Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress has been made on the Fleet Solid Support Ship project.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The production of the first Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ship is expected to begin in 2025. Progress continues on design work, mobilisation of the supply chain and recapitalisation of the facilities at Harland & Wolff.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials in his Department attended (a) domestic and (b) overseas trade shows in each year since 2019.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This information is not held in the format requested.
Ministry of Defence officials attend domestic and overseas trade shows including Defence and Security Equipment International, Farnborough International Airshow, Royal International Air Tattoo, World Defence Show (Riyadh), DIMDEX (Doha), and the Paris Air Show in support of international collaboration, UK industry, and exports but details of numbers of personnel are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many posts in his Department are (a) vacant and (b) not being actively recruited for as of 16 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to thwe answer given to question 22239 on the 22 April 2024.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since its announcement at the AUKUS Defence Ministers meeting in December 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have consulted on the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum TORs, developing them in partnership with trade associations from all three nations. The MOD hosted the first forum trilaterally in Washington DC on 9 April 2024. Two further forums are planned for 2024, in the UK and Australia respectively.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what civil service grade are the officials supporting the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A variety of officials at varying grades are engaged in supporting the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum. We have an SCS 2 official as a co-chair to the Forum. It is not practical to further quantify a specific number of people supporting it at any given moment.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of service personnel from the (a) British Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force participated in joint exercises in each year since 2019.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
It is taking time to collate the information. I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2024 to Question 17716 on Defence Equipment & Support: Staff, what the total cost of contingent labour was in each financial year since 2018-19.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The total cost of contingent labour in each financial year (FY) since 2018-19 is:
FY | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
Contingent Labour (£million) | 33,132 | 76,394 | 99,650 | 95,780 | 121,507 |
Contingent Labour encompasses individuals temporarily employed, through a variety of schemes, to deliver activity which might otherwise be carried out by permanent DE&S staff. This may be for a number of reasons, for example due to a lack of required skills in the existing workforce, or because the need itself is temporary.
Figures for 2023-24 are not available at this time.
A record of the number of staff who deliver outputs for Defence Equipment & Support through a private sector support contract is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual budget is for the Weapons Support Team at Defence Equipment and Support in the (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The figures below represent the projected annual operating expenditure budget and forecast costs for the Weapons Support Team at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S).
The Weapons Support Team budget and forecast costs on equipment costs by financial year is as follows:
Financial Year | Contract Spend £million |
FY2023-24 | 2.96 |
FY2024-25 | 2.58 |
FY2025-26 | 2.63 |
The Weapons Support Team budget and forecast costs on operating costs by financial year is as follows:
Financial year | Total spend £million |
FY2023-24 | 37.73 |
Notes:
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2024 to Question 18053 on Iron and Steel: Procurement, what his planned timetable is for introducing a new condition which will require suppliers delivering larger value contracts to provide detailed supply chain maps.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
DEFCON 565, which mandates suppliers for all new contracts £5 million and above to provide supply chain information, was published on 1 July 2023.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 18996 on Ministry of Defence: Rented Housing, what the total cost of renting 37 unoccupied Bulk Lease Hire Properties was.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The total cost of renting all 37 unoccupied Bulk Lease Hire Properties is £53,206 per month.