Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service present at the nuclear test on Christmas Island are entitled to a pension of compensation.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) are civilians and may receive pensions for their Service under the terms of any civilian pension scheme to which they belonged. The Ministry of Defence does have a scheme to provide compensation to members of the RFA who suffer war injuries or detention, but this scheme does not cover peacetime activities, such as the nuclear tests on Christmas Island. However, other options may be sought such as recourse to common law claims under the Workmen’s Compensation Act or the Industrial Injuries Scheme.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he takes to ensure UK components supplied to the F-35 programme can be subjected to (a) a product recall and (b) an air accident investigation process .
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
If there is a need for a product recall this will be managed by the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) through its global industry supply chain.
Air accident investigation is undertaken by the F-35 Partner Nation that has experienced the accident. They will be supported by the JPO and any findings impacting air safety will be shared with all Partner Nations.
Asked by: Patricia Ferguson (Labour - Glasgow West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he takes to trace the end user of UK components delivered to the F-35 programme.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, part of the US Department of Defence, manages the F-35 programme for all F-35 Partner Nations through its global industry supply chain.