Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of replacing each Vanguard class submarine under the Trident nuclear programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Replacing the Vanguard Class, the Dreadnought submarine programme remains on track to deliver to schedule and within the original £31 billion plus £10 billion contingency budget made in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2023 to Question 1249 on USA: Military Bases, how many US military personnel are stationed at (a) RAF Alconbury, (b) RAF Molesworth, (c) RAF Croughton, (d) RAF Fairford, (e) RAF Lakenheath, (f) RAF Menwith Hill and (g) RAF Mildenhall.
Answered by James Heappey
The information required to answer the hon. Member's question is not held centrally and will take some time to collate. I will write to him when the information is available and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending health and safety legislation to cover armed forces personnel serving overseas.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Given the nature of defence operations, our personnel are often asked to work in challenging environments around the world. For this reason, it would not be practical to apply health and safety legislation that has been developed to provide safe working environments within the UK, when overseas. I would like to provide reassurance that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does seek to comply with local health and safety standards and where these local standards fall below those expected within UK, the MOD applies UK standards so far as it is reasonably practicable.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish all (a) RAF bases and (b) airports in the UK that have been used by the USA for (i) military purposes and (ii) operations in the Middle East in the last 12 months.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence does not hold all of this information.
In addition to the RAF bases occupied by United States Visiting Forces in the UK, the US military routinely uses or transits through other UK military and civilian airports as well as our overseas military bases, for operational, training or transitory purposes. This includes US military aircraft as well as military personnel travelling via civilian means using appropriate NATO travel documentation. This is also a testament to the depth of our defence partnership with the United States.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the US maintains air bases in the UK; and for what purpose each base exists.
Answered by James Heappey
The United States Visiting Forces are present in the UK at the invitation of HM Government. Bases are made available to the United States under the terms of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement and Visiting Forces Act. The continued presence of United States military forces in the UK forms an important part of the United States' on-going wider commitment to NATO and the security of Europe, with bases at RAF Alconbury, RAF Molesworth, RAF Croughton, RAF Fairford, RAF Lakenheath, RAF Menwith Hill and RAF Mildenhall.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK airports were used by the US military for rendition flights for the transfer of terrorist suspects.
Answered by James Heappey
There were two previously declared incidents relating to the US in 2002, where British Territory was used for this purpose. The transition of two detainees through Diego Garcia was reported to Parliament by the then Foreign Secretary in February 2008. Since those events in 2002 the UK has not authorised any other instances of other countries rendering terrorism suspects through the territorial land, air or seas of the UK or our overseas territories.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what pre-planned work took place requiring the re-location of staff from building 201 at Royal Navy Armament Depot (RNAD) Coulport to building 41; and on what dates that re-location take place.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Building 201 was taken out of service to enable pre-planned infrastructure upgrades managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO). The contract for this work was awarded in December 2018, work commenced in September 2019 and was completed in October 2020. Staff from Building 201 were fully involved in preparing the facility for handover to the DIO contractor and were accommodated in building 41 from September 2019 until completion of the works.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there was a public announcement of the re-location of staff from building 201 at Royal Navy Armament Depot Coulport to building 41 in 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
No, there was no requirement for a public announcement of the re-location of staff from one building to another. This evolution was managed internally by site management in line with standard practice.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the process is for recording radiation breaches that occur at (a) HM Naval Base Clyde and (b) RNAD Coulport; and what the process is for communicating that information to (a) local services and (b) the public.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In line with regulations and Industry Good Practice and in common with other defence and civil nuclear sites, His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde, including RNAD Coulport, has a well-established system for raising Nuclear Site Event Reports. These reports are raised to foster a robust safety culture that learns from experience.
HMNB Clyde also undertakes regular engagement with the local community to test established processes for communicating information to the public, including emergency services.
Asked by: Neale Hanvey (Alba Party - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the threshold is for recording a serious radiation breach at naval bases; and which organisations are responsible for assessing what constitutes a (a) serious and (b) non-serious radiation breach.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence is responsible for the assessment and categorisation of radiological safety events. The categorisation of events at HM Naval Base Clyde is aligned to the guidance issued by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The radiological consequences of an event would be considered serious if it resulted in an unplanned radiation exposure exceeding a statutory dose limit or a release of radioactive material which exceeds the notification value in the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017.