Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Kirstene Hair

Wednesday 16th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Andrew]

I am afraid that I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. We have secured 20 years’ worth of work for the Clyde shipyards. We would be hard-pressed to find any industry in the UK that could say it has secured 20 years’ worth of work to help its workforce for the future.

[Kirstene Hair (Angus) (Con)]

15. Armed forces personnel in my constituency of Angus and across Scotland warmly welcomed the UK Government’s intervention last year to mitigate the Scottish Government’s income tax increase. Can my hon. Friend confirm that the UK Government will seek to continue that mitigation to ensure our armed forces personnel in Scotland are not out of pocket?

[Stuart Andrew]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this important issue. The Ministry of Defence is reviewing the Scottish Government’s plans for next year’s tax, and we await the final outcome and ratification from the Scottish Parliament. We will review the situation and determine whether the impact on the UK armed forces warrants an offer of financial mitigation. Once a decision has been made, an announcement will be made to this House and to those affected personnel.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Kirstene Hair

Monday 22nd October 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Stuart Andrew)]

We are currently in the pre-qualification process, which means we are making sure that we get the very best price for the ships we need. The FSS is not classed as a warship, and therefore it has to go out to international competition. We want to make sure that we have British shipyards competing for the contracts so that they become world competitors when other countries are looking to offer such contracts.

[Kirstene Hair (Angus) (Con)]

T7. Earlier this year, cadets in Arbroath embarked on a new era with the opening of a new £600,000 joint facility in the town. Further to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling (Stephen Kerr), will the Secretary of State underline the Department’s plan for increasing investment in cadet units across the UK?