Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the condition of Royal Air Force (a) single living accommodation, (b) mess accommodation and (c) service families accommodation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
There has been no recent assessment of the totality of single living accommodation, which includes mess accommodation, provided by the Royal Air Force (RAF), but data collected between 2005 and 2020 does provide an overview of their condition. All single living accommodation the RAF provides to its personnel is required to be of a suitable standard and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently working to define a Defence Minimum Standard (DMS) against which all single living accommodation will be assessed.
The MOD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation manages, on a Tri-Service basis, around 50,000 properties in the UK including targeted improvement programmes and planning future requirements. Therefore, it is not possible to separately identify RAF Service Families Accommodation (SFA). However, as at 1 September 2021, of the 99% of SFA that were assessed, 87.8% of the properties were above the Government’s Decent Homes Standard and 8.9% were at the standard. The remaining 2.3% were considered below the standard and not allocated to Service Families.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the condition of Royal Air Force service accommodation on (a) flight safety, (b) operational effectiveness and (c) morale; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
There have been no recent assessments conducted specifically in relation to accommodation issues affecting flight safety and operational effectiveness. However, the annual Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS) includes questions regarding accommodation and morale to enable the MOD to garner the views of Service personnel and act where necessary.
The most recent report is published on the Gov.UK website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/armed-forces-continuous-attitude-survey-2021
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the condition of mess accommodation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Department uses two assessment methodologies to review the condition of 'mess accommodation' otherwise known as Single Living Accommodation (SLA).
Facilities Condition Management (FCM) assesses the fabric and services of all buildings across the Defence Estate. Specific to SLA, a Four Tier Grading system also measures accommodation against additional internal criteria. The combined results provide a more accurate assessment of the overall condition of the SLA.
The overall condition of the UK SLA estate is currently assessed as 'Fair' indicating that a proportion of the estate will require minor repairs and some infrequent larger repairs within three to five years. Each Service prioritises investment in their SLA based on the outcome of these assessments.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to ensure that UK defence priorities are not subordinate to EU capability development priorities.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The UK continues to conduct its defence policy according to its own priorities and to assess EU capability development initiatives on that basis. For example, the UK decided not to join Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). The Government has said that it may wish to participate in some EU capability development projects as part of the future partnership, on a voluntary and case-by-case basis where of clear benefit to the UK. The Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration provide such options to cooperate.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on the UK's defence capability being subject to the EU's Coordinated Annual Review on Defence after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) is a stocktake of EU Member State plans for defence spending and capability development. Non-EU countries do not participate. The UK will, however, continue to call for full coherence between CARD and NATO's Defence Planning Process to avoid unnecessary duplication and to address issues of common interest such as interoperability of military forces.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to ensure the UK does not enter into permanent binding commitments within the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Government has made clear that EU defence initiatives should be: coherent with NATO requirements; available to NATO; and have the fullest participation of non-EU NATO Allies. Where these conditions are met, the UK can support the development of EU tools such as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).
The UK has not joined PESCO as an EU Member State, but has expressed an interest in participating in capability development projects as part of the future partnership, on a voluntary and case-by-case basis, where this is of clear benefit to the UK. PESCO-participating Member States continue to negotiate the terms on which third countries might take part in PESCO projects.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy for the UK not to participate in the European Defence Fund after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The UK/EU Political Declaration states that the UK and the EU will consider UK industry participation in European Defence Fund programmes in order to facilitate interoperability and to promote joint effectiveness of our armed forces.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
If she will pay tribute to Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Air Commodore Clarke was a great friend and ambassador of the Royal Air Force and a truly remarkable man.
Air Commodore Clarke was a member of a World War Two Lancaster aircrew, and one of the last surviving prisoners of the Stalag Luft III Prisoner of War camp in Poland at the time of the great escape.
Following a distinguished career in the RAF, he worked tirelessly as Chairman of the Bomber Command Association, not to mention his support for the RAF Association, RAF Benevolent Fund and the Air Cadets. His courage in the face of adversity is an inspiration to us all, and I know he will be sadly missed by all those who knew him.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance is provided to the armed forces to ensure that service records are provided in a timely manner to civilian NHS organisations.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
On leaving the Armed Forces, individuals are issued with a discharge letter and an intermediate summary of their in-service care, including relevant referral letters and results. Individuals are advised to pass this information to their new NHS GP. This information also explains how the NHS GP can obtain their patient's full military medical records if required.
As a fail-safe, and provided the patient has given consent, the same information is automatically sent to their NHS GP upon registration. The NHS GP will also be informed about the patient's status as a veteran.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that Britain's nuclear submarine fleet systems have robust and up-to-date operating systems installed in place of Windows XP.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
We continually assess the capability of the United Kingdom's nuclear submarine fleet to ensure its operational effectiveness and to maintain resilience against potential threats.
I am withholding information on the specific systems used by our submarines as disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our Armed Forces.