Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the cost of the trim and compensation system for the Dreadnought programme; and whether that estimate is an increase on previously made estimates.
Answered by Guto Bebb
Costs of individual systems on Dreadnought are managed within the programme's overall £31 billion budget, which is funded by Defence. I am withholding details of the cost of this system as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial discussions and interests.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, from which budgets the cost of the Dreadnought programme’s trim and compensation system will be funded.
Answered by Guto Bebb
Costs of individual systems on Dreadnought are managed within the programme's overall £31 billion budget, which is funded by Defence. I am withholding details of the cost of this system as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial discussions and interests.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to reassure service families at Leuchars Station that accommodation improvement plans will not be affected by the difficulties facing Carillion plc.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
All of the services directly provided to Service personnel and their families worldwide, including catering and housing, will remain unchanged; this has been communicated to Service personnel through the chain of command.
The facilities management contracts, which provide services to Service personnel and their families which involved Carillion, are all with Incorporated Joint Ventures (JVs). These are independent legal entities and the partners to those JVs are required to deliver the requirements of the JV if one of the partners fails.
We are working with the relevant JV partners to ensure that they continue to deliver the required services.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that planned maintenance to service family accommodation at Leuchars Station is not be affected by the difficulties facing Carillion plc.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
All of the services directly provided to Service personnel and their families worldwide, including catering and housing, will remain unchanged; this has been communicated to Service personnel through the chain of command.
The facilities management contracts, which provide services to Service personnel and their families which involved Carillion, are all with Incorporated Joint Ventures (JVs). These are independent legal entities and the partners to those JVs are required to deliver the requirements of the JV if one of the partners fails.
We are working with the relevant JV partners to ensure that they continue to deliver the required services.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will give the Scottish Government Minister with responsibility for veterans a seat on the Ministerial Armed Forces and Veteran’s Board.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The new Ministerial Armed Forces Covenant and Veterans Board will drive forward and coordinate better Government support to the Armed Forces, their families and veterans across the whole of the UK. The devolved administrations play an important role in providing this support, which is why representatives from the Scottish Government and Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Civil Service, were invited to the inaugural meeting of the Board in October 2017. Following discussions at that meeting, the Government is considering the best arrangements for future meetings.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the Joint Doctrine Publication, entitled UK Joint Targeting Policy, on the Departmental website.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
There is no Joint Doctrine Publication on UK Joint Targeting Policy. The Allied Joint Publication on NATO doctrine for joint targeting is available on the Gov.uk website at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/allied-joint-doctrine-for-joint-targeting-ajp-39a
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Departmental policy, as outlined in Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30.2 unmanned aircraft systems of August 2017 includes targeting conducted (a) jointly by the different armed forces or (b) with allied nations.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Joint Doctrine Publication on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) applies to all uses of UAS across Defence at the operational level. It guides operational commanders and planning staff in understanding the terminology, tasking and employment of the UK's UAS.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether Departmental policy, as outlined in Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30.2 unmanned aircraft systems of August 2017 applies to strikes outside of war zones.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Joint Doctrine Publication on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) applies to all uses of UAS across Defence at the operational level. It guides operational commanders and planning staff in understanding the terminology, tasking and employment of the UK's UAS.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made on the effectiveness of its implementation of the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance framework.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Government applies its Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) human rights guidance to ensure that such assistance meets its human rights obligations and values. This guidance was revised and re-published in January 2017.
The UK’s security and justice expertise is highly valued across the world and improves the standards and capabilities of law enforcement and security agencies operating in the most challenging environments. OSJA assessments are carried out before assistance is rendered and evaluates the risk of any training provided being used in a way that is not in line with human rights and British values. As the Foreign Secretary stated in his written ministerial statement on 26 January 2017 (HCWS441), the new OSJA process remains the most comprehensive and demanding tool of its type anywhere in the world.
As the lead Department for OSJA policy, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) engaged with a number of human rights organisations (including members of the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Groups on Human Rights) as part of the recent revision of the OSJA guidance and will continue to do so with regard to its implementation. The FCO will include information on the steps taken to implement OSJA across Government when it publishes its Annual Human Rights Report.
Defence personnel consider the OSJA guidance for all new proposed assistance and extensions to existing assistance, and where a substantial change in circumstances has significantly altered the risk for existing assistance. The guidance is therefore considered in any country where assistance is planned. Authority for activity underpinned by OSJA assessments is made at different levels according to the risk, from personnel in-country to Ministers in Departments of State. The Ministry of Defence does not hold data covering all Defence OSJA assessments made in the last three calendar years.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - North East Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to publish how it ensures the adequate implementation of the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance framework.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Government applies its Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) human rights guidance to ensure that such assistance meets its human rights obligations and values. This guidance was revised and re-published in January 2017.
The UK’s security and justice expertise is highly valued across the world and improves the standards and capabilities of law enforcement and security agencies operating in the most challenging environments. OSJA assessments are carried out before assistance is rendered and evaluates the risk of any training provided being used in a way that is not in line with human rights and British values. As the Foreign Secretary stated in his written ministerial statement on 26 January 2017 (HCWS441), the new OSJA process remains the most comprehensive and demanding tool of its type anywhere in the world.
As the lead Department for OSJA policy, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) engaged with a number of human rights organisations (including members of the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Groups on Human Rights) as part of the recent revision of the OSJA guidance and will continue to do so with regard to its implementation. The FCO will include information on the steps taken to implement OSJA across Government when it publishes its Annual Human Rights Report.
Defence personnel consider the OSJA guidance for all new proposed assistance and extensions to existing assistance, and where a substantial change in circumstances has significantly altered the risk for existing assistance. The guidance is therefore considered in any country where assistance is planned. Authority for activity underpinned by OSJA assessments is made at different levels according to the risk, from personnel in-country to Ministers in Departments of State. The Ministry of Defence does not hold data covering all Defence OSJA assessments made in the last three calendar years.