Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British nuclear test veterans who served on Christmas Island have (a) applied for and (b) received compensation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Nuclear Test Veterans (NTVs) who believe they have suffered ill health due to Service have the right to apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pension Scheme (WPS). Each case is considered on its own merits. War Disablement Pensions are medically certified with relevant material facts including on claimed incidents, events, and exposures.
There is not a specific NTV claim form for compensation under the WPS. However, a supplementary form is available which allows for NTV-specific information to be provided at the point of claim.
The number of WPS claims with a supplementary NTV claim form attached and the information requested for the number of NTVs who applied for, and received compensation, over the last five years is not held centrally.
WPS Caseworkers are experienced and, together with qualified medical professionals, do their utmost to acquire the relevant evidence and information to ensure the decisions made are both fair and correct. Currently, there are 35 Caseworkers who assess claims and appeals under the WPS, which include the assessment of the supplementary NTV claim form. There are currently 30 Medical Advisers who medically certify War Disablement Pension decisions.
First claims made under the WPS during 2023/24 were cleared, on average, in approximately nine months. Second and subsequent claims made under the WPS during 2023-24 were cleared, on average, in seven months. War Widow/Widowers claims during 2023-24 were cleared, on average, in two months.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to upgrade and modernise married living quarters at RAF Cosford.
Answered by Maria Eagle
Circa 95% of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) supporting RAF Cosford is at or above Decent Homes Standard.
Improving our Service accommodation across the UK and providing good quality homes that are safe and well maintained is a top priority for the Department. This Government is committed to setting new minimum standards for military housing, with the aim of improving the standard of SFA across the estate.
Circa £440 million is currently forecast to be spent on maintaining and improving SFA across the Defence Estate within financial year 2024-25.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to increase the sanctions for flying over (a) military establishments, (b) facilities providing (i) equipment, (ii) goods and (iii) services to the armed forces and (c) other restricted areas.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The National Security Act 2023 introduced new and specific sanctions in relation to unauthorised overflying of Defence sites by both conventional and unmanned aircraft. The sanctions range from those applicable to a summary offence for simple, unauthorised flights, up to 14 years imprisonment where the purpose of the flight is one that is prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK. There are no current plans to review these sanctions.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the reintroduction of national service on national security.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Government has no current plans to reintroduce National Service. Since 1963, when the last national servicemen were discharged, it has been the policy of successive Governments that the best way of providing for the defence of our country is by maintaining professional Armed Forces staffed by volunteers. The demanding, increasingly technical, nature of defence today is such that we require highly trained, professional men and women in our Regular and Reserve Armed Forces, fully committed to giving their best in defending our country and its allies.
If potentially unwilling National Service recruits were to be obliged to serve alongside the professional men and women of our Armed Forces, it could damage morale, recruitment and retention and would consume professional military and naval resources. If, on the other hand, National Service recruits were kept in separate units, it would be difficult to find a proper and meaningful role for them, potentially harming motivation and discipline. For all these reasons, there are no current plans for the restoration of any form of National Service.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of climate change on the counter-sonar capabilities of the continuous at sea deterrent.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Royal Navy continuously monitors the potential impacts of climate related risks to ensure its equipment remains suitable for future operating parameters.
Whilst for security reasons I cannot go into detail regarding operational capabilities, I can confirm that Defence is committed to making preparations for the more extreme conditions that climate change may bring, in order to maintain operational advantage.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of climate change on anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Royal Navy continuously monitors the potential impacts of climate related risks to ensure its equipment remains suitable for future operating parameters.
Whilst for security reasons I cannot go into detail regarding operational capabilities, I can confirm that Defence is committed to making preparations for the more extreme conditions that climate change may bring, in order to maintain operational advantage.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK has adequate ground-based surface-to-air defence capabilities to defend itself from potential medium- and long-range missile attacks.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
To complement the Air Defence already provided by the RAF’s Typhoon Force, Defence has committed funds in year to significantly enhance its Counter-Uncrewed Air Systems capabilities. The British Army, through its Land Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) Programme, plans to spend more than £3 billion over the next ten years modernising its GBAD, with substantial investment in scaling, extending, and integrating its Air Defence capability. Similarly, the Secretary of State has recently announced a £405 million upgrade to the Royal Navy’s Sea Viper Air Defence System that will enable it to defeat ballistic missile threats. Further detail on Defence’s plan for protecting the United Kingdom against attack from the skies can be found in the Defence Command Paper Refresh which was published on 18 July 2023.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on stationing non-UK nuclear weapons at UK military sites.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
It remains longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at any given location.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will visit (a) RAF Cosford and (b) the RBSL Challenger 3 manufacturing facilities in (i) the Borough of Telford and Wrekin and (ii) Shropshire in 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I visited RBSL in Telford, Shropshire on 13 February 2024 to see both Boxer and Challenger 3 manufacturing facilities.
I understand that the Defence Secretary has responded to the hon. Member separately on his written invitation to visit both of these sites.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce the length of time between the (a) date that armed services personnel are informed by a medical board that they are unfit for service and (b) date of discharge.
Answered by James Heappey
The date that a Service person is due to be discharged is calculated on an individual basis, taking into consideration a number of factors, including entitlements to any remaining individual leave allowance, Resettlement Leave, Invaliding leave and Terminal Leave. If there are additional considerations, such as an extension to attend a recovery course, then a decision will be taken on a case-by-case basis.
There are no current plans to reduce the time between the date that a Service person is informed by a medical board that they are unfit for service, and the date of their discharge.