Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the unit cost is of each of the new CH-47ER helicopters recently ordered by his Department from Boeing.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (Mr John Healey) on 2 April 2024 to Question 19779.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on negotiations with Norway for the potential sale of Type 26 frigates to the Norwegian Navy.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
His Majesty's Government and the Royal Navy are working jointly with BAE Systems on options to support Norway's future Frigate Programme.
We are actively supporting the promotion of the Type 26 Global Combat Ship design to other navies around the world with a similar requirement.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the first E-7 Wedgetail aircraft is expected to achieve initial operating capability within the Royal Air Force.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 April 2024 to the right hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle) to Question 23108.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-04-23/23108
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total contract value is of the (a) AH-64E Apache, (b) P-B Poseidon, (c) E-7 Wedgetail and (d) CH-4&ER contracts between his Department and Boeing.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Total Contract Value | |
AH-64E Apache | £341,199,072.50 |
P-8A Poseidon | £241,051,711.00 |
E-7 Wedgetail | £1,706,096,617.86 |
CH-47ER | N/A |
Notes:
CH-47ER: The final costs will be subject to the conclusion of negotiations with the US Government and Boeing, and variance throughout the life of the programme in common with all FMS cases.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the acquisition cost is of (a) a Queen Elizabeth Class carrier, (b) an air group of 24 F-35Bs with merlin helicopters, (c) two type 45 destroyers, (d) two type 23 frigates, (e) one Astute class submarine and (f) other support ships for a Queen Elizabeth Class carrier Battle Group.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The acquisition cost of the two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers was c. £6 billion.
The build cost of a Type 45 destroyer was calculated in 2013 to be £633 million (Official Report 2 December 2016 Question 55378).
Build costs of the Type 23 frigates varied between £92 and £120 million per ship over the period November 1992 to September 2002. (Official Report 2 July 2013, col. 610w).
For the acquisition costs of Astute Class submarines, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 September 2023 to Question 197698.
The support ships assigned to a Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier battle group and the composition of the embarked air group are dependent upon the nature of the tasking of the battle group and it is not therefore possible to provide a singular acquisition cost for such supporting shipping or for the air group.
F-35B aircraft are procured in batches and the unit price per batch has varied as production has proceeded. There is therefore no single acquisition cost for a group of 24 aircraft as the overall cost will depend on the batch from which each individual aircraft was procured.
There is no fixed ratio of F-35B aircraft to Merlin helicopters in a Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier embarked air group. Moreover, two different marks of Merlin helicopter may be embarked dependent on operational requirements. It is not therefore possible to provide a single acquisition cost for the Merlin helicopters that may be embarked with 24 F-35B aircraft.
As illustrated by the information provided in respect of Type 23 frigates it is not, for any class of ship or submarine, usually the case that the overall acquisition cost is shared equally across the class. First of Class vessels will incur a range of non-recurring costs that later vessels do not. Variations in price per vessel may also arise from increasing industry efficiency as construction progresses and from detailed changes in specification between vessels of the same class.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the acquisition cost was of each of (a) the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and (b) their respective air groups.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The acquisition cost of the two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers was c. £6 billion.
The build cost of a Type 45 destroyer was calculated in 2013 to be £633 million (Official Report 2 December 2016 Question 55378).
Build costs of the Type 23 frigates varied between £92 and £120 million per ship over the period November 1992 to September 2002. (Official Report 2 July 2013, col. 610w).
For the acquisition costs of Astute Class submarines, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 September 2023 to Question 197698.
The support ships assigned to a Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier battle group and the composition of the embarked air group are dependent upon the nature of the tasking of the battle group and it is not therefore possible to provide a singular acquisition cost for such supporting shipping or for the air group.
F-35B aircraft are procured in batches and the unit price per batch has varied as production has proceeded. There is therefore no single acquisition cost for a group of 24 aircraft as the overall cost will depend on the batch from which each individual aircraft was procured.
There is no fixed ratio of F-35B aircraft to Merlin helicopters in a Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier embarked air group. Moreover, two different marks of Merlin helicopter may be embarked dependent on operational requirements. It is not therefore possible to provide a single acquisition cost for the Merlin helicopters that may be embarked with 24 F-35B aircraft.
As illustrated by the information provided in respect of Type 23 frigates it is not, for any class of ship or submarine, usually the case that the overall acquisition cost is shared equally across the class. First of Class vessels will incur a range of non-recurring costs that later vessels do not. Variations in price per vessel may also arise from increasing industry efficiency as construction progresses and from detailed changes in specification between vessels of the same class.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated out of service date is for RFA Fort Victoria.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer that was given on 5 July 2023 to Question 191509 to the hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (Mr John Healey).
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the crew complement is of the RFA Fort Victoria.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
RFA FORT VICTORIA normally operates with 101 RFA personnel. However, this will vary according to operational requirements and tasking.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether RFA Fort Victoria is (a) awaiting a refit, (b) working up after a refit and (c) operationally available.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
RFA Fort Victoria is currently ready to commence a planned maintenance period.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) full and (b) part time NHS Supply Chain employees were of what (i) grade and (ii) salary band in the last financial year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS Supply Chain is managed by Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SCCL) and was established in 2018 under the Department of Health and Social Care Procurement Transformation Programme. NHS Supply Chain includes both employees of SCCL and services providers including those undertaking Procurement Services, Logistics Services and IT Services. For the purposes of this response we have included SCCL employees rather than those of the wider supply chain.
The basic salary costs for the financial year 2022/23 for SCCL employees was £25,643,751.68. The headcount for the years 2020/21 to 2022/23 is as follows:
- 2020/21: 394;
- 2021/22: 449; and
- 2022/23: 682
During the period from 2021 to 2024, several organisational changes led to subsequent changes in responsibility within NHS Supply Chain and growth in those employed directly by SCCL. The increase in headcount in 2022/23 is due to the transfer of colleagues from former services providers of procurement services. These were phased across the financial year, in July, October and February, and therefore the reported total headcount for 2022/23 relates to the outturn number of staff. Previous increases were due to the replacement of day rate contractors with full time employees and investment in roles to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain, in response to the findings of the Boardman Review. SCCL staff are not part of Agenda for Change and, as such, our grading does not match those in other parts of the National Health Service. The following table shows the employees of SCCL in 2022/23, of which 645 were full time and 37 were part time, broken down by salary band:
Salary band | Number of employees |
£0.00 - £25,000 | 38 |
£25,001 - £50,000 | 362 |
£50,001 - £75,000 | 180 |
£75,001 - £100,000 | 43 |
£100,001 - £125,000 | 18 |
£125,001 - £150,000 | 6 |
£150,001 - £175,000 | 1 |
£175,001 - £200,000 | 2 |
As of March 2023, prior to the transfer of procurement teams into SCCL, the total headcount in SCCL plus external procurement service providers was 1272. As of the end of March 2024 this will be 1149 on a like for like basis.