Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many invoices and to what value were paid by Defence Equipment and Supply after the statutory 30 days as required under the EU Directive 2011/7/EU in the last 12 months.
Answered by Julian Brazier
The Ministry of Defence's invoices are paid through the Defence Business Services organisation with the exception of some payments to suppliers made by units locally. We do not hold separate statistics of invoices settled on behalf of Defence Equipment & Support, however, across the Department, 8,647 invoices (or 0.2% of the total) amounting to circa £170 million were not paid within 30 calendar days during the 2013-14 financial year, of which over 80% were below £10,000 in value. Delays in paying bills are principally caused by the incorrect presentation of invoices.
We process over four million invoices a year totalling some £26 billion. Over the course of the last full financial year (2013-14), Defence Business Services paid 99.99% of all correctly submitted invoices within 11 calendar days and 95.42% of invoices within five working days.
We are committed to paying our suppliers promptly. Further, we place a contractual obligation on them to pay their subcontractors within a specified period from receipt of a valid invoice and to disseminate this requirement through their own supply chains.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many family members of each of the service personnel who died in Afghanistan will be able to attend the service of commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral on 13 March 2015.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Invitations have been extended to the Next of Kin and one guest.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many guests he plans to invite to the service of commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral on 13 March 2015; and what proportion of those guests are family members of service personnel who died during operations in Afghanistan.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Approximately 2,000 invitations will be issued, of which over 900 have so far been allocated to the families of those who lost their lives in the conflict. A further 900 or so have been allocated to Service personnel and veterans.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department plans to notify the relatives of service men and women killed in Afghanistan of its plans for a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The 13 March Service of Commemoration announced by the Prime Minister on 28 January 2015 will provide an opportunity for the nation to express its gratitude to those who gave so much during operations in Afghanistan. We have already formally notified Next of Kin of those who died during operations in Afghanistan of the memorial service.
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department plans to inform the families of military personnel killed in Afghanistan of the decision to hold a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral in March 2015.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The 13 March Service of Commemoration announced by the Prime Minister on 28 January 2015 will provide an opportunity for the nation to express its gratitude to those who gave so much during operations in Afghanistan. We have already formally notified Next of Kin of those who died during operations in Afghanistan of the memorial service.