan (Troop Levels)

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Thursday 26th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

As the hon. Lady knows, we have one of the most rigorous arms control and monitoring regimes of any nation, but if we want the ANSF to take over the combat role from us, we clearly have to ensure that it is effectively equipped to do so.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State confirm that our American allies are seriously considering the retention of one or more strategic bases in Afghanistan after 2014 as the best way, and indeed probably the only way, of ensuring that the military gains and any political settlement do not unravel after that date?

[Mr Hammond]

My hon. Friend will know that that has been widely reported as a US objective, but my understanding is that nothing has been agreed or finalised between the Afghans and the US on post-2014 lay-down at this stage.

Armed Forces Covenant

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Thursday 19th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Robathan]

We are continuing to refurbish bathrooms and kitchens, for instance, but we are not doing the wholesale modernisation as that has been stopped by the freeze. That £100 million will go towards improvements and the modernisations that will go forward, but there is a freeze. There is a freeze for one simple reason: to quote the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the previous Government, “there is no money”. It is no good saying that we should spend more when we do not have any money.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

[Mr Robathan]

No, I am afraid that I will not.

Thirdly, council tax relief has been doubled to just under £600 for a typical six-month tour. That ensures that those who are doing so much to maintain our national security benefit the most. Although it is now old hat to say it, I repeat the fact that doubling the operational allowance for an operational tour means that every member of the armed forces who comes back from a six-month tour in Afghanistan comes back with approximately £5,600, tax free, in his or her pocket. That is particularly good business for travel agents and car salesmen, I think, but it is a great gift and they deserve the money that they get. We are very pleased with that and I can assure the hon. Lady that when I have been in Afghanistan—one sometimes gets the odd ear-bending, if I can put it that way—I have heard that people are grateful for that large lump sum, which is deserved, when they come back.

One of the most important aspects of the covenant is the way we treat those who have been injured or suffer from a debilitating health problem as a result of what we have asked them to do. Medical treatment in the battlefield is second to none and what was once an injury that would take a life is now much more survivable. Outstanding care continues at the Queen Elizabeth hospital and at Headley Court, where the determination of our people to get back to as normal a life as possible is impressively displayed. When one meets amputees who are going to climb Kilimanjaro, one is genuinely humbled. I know that that word is much over-used, but it really is very impressive.

Some, sadly, will need a lifetime of care and we are committed to providing it. My hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) has produced two excellent reports and we are taking forward his recommendations, particularly those in his “Fighting Fit” report on the mental well-being of our people. I am pleased to say that the Minister of State, Department of Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr Burns), has recently announced continued funding for the 24-hour helpline that was one of the recommendations. If anybody would like to ring it, as I have, they will discover that the person at the other end of the line knows what he or she is talking about and gives good signposting to those with mental health issues.

We are also working to introduce a veterans’ information service. It will routinely contact service leavers 12 months after they are discharged to establish whether they have any health needs that require attention. The “Fighting Fit” report refers to the service as something of a safety net to help veterans once the support structures available to them during their service lives are no longer readily accessible. To get it right, it is essential that we can easily identify ex-service personnel, so we are working with the Department of Health to ensure that a veteran’s status is properly recorded on his or her records. Equally, however, we must recognise that some who leave the services do not wish to have such a status recorded, and it is right to respect their individual wishes.

The hon. Lady particularly asked whether we will publish a covenant this year and we will do so in the autumn—in November, I would expect—not least because it is a statutory requirement and we believe firmly that we should obey the laws that we have passed.

The armed forces covenant remains work in progress, but it definitely is progressing. We have already made significant gains and we are fulfilling our commitments made in the programme for Government. Much more is set out in the interim report to which the hon. Lady has referred, which I am sure she has read. However it is wrong to suggest that every time we have to make a difficult decision to repair the damage caused by the previous Administration, it is somehow a breach of that commitment. The covenant defines the principles of removing disadvantage and allowing special provision in some circumstances in the access to public and commercial services. This has set a framework for policy making and delivery across Government and will improve the support available for the armed forces community. Those who serve and those who have served deserve nothing less, even in the difficult times we face today.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I can only say what I have already said. We are looking at all the issues around the carrier strike programme, and I will make a statement to the House shortly. I have to say to the hon. Gentleman, however, that I will not take any lectures on the carrier programme from him. He supported a Government who delayed the programme by two years and drove £1.6 billion of costs into it, and whose management of the programme was described by the Public Accounts Committee as

“a new benchmark in poor corporate decision making.”

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Can the Secretary of State confirm that if he decided to go for the short take-off and vertical landing variant of the F-35, this would enable continuous carrier strike capability to be maintained, as it could be deployed from both carriers, which is impossible to do with a single carrier?

[Mr Hammond]

My hon. Friend is pointing out that there are complex capability traits to be looked at in considering the question of carrier strike—the capabilities of the two aircraft, but also the availability of carriers from which they can fly. All those things are being evaluated. When we have come to a clear conclusion, we will come back to the House.

Hostage Rescue Operation (Nigeria)

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Tuesday 13th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I echo the right hon. Gentleman’s sentiments. We have extremely good relationships with the Italians, including on military and defence matters. I repeat what I said earlier: I believe that the conversations that have taken place over the weekend have very substantially defused the situation. On Thursday, there will be an operational visit to brief the Italians on military and intel channels, and I am told that the Foreign Secretary intends to visit Italy later in March.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

For the reasons outlined by the Secretary of State, there can be no doubt in my mind that the Prime Minister took the right decision—the only question is whether that decision was communicated quickly enough to the Italians. According to what my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry) cited from the Italian press, it would appear that the decision was communicated quickly but that it perhaps did not then reach up into the Government in Italy as quickly as it should have done. Will the Secretary of State confirm that we did convey the information about the decision as quickly as we could, and that there was no question of our deciding not to do that because of doubts about the information leaking, the Italians wanting to pay ransoms or anything of that sort?

[Mr Hammond]

I can absolutely assure my hon. Friend that there was no question of information being withheld. There were two clear, separate channels of information. The intelligence agencies were communicating on a regular basis, and the British ambassador in Rome went as soon as he practically could to deliver the information to the Italian Government, once the operation had got under way.