Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many private recruitment agencies his Department uses to fill senior vacancies; what the potential cost to the public purse is of these services; and what steps his Department is taking to monitor performance.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
To date in financial year 2024-25, there have been three permanent Senior Civil Servant (SCS) Payband 1 or 2 recruitment campaigns, and three SCS Payband 3 or 4 campaigns that have engaged a private sector Executive Search firm. The cost of these services is commercial-in-confidence so cannot be provided at this time.
Top Level Budgets in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) hold individual commercial contracts with Executive Search firms and are responsible for monitoring performance, with the MOD also overseeing this centrally.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have the necessary security clearance to access the (i) Merlin database and (ii) documentation stored on the Merlin database pertaining to the nuclear test programme and its veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
As set out in the answer I gave on 23 January to Question 10374 from the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey), seven officials at the Atomic Weapons Establishment have appropriate clearance and are authorised to access the Merlin database.
All Ministers hold clearances appropriate to their roles and responsibilities. As the Minister responsible in the Ministry of Defence for veteran's affairs I retain the relevant clearances to view the information retained on Merlin.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether classified documents retained by his Department under a Lord Chancellor’s Instruction citing a national security exemption are among the files available to be searched when his Department receives a Freedom of Information request which may include personal data held within it.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
All classified documents that have been retained by the Ministry of Defence under the national security exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Data Protection Act 2018 are available to be searched on receipt of Data Subject Access Requests, Freedom of Information Requests and questions to the Secretary of State or other Ministers in the Department.
If, after location and review of the classified documents, it is deemed that release of any/all of the information would still prejudice national security, then it may continue to be withheld by law.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether classified documents retained by his department under a Lord Chancellor’s Instruction citing a national security exemption are among the files available to be searched when his Department receives a Data Subject Access Request which may include personal data held within it.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
All classified documents that have been retained by the Ministry of Defence under the national security exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Data Protection Act 2018 are available to be searched on receipt of Data Subject Access Requests, Freedom of Information Requests and questions to the Secretary of State or other Ministers in the Department.
If, after location and review of the classified documents, it is deemed that release of any/all of the information would still prejudice national security, then it may continue to be withheld by law.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether classified documents retained by his Department under a Lord Chancellor’s Instruction citing a national security exemption are among the files available to be searched when his Department receives a question to the Secretary of State or other Minister in the Department.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
All classified documents that have been retained by the Ministry of Defence under the national security exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Data Protection Act 2018 are available to be searched on receipt of Data Subject Access Requests, Freedom of Information Requests and questions to the Secretary of State or other Ministers in the Department.
If, after location and review of the classified documents, it is deemed that release of any/all of the information would still prejudice national security, then it may continue to be withheld by law.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
If he will bring forward proposals to allow veterans to apply for access to their biological monitoring tests conducted during their service.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Veterans or members of their family are already entitled to request information that may be held by the Ministry of Defence, including medical test results, through Subject Access Requests. Information is provided on request to individuals, or representatives acting on their behalf, under General Data Protection Regulation, Chapter 3, Article 15 – Right of access.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals has discussed the updated application for medallic recognition for British Nuclear Test Veterans in between August and October 2022; when a decision on that matter will be published.
Answered by James Heappey
There is a well-established process in place for the approval of historic military medals claims. These are considered by the independent Advisory-Military Sub-Committee, which then provides advice to the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee). All recommendations regarding the awarding of official medals must go through proper due process and will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the report to Prime Minister Churchill’s Cabinet, and minutes thereof, on the result of the British atomic test at Monte Bello in 1952, as referenced in the Official Report, 4 February 1983, vol 36 c209W, has been released under the 30-year rule.
Answered by Leo Docherty
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The British atomic test at Monte Bello in 1952 was the first test of a British atomic device and consequently there are many records on this subject. Some have been released to The National Archives, but many contain sensitive technical information about the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons programme and are retained. It has not been possible to determine which record may contain the report and minutes in question, due to the limited details on them and the time that has elapsed since the answer referenced in Official Report, 4 February 1983.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 23 May 2019 to Question 256302, what records his Department holds on the civilian (a) women and (b) children who travelled to Christmas Island on troop ship HMT Dunera in 1958.
Answered by Leo Docherty
A search of the Ministry of Defence Archive has been conducted and no records of HMT Dunera have been traced.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Independent - Salford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) health measures and (b) radiobiological monitoring did the Government introduce after the British Nuclear Test Programme ended in 1991 for (i) all service personnel involved in the operations, (ii) all indigenous peoples living near or on the test sites during or after the time of operations, (iii) any others locally present during operations or now living near the test sites.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK atmospheric nuclear test programme experimented on weapons not Service personnel; the health of all those involved was a vital consideration, as shown by the detailed documented safety measures and radiobiological monitoring that took place during experiments. The Service personnel who took part were not subject to ongoing routine health measures or radiobiological monitoring after the programme ended. To date, any published peer-reviewed research has found no evidence of a general excess of illness or mortality among nuclear test veterans as a group that could be linked to their participation in the tests. Any nuclear test veterans who believe they have suffered ill health due to service, have the right to apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pensions Scheme.
In 1968, the UK and Australia signed an agreement confirming that the clean-up of all test sites had been completed satisfactorily. As announced to the House on 10 December 1993, (Official Report, column 421), the Government agreed to make an ex gratia payment of £20 million to the Federal Government of Australia as part of a full and final settlement of the UK Government’s liability for any claims resulting from the British test programme. A copy of the note giving effect to this agreement was placed in the Library of the House. The note also records that the Government of Australia indemnified the Government of the UK against claims from Australian nationals or residents. The Government now regards the matter as closed.