Neil O'Brien: MOD: Written Answers (21)

Written Question

Defence Equipment & Support and Submarine Delivery Agency: Equality

Tuesday 29th April 2025

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 5 March 2024 to Question 15748, how many staff in (a) The Ministry of Defence (b) Defence Equipment & Support and (c) the Submarine Delivery Agency have email tallies which include the words (i) equality, (ii) diversity, (iii) inclusion, (iv) gender, (v) LGBT and (vi) race.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 26 September 2024 to Question 1555.

Written Question

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Tuesday 18th February 2025

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on Capita provided medical vetting for forces personnel in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The requested information is provided in the following table, by Financial Year (FY):

FY	£ million
2014-15	175.730
2015-16	127.058
2016-17	134.476
2017-18	124.062
2018-19	115.435
2019-20	120.961
2020-21	132.124
2021-22	121.657
2022-23	121.028
2023-24	126.760

Written Question

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Tuesday 18th February 2025

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time taken was between the point of application to join the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) RAF and attestation in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The new Government inherited a crisis in recruitment. We have made it a priority to address this with a series of work streams designed to increase recruitment and renew the contract between the nation and those who serve to improve retention.

Many factors affect the time taken to proceed through the recruiting pipeline. Many candidates proceed much faster than the average when they are well prepared and ready to move quickly. Others take longer, for reasons including:

Delays in the receipt of primary healthcare records.
Medical deferment for those requiring time to get medically fit.
The need to align the start of basic of training with trade training.
A candidate’s current domestic, employment and housing situation.
A candidate’s choice regarding pace and level of engagement.

Numerical information is provided in the table below, noting that direct comparisons between each Service should be avoided due to the different processes in use; for example, recruits to the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force must achieve a Security Check level of security clearance before joining. In the time available to answer a Parliamentary Question, it has not been possible to provide information for each requested year.

Average Time of Flight (days) taken between Application and Basic Training Starts for Regular Other Ranks UK Nationals between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2024

	12 months ending 30 September:
Average Time of Flight (days)	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Royal Navy (RN) / Royal Marines (RM)	..	..	357	376	301	279
Army	262	285	284	321	254	249
Royal Air Force (RAF)	..	345	448	463	375	301

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Table Notes:

Time of Flight is defined as the time passed in days between the date of application and the date of intake to the untrained strength. The symbol “..” denotes that information is not available.
Average Time of Flight is expressed as the median number of days, meaning that Time of Flight for half of all candidates is shorter than the figures provided, and half is longer. For example, half of RN/RM candidates took up to 279 days in the 12 months ending 30 September 2024, with half taking longer.
Application data is taken from the Defence Recruitment System and Recruitment IT System (RN and RAF) and matched to intake data from the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system and should reflect time of entry to training.
Figures may differ from information reported elsewhere by single Service recruiting teams, which are intended to support operational decision-makers monitoring operational and pipeline performance and are therefore calculated using differing methodologies.
Applications from non-UK candidates are excluded, with Nationality as declared on JPA. Army figures include applications from Irish personnel but exclude applications from other countries and those applicants without a known nationality.
For a small number of Navy personnel, application date is recorded as after their intake date, likely due to outflowing and re-joining the Service. These personnel have been excluded from calculations.
When an individual has multiple applications to the RAF or RN/RM, the applications closest before their intake was used as the application submission date.
Where an application date is not held in the data or an application cannot be matched to intake, such as where there is no corresponding service number or National Insurance number, the case is excluded.

Written Question

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Tuesday 18th February 2025

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was the average length of time taken between the point of application to join (a) the army, (b) the Royal Navy, (c) the RAF and attestation in each year since 1997.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Delays in the receipt of primary healthcare records.
Medical deferment for those requiring time to get medically fit.
The need to align the start of basic of training with trade training.
A candidate’s current domestic, employment and housing situation.
A candidate’s choice regarding pace and level of engagement.

Average Time of Flight (days) taken between Application and Basic Training Starts for Regular Other Ranks UK Nationals between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2024

	12 months ending 30 September:
Average Time of Flight (days)	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Royal Navy (RN) / Royal Marines (RM)	..	..	357	376	301	279
Army	262	285	284	321	254	249
Royal Air Force (RAF)	..	345	448	463	375	301

Source: Analysis (Tri-Service)

Table Notes:

Time of Flight is defined as the time passed in days between the date of application and the date of intake to the untrained strength. The symbol “..” denotes that information is not available.
Average Time of Flight is expressed as the median number of days, meaning that Time of Flight for half of all candidates is shorter than the figures provided, and half is longer. For example, half of RN/RM candidates took up to 279 days in the 12 months ending 30 September 2024, with half taking longer.
Application data is taken from the Defence Recruitment System and Recruitment IT System (RN and RAF) and matched to intake data from the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system and should reflect time of entry to training.
Figures may differ from information reported elsewhere by single Service recruiting teams, which are intended to support operational decision-makers monitoring operational and pipeline performance and are therefore calculated using differing methodologies.
Applications from non-UK candidates are excluded, with Nationality as declared on JPA. Army figures include applications from Irish personnel but exclude applications from other countries and those applicants without a known nationality.
For a small number of Navy personnel, application date is recorded as after their intake date, likely due to outflowing and re-joining the Service. These personnel have been excluded from calculations.
When an individual has multiple applications to the RAF or RN/RM, the applications closest before their intake was used as the application submission date.
Where an application date is not held in the data or an application cannot be matched to intake, such as where there is no corresponding service number or National Insurance number, the case is excluded.

Written Question

Ministry of Defence: Temporary Accommodation

Wednesday 18th December 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people seeking (a) asylum and (b) humanitarian protection are in accomodation on his Department's property.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

There are currently no people seeking asylum or humanitarian protection accommodated on the Defence Estate.

The Secretary of State for Defence recently made an announcement regarding the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP). The ARP is a cross-government delivery programme that will improve efficiency, value for money and outcomes across Afghan Resettlement. This Government has always supported the aims of the Afghan resettlement schemes and we will deliver its commitments to those in Afghanistan who are eligible to relocate and resettle in the UK.

As part of this, the use of the Defence Estate for transitional accommodation will reduce over time however it is currently providing temporary and long-term accommodation to over 5,600 Afghans.

Written Question

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Procurement

Monday 25th November 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of the collapse of Reaction Engines Ltd on the UK Hypersonic Air Vehicle programme.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence is in discussion with the Administrators appointed by Reaction Engines Ltd. However, these discussions are commercial-in-confidence and I cannot disclose further details.

Written Question

Army Cadet Force: Costs

Thursday 31st October 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of the Army Cadet force in each year since 2019; and what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the Army Cadet force in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

Due to the way financial data for the Army Cadet Force is captured and managed, it is taking time to collate all the relevant information. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as practical and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Written Question

Ministry of Defence: Equality

Thursday 26th September 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department have job titles which include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence does not routinely collate information on specific words and collating this information would come at a disproportionate cost.

Information on spending and staffing can be found in the Department's annual report and accounts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-defence-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024

Written Question

Ministry of Defence: Equality

Friday 24th May 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2024 to Question 15742 of 26 February, when he plans to place the information requested in the Library.

Answered by Andrew Murrison

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Written Question

Armed Forces: Cadets

Friday 8th March 2024

Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) state and (b) independent schools had cadet units in each year since 2010.

Answered by Andrew Murrison

The requested information is only available from 2012. The number of state and independent schools with Cadet units is as follows:

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Indep	190	190	190	190	190	191	194	198	198	200	201	200	201
State	68	75	98	123	144	187	221	275	170	264	268	270	268

Figures include Sea Cadet Corp (SCC), Closed Army Cadet Force units and Linked Detachments established during and under the terms the Cadet Expansion Programme.
Schools that were in a partnership (junior partners) are not included.
There are 9 units that have been approved and are preparing to parade.

Information about other SCC or Community Cadet Units (closed or otherwise) that are accommodated on the school premises, but are not of that school, is not held. The use of the school’s facilities would be arranged at local level, mainly through Reserved Forces and Cadets Association, and often as a monetary benefit to the school.