Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department's assessment of companies against its social value criteria gives equal weighting to benefits that are brought (a) direct to the UK and (b) overseas.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) applies the Social Value Model to all of its in-scope competitive procurements, in accordance with the Cabinet Office Social Value Policy. The MOD ensures correct and consistent application of the Social Value Model through additional policy, guidance, training and through engagement with industry through the Defence Supplier Forum. Its application is monitored through appropriate governance, reporting and reviews.
Weightings are applied to the award criteria, and supplier proposals are assessed qualitatively not quantitively in tender evaluation. The Social Value Model does not discriminate based on where social value is delivered. However where appropriate, and having due regard to UK market access obligations to our international fair-trade agreements (FTAs), procurements may specify, within their social value requirement, the social value to be delivered in specific geographical locations.
MOD currently applies Cabinet Office Social Value rules, and further, Defence specific values. For example, the New Medium Helicopter procurement has a strong weighting for UK workshare and exportability. To ensure the maximum impact of the Integrated Procurement Model, particular in supporting the development of sovereign capability, I will be undertaking a rapid review of how MOD applies social content rules on Defence Procurement.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to ensure that the social value model is applied (a) correctly and (b) consistently in his Department's procurement processes.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) applies the Social Value Model to all of its in-scope competitive procurements, in accordance with the Cabinet Office Social Value Policy. The MOD ensures correct and consistent application of the Social Value Model through additional policy, guidance, training and through engagement with industry through the Defence Supplier Forum. Its application is monitored through appropriate governance, reporting and reviews.
Weightings are applied to the award criteria, and supplier proposals are assessed qualitatively not quantitively in tender evaluation. The Social Value Model does not discriminate based on where social value is delivered. However where appropriate, and having due regard to UK market access obligations to our international fair-trade agreements (FTAs), procurements may specify, within their social value requirement, the social value to be delivered in specific geographical locations.
MOD currently applies Cabinet Office Social Value rules, and further, Defence specific values. For example, the New Medium Helicopter procurement has a strong weighting for UK workshare and exportability. To ensure the maximum impact of the Integrated Procurement Model, particular in supporting the development of sovereign capability, I will be undertaking a rapid review of how MOD applies social content rules on Defence Procurement.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the adequacy of the delivery of contracts by external providers.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The proactive monitoring, control and management of external providers is undertaken throughout the lifecycle of Defence contracts primarily by the Department’s Commercial and Project Management officials.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence’s Strategic Partnering Programme has built long-term relationships and has increased collaboration with many of our largest suppliers to work together to address any major performance issues.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he provides guidance to police forces on the prioritisation of day-to-day duties over responding to medical emergencies.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil claims for compensation which included an allegation of sexual assault of any kind have been issued against his Department in a (a) civil court and (b) tribunal in the last five years; and how many such claims were settled without a final hearing.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This Ministry of Defence takes the treatment of women and allegations of sexual assault in the Armed Forces very seriously. In answer to both questions:
(a)150 common law compensation claims which included an allegation of sexual assault/ sexual abuse have been received in the last five years. Of these, 94 have settled out of court with damages paid. 15 have been closed with no damages awarded and 41 cases are continuing.
(b)The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of reservists are unable to work due to (a) disability and (b) illness as of 24 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This information is not held in the specific detail requested.
The status of reserves by medical standard and reserve type as documented on JPA as at 24 November 2023 is detailed in the below table:
Assignment Type | MFD | MLD | MND | No records | Total |
Called out Reservist | 733 | 88 | 20 | - | 841 |
Full Time Reservist | 3,781 | 1,470 | 469 | - | 5,720 |
High Readiness Reserve | 54 | 6 | - | - | 60 |
Sponsored Reserve | 6 | 1 | - | - | 7 |
Volunteer Reserve | 27,038 | 3,051 | 2,348 | - | 32,437 |
Grand Total of Reservists with Medical Standards | 31,612 | 4,616 | 2,837 | - | 39,065 |
Reservist Without Medical Standards (new joiners etc) | - | - | - | - | 3,548 |
Grand total of Reservists | 31,612 | 4,616 | 2,837 | 3,548 | 42,613 |
MFD – Medically Fully Deployable
MLD – Medically Limited Deployability
MND – Medically Non-Deployable.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of service personnel have received (a) trauma treatment and (b) orthopedic from a private healthcare provider via the NHS fast-track pathway as of 24 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Further to the answer I gave on 16 November 2023 to Question 1407 to the hon. Member for Wrexham (Ms Atherton), the number of regular service personnel in England who have received intervention under the Fast Track Surgery Contract, which is currently provided by SPIRE Healthcare, is set out by financial year in the table below:
Financial Year(FY) | Orthopedic and Spinal Patients | Imaging Referrals |
FY2020-21 | 203 | 2,670 |
FY2021-22 | 299 | 3,341 |
FY2022-23 | 472 | 3,376 |
FY2023-24 (prediction) | 540 | 3,230 |
The figures provided include the predicted requirement for the current financial year, should referral criteria and surgical intervention types remain unchanged.
The Department does not hold data on the proportion of service personnel who have received treatment under the Fast Track Surgery Contract.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) reserve and (b) regular service personnel are on a waiting list for orthopaedic surgery.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not responsible for reserves healthcare, except when mobilised and does not hold data on how many reserve service personnel are awaiting orthopaedic surgery.
For regular service personnel, the number on a waiting list for the combined trauma and orthopaedic service is 1,447 in England. This figure is provided by NHS England and is the most recent data held by MOD. This figure does not include the number of regular Service personnel who have been referred through the fast-track contract with a private healthcare provider.
The number of regular Service personnel currently on a waiting list for orthopaedic surgery is 18 in Scotland. This includes five on NHS waiting lists and 13 who have been referred through the fast-track contract with a private healthcare provider. In Northern Ireland the number of regular service personnel currently on a waiting list for orthopaedic surgery is six. Wales has a total of seven regular service personnel awaiting orthopaedic surgery or an orthopaedic appointment.
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many female service personnel (a) joined and (b) left the (i) army, (ii) navy, (iii) air force and (iv) marines since September 2022.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The requested information is published in the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics, available at the following link:
Asked by: Sarah Atherton (Conservative - Wrexham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many male service personnel (a) joined and (b) left the (i) army, (ii) navy, (iii) air force and (iv) marines since September 2022.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The requested information is published in the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics, available at the following link: