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Written Question
Afghanistan: Armed Forces
Thursday 28th February 2019

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that Afghan Interpreters are eligible for help from UK service charities.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

When former Locally Employed Staff (LES) are relocated to the UK, we provide funding for four months of support by the Local Authority through a contracted support provider. These support providers offer assistance to the former LES in areas such as familiarisation with their new location and setting up their new home; finding school or nursery places for children; access to English language lessons, including women only classes, and courses to assist the former LES in finding employment. After the four month point, care and support properly become the responsibility of the local government and healthcare providers.

We receive reports from Local Authorities on how successfully former LES have settled at the four month point. We cannot legitimately track former LES beyond this point. But, in the cases of severely disabled former LES, we have worked with Local Authorities, the care providers and a Service Charity (Help 4 Heroes) to facilitate additional charitable support.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Civil Partnerships and Marriage
Tuesday 26th February 2019

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to allow (a) civil marriage, (b) civil partnership and (c) same-sex marriage ceremonies on Ministry of Defence sites.

Answered by Gavin Williamson

I want to make sure that all those who want a civil marriage, civil partnerships and same-sex marriage in the Armed Forces receive the same treatment as their counterparts who wish to marry in religious ceremonies. That is why I have asked the Department to look into all options on making this a reality and have written to the Ministry of Justice and the Minister for Women and Equalities pushing this issue. The relevant legislation should be changed so that all members of the Armed Forces whether they want religious ceremonies, civil partnerships or marriage, or same-sex marriage are treated equally.

The Department conducted a pilot project in 2016, under the Minister of the Armed Forces, to consider the feasibility of using the MOD estate to host the registration of civil marriages or partnerships. This pilot identified a change was required to the relevant legislation to deliver this ambition. The current legislation does not allow for the MOD sites to limit who is married, and who attends civil marriages, civil partnerships and same-sex marriages; this presents difficulties in protecting security of MOD sites. The Department is working on how we fix this anomaly and have written asking for legislative change.

Meanwhile, more widely in the Armed Forces I am determined that the MOD should continue to be a leader in supporting the LGBT community, and to build on the strong progress to date. We continue to strive to be an employer of choice and are working hard to improve the culture within defence to ensure that we attract and retain diverse talent, including those from the LGBT community. Indeed, I was delighted the MOD was recently recognised in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2019, in which all three services have been placed in the Top 100 LGBT inclusive employers listing.

In 2014, we made provision to allow the marriages of same sex couples in military chapels, for those with demonstrable link to the Armed Forces and provided that the chaplain and the chaplain's Sending Church agreed. At present only the United Reformed Church (URC) permits its chaplains to conduct such marriages, and the first religious marriage of a same sex couple on Defence site took place at St Barbara's Church, HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth in 2017.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Apprentices
Tuesday 22nd January 2019

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ministry of Defence apprentices there have been in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Army in each constituency in each year since 2010.

Answered by Tobias Ellwood

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently the single largest deliverer of apprenticeships in the UK, with over 20,000 personnel engaged on a nationally recognised apprenticeship programme at any one time and over 90 per cent of our non-commissioned military recruits offered an apprenticeship on the back of their trade training.

As at 31 October 2018, the number of apprenticeship enrolments since 2015 for the Armed Forces are as follows:

Royal Navy: 9,136

Army: 30,321

Royal Air Force: 5,852

The MOD has made good progress in meeting its Government target of 50,000 enrolments by 2020.

The MOD does not currently hold the information in the requested format.


Written Question
Nigeria: Visits Abroad
Wednesday 19th December 2018

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the outcomes were of his visit to Nigeria in November 2018 to (a) promote women, peace and security and (b) invest in counter-IED equipment.

Answered by Gavin Williamson

The UK and Nigeria share a deep and long-standing Defence Partnership. During my visit I was able to explore the challenges that our Nigerian partners are facing and understand better how the UK might assist further in tackling the insidious and pervasive threat posed by violent extremist organisations in the north east. Promoting the UK Defence contribution to Women, Peace, and Security was central to the visit, and I was able to meet with non-government organisations and better understand the particular impact of the conflict on women and girls. The UK will continue to work with the Nigerian Armed Forces to promote Women, Peace and Security through training, advisory support, and sharing of experience. I also witnessed first-hand some of the world class training in countering the threat from improvised explosive devices being delivered by British military personnel to their Nigerian counterparts, and I was pleased to be able to gift a range of specialist Counter-Improvised Explosive Device equipment worth c£775,000 to the Nigerian Army to help them in their fight against terrorism, by tackling terrorism abroad we can better protect our security at home.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Cadets
Friday 14th December 2018

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which cadet units are in each constituency; and what the sponsoring Service is of each of those units.

Answered by Tobias Ellwood

The requested information is provided in the attached spreadsheet which was compiled in September 2018.

This information is not routinely collected by the Ministry of Defence, and was only compiled in preparation for Cadets Day in 2019. The data was drawn from a number of sources so the information is not definitive.


Written Question
Afghanistan: War Crimes
Monday 17th July 2017

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cases have been opened as part of Operation Northmoor; and how many of those cases have been (a) closed and (b) remain ongoing.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

Our Armed Forces are rightly held to the highest standards and credible, serious allegations of criminal behaviour must be investigated, in accordance with the Armed Forces Act 2006. Operation Northmoor is an independent investigation conducted by the Royal Military Police (RMP). It has discounted over 90% of the 675 allegations received because there was no evidence of a criminal or disciplinary offence. To date no case has been referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority but the investigations continue and the investigators will follow the evidence where it leads them. The RMP has full investigative independence and the Ministry of Defence has not influenced in any way the scope and duration of Operation Northmoor.


Written Question
Foot and Mouth Disease: Colchester
Monday 17th July 2017

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any animals affected by foot and mouth have been buried on his Department's land in Colchester known as Middlewick Ranges.

Answered by Tobias Ellwood

There are no animals that died as a result of foot and mouth disease buried on Middlewick Ranges.


Written Question
Defence Medical Services: NHS
Monday 13th March 2017

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer to Question 62599, on Ministry of Defence: staff, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the potential merits of armed forces medical personnel assisting the NHS at peak demand periods.

Answered by Mike Penning

There are frequent contacts, at various levels, between the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health on areas of mutual interest.

The Defence Medical Services (DMS) exists to ensure that the Armed Forces are ready and medically fit to go where they are required throughout the world.

Currently over 90% of DMS secondary care personnel are working in the NHS. The remaining DMS personnel are currently delivering primary care, rehabilitation, mental healthcare, dental care and other medical services to our Armed Forces or their families, or deployed on operations, or preparing to deploy.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Staff
Friday 3rd February 2017

Asked by: Will Quince (Conservative - Colchester)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time, non-reservist (a) doctors and (b) nurses are employed by (i) the Army and (ii) his Department.

Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton

As at 1 October 2016, there were the following numbers of personnel:

Profession

Army

Total All Services

Trained full-time, non-reservist doctors

321

612

Trained full-time, non-reservist nurses (including healthcare assistants)

784

1,380

Also, as at 1 October 2016, there were 243 civilian doctors (medical practitioners and consultants) and 396 civilian nurses (including healthcare assistants).