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Written Question
Nuclear Weapons: Expenditure
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of his Department's expenditure on a replacement nuclear deterrent on the non-nuclear equipment budget.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Funding for programmes in the Defence Nuclear Enterprise is now ringfenced within the Defence budget. This will help to protect the wider Equipment Plan budget from any financial pressures in nuclear programmes.


Written Question
Defence Equipment: Procurement
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the First Report of the Defence Committee, Ready for War?, HC 26, the Eighth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts, Improving Defence Inventory Management, HC 66, and the Nineteenth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts, MoD Equipment Plan 2023-33, HC 451.

Answered by James Heappey

We welcome each of the reports on our Armed Forces Readiness, Inventory Management and the Equipment Plan. We are in the process of reviewing all the recommendations and formulating our responses to the reports.


Written Question
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the successful applicant for the New Medium Helicopter contract will have use of a purpose-built facility for aircrew training.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As announced at the International Military Helicopters conference on 27 February 2024, we have now launched the next stage of the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) competition.

Aircrew training for NMH will integrate with the existing UK Military Flying Training System, which aircrew will continue to utilise to undertake their initial flying training, with Conversion to Type (CTT) training being provided using an Operational Conversion Unit based at RAF Benson.

Infrastructure assessment work at RAF Benson is ongoing, therefore it is too early to comment on the facilities that will be provided for NMH CTT training.


Written Question
Chinook Helicopters: Training
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether training for Chinook helicopters will be moved to RAF Odiham.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

A number of options are being explored, and no decisions have been taken as to where training to operate Chinook helicopters will take place.


Written Question
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where aircrew training for the New Medium Helicopter will take place.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As announced at the International Military Helicopters conference on 27 February 2024, we have now launched the next stage of the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) competition.

Aircrew training for NMH will integrate with the existing UK Military Flying Training System, which aircrew will continue to utilise to undertake their initial flying training, with Conversion to Type (CTT) training being provided using an Operational Conversion Unit based at RAF Benson.

Infrastructure assessment work at RAF Benson is ongoing, therefore it is too early to comment on the facilities that will be provided for NMH CTT training.


Written Question
Clyde Naval Base and RNAD Coulport: Concrete
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has surveyed the Defence Estate buildings at (a) HM Naval Base Clyde and (b) Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport to ascertain whether they have been constructed (a) in part or (b) wholly from Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

For now, the focus is on bringing together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place. This work is being coordinated by the Office for Government Property.

Surveys are currently being conducted to identify buildings which may have been constructed with RAAC on Ministry of Defence (MOD) land.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation Infrastructure Management System has been used to determine what Ministry of Defence (MOD) buildings might potentially contain Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) material, based on the period in which they were constructed and their construction type. HMNB Clyde including Coulport has been included within the assessments to ascertain if they have been constructed with RAAC.


Written Question
Defence: Buildings
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the extent of the use of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete within Defence Estate buildings.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

For now, the focus is on bringing together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place. This work is being coordinated by the Office for Government Property.

Surveys are currently being conducted to identify buildings which may have been constructed with RAAC on Ministry of Defence (MOD) land.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation Infrastructure Management System has been used to determine what Ministry of Defence (MOD) buildings might potentially contain Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) material, based on the period in which they were constructed and their construction type. HMNB Clyde including Coulport has been included within the assessments to ascertain if they have been constructed with RAAC.


Written Question
Defence: Buildings
Wednesday 25th October 2023

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has surveyed the Defence Estate buildings to ascertain if they have been constructed (a) in part or (b) wholly by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

For now, the focus is on bringing together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place. This work is being coordinated by the Office for Government Property.

Surveys are currently being conducted to identify buildings which may have been constructed with RAAC on Ministry of Defence (MOD) land.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation Infrastructure Management System has been used to determine what Ministry of Defence (MOD) buildings might potentially contain Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) material, based on the period in which they were constructed and their construction type. HMNB Clyde including Coulport has been included within the assessments to ascertain if they have been constructed with RAAC.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Women
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of civil servants that are (a) at the grade of senior civil servant 2 and (b) on full-time equivalent contracts in his Department are women.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I can confirm as of 30 September 2023, 34 percent of Senior Civil Servants on pay band two are women and 35 percent of full-time staff at any grade are women.

Two percent of the total MOD civil service workforce are on non-permanent contracts, of which one percent are women.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Women
Monday 23rd October 2023

Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of civil servants on temporary contracts in his Department are women.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I can confirm as of 30 September 2023, 34 percent of Senior Civil Servants on pay band two are women and 35 percent of full-time staff at any grade are women.

Two percent of the total MOD civil service workforce are on non-permanent contracts, of which one percent are women.