Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Philip Dunne and Henry Smith(8 years, 1 month ago)
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Mr Dunne
We recognise that there have been pressures on emergency departments for some years, which is why we have put particular effort into recruiting more consultants. There are, I believe, 50% more consultants working in emergency departments in England than there were in 2010, and 25% more doctors.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Philip Dunne and Henry Smith(10 years, 5 months ago)
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Mr Dunne
As my hon. Friend knows, we are currently engaged in introducing private sector management skills into the logistics and defence support group activities carried out at Donnington. Both are at advanced stages of negotiation, so I am unable to give him any more information at this point about the competition. However, as soon as a decision is reached, he will be one of the first to know.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
13. What assessment he has made of the recommendations of the concluding report of the Trident commission set up by the British American Security Information Council.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Philip Dunne and Henry Smith(10 years, 7 months ago)
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Mr Dunne
I applaud my hon. Friend for the pioneering work he did in helping us take this reform of DE&S through. We are convinced that the work that we are doing in the new bespoke trading entity will bring significant benefits to defence procurement for the long term, but as he knows, we have retained in the Defence Reform Bill, which should shortly receive Royal Assent, the power for a future Government to introduce a GoCo, with suitable parliamentary scrutiny, should this be necessary to transform DE&S further in the years to come.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
14. What assistance his Department plans to provide to ensure that veterans are able to take part in the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of D-day.
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Debate between Philip Dunne and Henry Smith(11 years, 6 months ago)
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Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
T10. I greatly welcome the recent contract signed by the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne) on behalf of the MOD for the sensor support optimisation project with my constituency company of Thales UK. Can he say a little more about how this sonar technology will help the resilience of our fleet?
Mr Dunne
I greatly enjoyed visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency at the end of last month to sign that contract. It is a £600 million contract, which will ensure that the very sophisticated sonar and avionics systems—I mean periscopes—in our fleets are supported for the next 10 years, and it should save the Exchequer some £140 million over that period.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Philip Dunne and Henry Smith(11 years, 8 months ago)
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Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
T6. I very much welcome the increase in UK defence exports, which employ hundreds of thousands of people around the country, many of whom are in my constituency. Will my hon. Friend update the House on progress on exports of the Typhoon fighter?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Philip Dunne)
The Government have been at the forefront of export campaigns for Eurofighter Typhoon. Following success in securing export orders in Oman last December, we have been actively working with industry, the UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation and the Eurofighter partner nations to support potential Typhoon sales to a number of countries in the middle east, Europe and Asia—including Malaysia, where I led a delegation of 25 companies in the week before Easter. Typhoon exports help to sustain highly skilled jobs and engineering capability in the air sector, including that of the facility in my hon. Friend’s constituency which produces vital, full-mission simulators for Typhoon pilot training.