Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that Armed Forces Compensation payments are processed before applicants die.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence MOD aims to consider all claims under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) as efficiently as possible. Once officials are made aware that an AFCS claimant is terminally ill, their case is afforded top prioritisation across all stages of the consideration and notification process.
Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and are evidence-based, with the majority of evidence-gathering undertaken on the individual's behalf. Complex cases can require extensive Service and medical evidence to be obtained and investigated. Complex cases and all claims for mental health conditions require medical consideration by a Medical Adviser (MA), whose role is to provide advice and guidance based upon pre-existing medical evidence to determine the level of disablement in accordance with the relevant scheme's rules.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce and (b) prevent sexual harassment and assault of women serving in the armed forces.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 March 2024 to Question 13252 to the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood).
https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2286289/details
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase representation of women in veteran support services.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This Government understands that, whilst the majority of women veterans go on to lead successful post-service lives, and the challenges they face are often the same as for men, the experiences and needs of women are sometimes different.
That is why we are developing the Government’s first Women Veterans’ Strategy, which will celebrate the successes of women veterans, but will also look at specific challenges they may face, in order to better address their needs.
As well as looking at the experiences of women who have served in the UK Armed Forces, the Strategy will recognise their contribution to society and identify what further tailored support could be provided, which includes considering the accessibility of support services.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions in the number of civil servants on the (a) capacity and (b) efficiency of the Civil Service.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister’s announcement of longer term reductions in Civil Service numbers is a reiteration of the policy announced by the Chancellor in October 2023. The longer term reductions will build on the shorter term headcount cap put in place through to March 2025, and the detail of how individual organisations will be affected by the return to pre-pandemic numbers will form a key part of the next comprehensive spending review.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that any evidence of war crimes being committed in Gaza witnessed by UK armed forces surveillance is (a) documented and (b) investigated.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The unarmed UK reconnaissance aircraft are employed solely for the purpose of increasing our chances of locating the hostages.
The UK remains committed to holding perpetrators of war crimes to account, including through our support to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The UK would consider any formal request from the ICC for information and act in accordance with its international obligations under the Rome Statute and through the framework in the ICC Act 2001.
As signatories to the Rome Statute, the Genocide Convention and the Convention on Torture, the UK has a responsibility to investigate and prosecute those who have committed core international crimes.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of deploying armed forces personnel to help facilitate the medical evacuation of civilians in Gaza.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence continuously assess medical support options in our response to the Israel/Gaza conflict.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of his Department's expenditure on a replacement nuclear deterrent on the non-nuclear equipment budget.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Funding for programmes in the Defence Nuclear Enterprise is now ringfenced within the Defence budget. This will help to protect the wider Equipment Plan budget from any financial pressures in nuclear programmes.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the First Report of the Defence Committee, Ready for War?, HC 26, the Eighth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts, Improving Defence Inventory Management, HC 66, and the Nineteenth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts, MoD Equipment Plan 2023-33, HC 451.
Answered by James Heappey
We welcome each of the reports on our Armed Forces Readiness, Inventory Management and the Equipment Plan. We are in the process of reviewing all the recommendations and formulating our responses to the reports.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the successful applicant for the New Medium Helicopter contract will have use of a purpose-built facility for aircrew training.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As announced at the International Military Helicopters conference on 27 February 2024, we have now launched the next stage of the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) competition.
Aircrew training for NMH will integrate with the existing UK Military Flying Training System, which aircrew will continue to utilise to undertake their initial flying training, with Conversion to Type (CTT) training being provided using an Operational Conversion Unit based at RAF Benson.
Infrastructure assessment work at RAF Benson is ongoing, therefore it is too early to comment on the facilities that will be provided for NMH CTT training.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether training for Chinook helicopters will be moved to RAF Odiham.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A number of options are being explored, and no decisions have been taken as to where training to operate Chinook helicopters will take place.