Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to prevent trail hunting on land owned or managed by his Department.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Department is currently reviewing its position on trail hunting that takes place on the Defence Estate. I would like to stress that no licences to trail hunt on Ministry of Defence land have been granted for the 2024-25 hunting season, whilst I work with colleagues across Government to ensure any decision is understanding of rural communities, and animal welfare.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on members of the armed forces contacting hon. Members.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Those serving in the Armed Forces are accountable to Ministers and should not therefore contact Members of Parliament regarding Defence business.
They may however contact their Member of Parliament about personal matters affecting them directly, including their lived experience during their service. This includes issues related to: recruitment and training; terms and conditions of service; career management; discipline; housing; healthcare; and how defence policies and practices affect them and their families personally.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Black and minority ethnic people serve in the armed forces.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Sarah Atherton) on 18 October 2022 to Question 60068.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many women serve in the armed forces.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Sarah Atherton) on 18 October 2022 to Question 60068.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of people employed by his Department are from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
Answered by Sarah Atherton
Defence is committed to attracting, retaining and developing the best talent from the broadest diversity of skills and background, to reflect the society we serve. We are making the step changes required to create a more inclusive environment for all, enabling everyone, irrespective of background, to deliver our Defence outputs, enhance our operational effectiveness and represent the nation we serve. Our Department-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategy clearly sets out a challenging vision, goals, objectives and commitments of where we want to see change.
Defence is undergoing a rapid transformation. As part of this transformation, in 2020 the Chiefs of Staff set out their commitment to invest in a range of actions to support Defence’s ambition to be a more diverse and inclusive place to work. The interventions will drive change forward, building on the great strides we have already taken to attract, retain and develop the best talent and improve opportunities for women and men, e.g., opening all roles to women, lateral entry, flexible service, Wraparound childcare, Future Workplace Strategy and Forces Families Strategy.
As at 1 April 2022, there were 16,680 female Regular Service personnel in the UK Armed Forces. This equates to a representation rate of 11.3 per cent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared with 1 April 2021. As at 1 October 2021, there were 16,730 female civilian personnel working in MOD (Main). This equates to a representation rate of 44.3 per cent, a rise of 2.3 percentage points compared with 1 October 2017.
Our ambition is to build Defence into an institutionally inclusive organisation for the whole force, that is fair for all, and reflective, at all levels, of the diverse society we serve. We have launched the first phase of the Race Action Plan, a programme of work to consolidate all race-related activity across the whole force. This will allow a consistent approach to delivering transformational change and ensure actions are targeted and do not undermine current activities within this space.
As at 1 April 2022, there were 14,110 ethnic minority (excluding white minority) Regular Service personnel in the UK Armed Forces. This equates to a representation rate of 9.6 per cent, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared with 1 April 2021. As at 1 October 2021, there were 2,100 ethnic minority (excluding white minority) civilian personnel working in MOD (Main). This equates to a representation rate of 6.4 per cent, a rise of 1.9 percentage points compared with 1 October 2017.
Defence publishes biannual statistics on diversity declarations for Armed Forces personnel and civilian staff. The latest editions can be found at the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-diversity-dashboard-index
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of staff employed by his Department are women.
Answered by Sarah Atherton
Defence is committed to attracting, retaining and developing the best talent from the broadest diversity of skills and background, to reflect the society we serve. We are making the step changes required to create a more inclusive environment for all, enabling everyone, irrespective of background, to deliver our Defence outputs, enhance our operational effectiveness and represent the nation we serve. Our Department-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategy clearly sets out a challenging vision, goals, objectives and commitments of where we want to see change.
Defence is undergoing a rapid transformation. As part of this transformation, in 2020 the Chiefs of Staff set out their commitment to invest in a range of actions to support Defence’s ambition to be a more diverse and inclusive place to work. The interventions will drive change forward, building on the great strides we have already taken to attract, retain and develop the best talent and improve opportunities for women and men, e.g., opening all roles to women, lateral entry, flexible service, Wraparound childcare, Future Workplace Strategy and Forces Families Strategy.
As at 1 April 2022, there were 16,680 female Regular Service personnel in the UK Armed Forces. This equates to a representation rate of 11.3 per cent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared with 1 April 2021. As at 1 October 2021, there were 16,730 female civilian personnel working in MOD (Main). This equates to a representation rate of 44.3 per cent, a rise of 2.3 percentage points compared with 1 October 2017.
Our ambition is to build Defence into an institutionally inclusive organisation for the whole force, that is fair for all, and reflective, at all levels, of the diverse society we serve. We have launched the first phase of the Race Action Plan, a programme of work to consolidate all race-related activity across the whole force. This will allow a consistent approach to delivering transformational change and ensure actions are targeted and do not undermine current activities within this space.
As at 1 April 2022, there were 14,110 ethnic minority (excluding white minority) Regular Service personnel in the UK Armed Forces. This equates to a representation rate of 9.6 per cent, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared with 1 April 2021. As at 1 October 2021, there were 2,100 ethnic minority (excluding white minority) civilian personnel working in MOD (Main). This equates to a representation rate of 6.4 per cent, a rise of 1.9 percentage points compared with 1 October 2017.
Defence publishes biannual statistics on diversity declarations for Armed Forces personnel and civilian staff. The latest editions can be found at the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-diversity-dashboard-index
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on energy in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alec Shelbrooke
The cost to the Ministry of Defence for energy for approximately 80% of sites on the UK Defence Estate in each of the last three financial years (FY) can be found in the table below.
FY2019-20 | FY2020-21 | FY2021-22 |
UK Defence Estate £ million | UK Defence Estate £ million | UK Defence Estate £ million |
265.029 | 242.265 | 267.386 |
Gas and electricity information for the remaining 20% of UK Defence Estate sites is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have repatriated to the UK under the Afghan relocations and assistance scheme; and how many outstanding applications for resettlement to the UK remain as of 1 July 2022.
Answered by James Heappey
As of 6 July 2022 we have relocated over 9,700 individuals under the ARAP scheme and there are approximately 14,500 applications awaiting a final eligibility decision.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Afghan relocations and assistance scheme.
Answered by James Heappey
The Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) is one of the most generous relocation programmes in the world.
To date, over 9,900 eligible individuals and their families have already safely relocated to the UK under ARAP, and we are working with partners in the region to ensure safe passage of the eligible individuals that we know remain in Afghanistan.
The effective operation of the scheme is kept under regular review within the Department. The continued high number of monthly applications has recently led the Defence Permanent Secretary to dedicate more resources towards processing ARAP applications in the coming weeks and months to reflect the priority of this scheme.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to use faux bear fur in the production of uniforms used by the armed forces.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 February 2022 to Question 121824 to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell).