Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2021 to Question 134500, on Saudi Arabia: Training, if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) dates between which the training covered by these funds took place, (b) locations where that training took place and (c) names of each course provided to the (i) Royal Saudi Air Force, (ii) Royal Saudi Land Forces, (iii) Royal Saudi Naval Forces, (iv) Border Guard, (v) Saudi Arabia National Guard, (vi) Joint Incident Assessment, (vii) Security Forces and (viii) Joint Forces Command.
Answered by James Heappey
I am withholding the information as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another state.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the 16th Regiment Royal Artillery by (a) rank and (b) role are deployed with the Giraffe radars in Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Heappey
For operational and personal security reasons I cannot disclose the number, ranks or roles of those deployed.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which organisations in Saudi Arabia the 16th Regiment Royal Artillery is working with during its Giraffe radar deployment to Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Heappey
This deployment supports the Royal Saudi Air Force in defending the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against the increased air threats that it currently faces.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what advice or assistance Royal Navy personnel have provided to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces on their blockade of Yemen since 2015.
Answered by James Heappey
We have a very small number of liaison officers in Saudi Armed Forces headquarters. The role of these liaison officers is to provide the UK with greater insight into Saudi processes and operations. They remain under UK command and control and work to support vital access for food, fuel, and medicine by providing support to help the UN's Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) to facilitate commercial imports into Hodeidah and Saleef ports by giving the Coalition confidence that weapons are not coming in on commercial ships. The critical Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Saleef remain operational and the majority of Yemen's imports are getting in.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the Royal Navy by (a) rank and (b) role are stationed at Musandam Naval Base on Jazirat Umm al Ghanam as at 7 December 2020.
Answered by James Heappey
There are no Royal Naval personnel stationed at Musandam Naval Base on Jazirat Umm al Ghanam.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, have any British personnel accompanied the deployment of Giraffe radars to Riyadh since February 2020 to assist Saudi Arabia to track and identify objects in its airspace.
Answered by James Heappey
UK Defence personnel have accompanied the deployment of Giraffe radars to Riyadh. This deployment is purely defensive in nature and helps Saudi Arabia with the very real threats it faces.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll and Bute)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding the Government provides to (a) Saudi Arabia and (b) organisations implementing training to bodies and institutions in Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We do not provide funding to the Saudi Arabian Government. The UK Government does implement a number of projects that involve working with organisations in Saudi Arabia. HMG completes rigorous human rights risk assessments (Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessments or OSJAs) before undertaking any justice or security cooperation, to ensure all work meets our human rights obligations and our values.
The UK Government provides funding to the UK armed forces to provide advice, assistance and training to aid Saudi Arabia's efforts to protect its national security and support the Saudi military's compliance with international humanitarian law. The UK Government also pays for civilian and military programmes of advice and assistance, which are then reimbursed by the Saudi Arabian Government at no cost to the UK taxpayer.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Saudi Arabian pilots are training at RAF bases in the UK; and what models of aircraft they are training on.
Answered by James Heappey
The number of Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) pilots currently training at RAF bases in the UK is less than 10. The Hawk T2 and Typhoon aircraft are used for this training.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when Royal Saudi Air Force Hawk T2 pilots last conducted air-to-ground attacks at the Pembrey Sands Air Weapons Range; and what munitions they fired.
Answered by James Heappey
The Hawk T2 simulates weapons. Therefore, no weapons have been fired at Pembury Sands Air Weapons range by Royal Saudi Air Force pilots in the course of their training.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what type of of munitions have been fired at Pembrey Sands air weapons range by the current group of Royal Saudi Air Force pilots undergoing Hawk T2 training at RAF Valley.
Answered by James Heappey
No weapons or munitions have been fired at Pembrey Sands by the Royal Saudi Air Force pilots currently undergoing Hawk T2 training at RAF Valley. The Hawk T2 only simulates weapons.