Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff from his Department are based in India.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 July 2023, there were approximately 15 MOD personnel (including UK Regular Forces, FR20 and civilians) stationed in India. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five to prevent inadvertent disclosure.
Figures are based on Service personnel's stationed location and not their location of residence - where personnel work isn't necessarily where they live.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of differences between the pension entitlements of reservists in the Army and reservists in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force on retention levels in the Army Reserves.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
All Reserve Forces in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force who joined from 1 April 2015 are members of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) 15.
Pension entitlements are one of a variety of financial incentives offered by the Department to attract and retain Reservists.
Other Departmental financial incentives include a daily pay rate, which increases as Reservists rise through the ranks, paid leave, and an additional annual tax-free bounty received on achieving criteria.
The Department regularly re-evaluates the wider offer made to Reservists, identifying new ways to retain our talented Service people. Currently, for example, the Department is reviewing Reservist training and working to identify further operational opportunities.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many trail hunting licenses were approved for use on his Department's land in 2022.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The number of trail hunting licenses approved for use on Ministry of Defence land in 2022 was 21.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to make a decision on the Defence Business Services' workplace programme for the North West.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The full business case will be submitted for approval in May 2022. The result is expected to be announced in early July 2022.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) value for money from his Department's projects and (b) that those projects are completed (i) on time and (ii) within budget.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
In line with Treasury Green Book guidance the Department considers a range of options for projects to determine which is the most effective at meeting the Armed Forces' needs whilst offering best value for money.
To ensure value for money is delivered through the life of a project, the Department has invested additional resource to monitor and evaluate cost, time and performance through life and embed a culture of evaluation.
As set out in our Annual Report, we continue to transform the way we do business, driving improvements in the processes and skills required to delivery programmes successfully.
We are setting projects up for success through early consideration of strategic factors, focusing expertise on areas of highest risk and complexity to support robust, evidence-based investment decisions and improve overall project outcomes. We are also improving the resourcing of projects with suitably qualified and experienced people through measures set out in the Department’s Project Delivery Functional Strategy on gov.uk.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what safety assessment his Department undertook of the Ajax tank programme before it was commissioned.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the written statement (HCWS322) I laid in this House on Monday 18 October 2021, which provided a comprehensive update on the Armoured Cavalry (Ajax) programme including health and safety. The MOD Director of Health, Safety and Environmental Protection report will provide a chronology on key safety decisions and I will publish the report once it is finalised.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what procurement process his Department followed for the commissioning of the Ajax tank programme.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ajax vehicle was selected following a full and open competition in 2010.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2021 to Question 16977 on United Nations: Peacekeeping Operations and the reference in that Answer to the deployment of Military Staff Officers to seven UN Peacekeeping missions, what costs were incurred by the UK Government for that deployment; and how many personnel made up that deployment.
Answered by James Heappey
In answering the hon. Member's Question 16977, I wrongly referred to deployment of staff officers on seven UN missions. In fact, UK staff officers are deployed on six missions. I apologise for this error.
In the Financial Year (FY) 2019-20, the UK deployed personnel into 20 Military Staff Officer roles in UN Peacekeeping and Special Political Mission Headquarters across five missions at a cost of £224 000.
The sixth mission, Operation TOSCA in Cyprus, includes a deployment of 12 individual Military Staff Officers and a troop contingent of around 250 personnel, which in total cost the UK £18.1 million, in FY 2019-20. We cannot accurately separate the staff costs for the wider deployment.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of military spending is spent on UK contributions to UN peacekeeping operations.
Answered by James Heappey
In the financial year 2019-20, the UK expenditure on Defence's operational contributions to UN Peacekeeping was £29.3million, which equates to 6.2% of total expenditure on operations. This includes the deployment of contingent troops to Cyprus and Somalia, residual costs from the drawdown in South Sudan, net additional costs to prepare for the deployment to Mali, and the deployment of individual Military Staff Officers to seven UN Peacekeeping missions in total.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the joint military manoeuvres with the USA, Italy, UK, Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal will take place in (a) Morocco or (b) occupied Western Sahara.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence can confirm that no UK personnel participating in Exercise AFRICAN LION will be conducting training in Western Sahara. The UK regards the status of Western Sahara as undetermined.