Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking with international partners to deter illegal invasions of sovereign territories.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK's network of alliances and partnerships is at the heart of our ability to deter and defend against adversaries. The UK takes an integrated approach using all instruments available to government, including the full range of military capabilities and Defence levers, to hold actors to account for unacceptable behaviours. This includes working closely with international partners to demonstrate our collective commitment to deterring and defending against potential adversaries, not least through multilateral fora such as NATO.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take with respect to former RAF pilots who have helped to train the People’s Republic of China’s military personnel.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) are taking a range of measures to dissuade current and former UK pilots from being recruited.
The Department is issuing threat guidance to personnel at risk of being approached and are reminding personnel of their obligations to protect sensitive information acquired during their tenure as crown or civil servants and will be looking at options to tighten the contractual obligations of Service leavers and are also encouraging the reporting of any recruitment activity targeting pilots or any other specialist area of Defence. The alert has been issued to relevant personnel across Defence, including to partners in Defence industry. MOD are also actively sharing information with key allies.
The MOD has no evidence that anyone has breached the high threshold of the Officials Secrets Act (OSA), but if any evidence were to be forthcoming, we would not hesitate to bring criminal charges. The Department takes this matter extremely seriously and are actively taking measures to deter future recruitment as well as engaging with the individuals already involved to ensure they are fully aware of the risk of prosecution under the OSA.
The Government's National Security Bill (led by the Home Office) will capture a range of relevant activity and provide additional possible routes to prosecution. A review of the use of confidentiality agreements is being conducted across Defence, with the aim of providing additional contractual levers to prevent individuals breaching security.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to provide additional (a) equipment and (b) training to Ukrainian forces.
Answered by James Heappey
We continue to liaise closely with Ukraine to understand their priorities and to shape what support the UK and international community offer as these requirements evolve.
To date, we have committed £2.3 billion of military support and the Government has committed to match this in the next financial year. Our most recent funding package, announced in June, is being used to deliver key military equipment, including more armoured fighting vehicles, air defence missiles, artillery ammunition, more integrated air defence systems, uncrewed systems and innovative new electronic warfare equipment. On 13 October 2022, the Defence Secretary announced that the UK will also donate cutting edge air defence missiles to Ukraine to help defend against Russian missile strikes.
We have also trained over 6,000 Ukrainian personnel to help Ukraine defend its sovereign territory.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage global partners to provide stronger and further support to Ukrainian forces.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK has consistently provided international leadership on support to Ukraine. The UK was the first country to provide lethal aid, takes a leading role in the International Donor Coordination Centre and is leading international efforts to provide training at scale for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In July, the Secretary of State announced the UK-led International Fund for Ukraine which aims to raise over £1 billion with international partners to fund the provision of military capabilities for Ukraine.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to provide local communities with input on the redevelopment of barracks sites.
Answered by Alec Shelbrooke
Community consultation is a statutory requirement of any planning application process, and the Ministry of Defence routinely engages with the Local Planning Authority and stakeholders to shape proposals before this point, as we actively wish to see surplus sites used to meet local requirements post military use.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether service personnel living on base will be able to access financial relief equivalent to the £150 council tax rebate for band A-D properties via a reduction to the Charge in Lieu of Council Tax (CILOR) taken directly from their salary.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises that Service personnel and families living in Service Accommodation will want to understand if the Council Tax rebate announced by the Chancellor on 3 February 2022, to help with the cost of living following a rise in the energy price cap, will apply to their Contribution in Lieu of Council Tax (CILOCT). The MOD is committed to ensuring that Service personnel are not disadvantaged because of their Service and is working to explore options for calculation and implementation of a potential rebate to Service personnel and families in Service Accommodation, in partnership with Local Authorities. An announcement on a decision will be made shortly.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support military personnel are providing to the covid-19 booster vaccination roll-out (a) domestically and (b) internationally.
Answered by James Heappey
As at 24 January 2022, there were 662 Armed Forces personnel supporting the vaccination booster programme across the UK.
Internationally, we are currently focussed on offering the booster to our people based overseas. We are currently not supporting the booster programmes of other countries.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the policy governing the award of military medals for the purposes of establishing whether the case for a national defence medal has improved since the last review in 2012.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces (James Heappey) on 19 March 2020 to Question 30067 to the hon. Member for Broadland (Mr Jerome Mayhew).
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure there are adequate catering and food arrangements for armed forces personnel deployed at very short notice to assist with covid-19 testing and other covid-19 projects.
Answered by James Heappey
Catering contracts have been established to support personnel deployed on COVID-19 tasks, to provide them with a balanced diet in line with the Joint Service Publication 456 (MOD policy). We ensure food options and menus are routinely monitored and scrutinised by military Food Service Warrant Officers to guarantee the highest standard of food is being delivered to our Armed Forces.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the wellbeing of armed forces personnel deployed at very short notice to assist with covid-19 testing and other covid-19 projects.
Answered by James Heappey
The safety and welfare of our personnel is paramount. Defence has numerous internal and external wellbeing measures in place to safeguard personnel deployed on COVID-19 tasks, including provisions for food, accommodation, and dedicated pastoral and welfare staff. Joint Service Publication 770 (MOD policy) sets out further details of the extensive wellbeing support available to deployed personnel.