Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many individuals were employed by the Ministry of Defence Police in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The employment numbers for the Ministry of Defence Police on 31 March each year since 2020 are:
Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
MDP ¹ | 2643 | 2768 | 2701 | 2593 | 2407 |
NUCS ² | 227 | 235 | 230 | 221 | 211 |
Total | 2869 | 3003 | 2931 | 2814 | 2618 |
¹ Ministry of Defence Police officers
² Non-uniformed Civil Servants
The figures are based on Full Time Equivalents.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officers are employed by the Ministry of Defence Police; and whether he has made an estimate of the number officers that will be required in financial year 2025-26.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 31 March 2024, MDP employed 2,407 police officers. This figure is based on Full Time Equivalents.
The officer requirement for 2025-26 is dependent on a number of factors including operational need and changes in Defence priorities. Recruitment is kept under constant review and is driven by Defence requirements and takes account of the number of leavers and joiners at any given time.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21848 on Iran: Israel, what the basis was for UK military action in defence of Israel.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As stated by the Prime Minister in the Iran-Israel Update to Parliament on 15 April 2024 (Volume 748), the UK was acting in the collective self-defence of Israel and for regional security.
There are no plans to publish the legal advice, in line with long-standing precedent.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 15 April 2024 on Iran-Israel Update, Official Report, column 23, how many RAF (a) Typhoons and (b) planes were deployed to intercept Iranian drones fired into Israel on 13 April 2024; and what steps he is taking to protect service personnel in the region.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
As stated by the Prime Minister on 15 April 2024, the RAF sent additional aircraft to the region and RAF aircraft shot down a number of Iranian attack drones. However, for operational security reasons I cannot comment on the specifics of this activity. The Ministry of Defence constantly reviews its force protection measures to ensure they are appropriate.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has opened its own investigation into the potential causes of the explosion at BAE Systems Monmouthshire on 17 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This was an isolated incident at the BAE Systems (BAES) Glascoed site, Monmouthshire that occurred in a remote building away from the production facilities. Tried and tested safety protocols were immediately enacted and there were no casualties. BAES is continuing to investigate and has engaged the Health and Safety Executive.
At this stage BAES do not envisage anything but a minimal impact on operations. Defence Equipment & Support are closely engaged with BAES to support their investigations. At present, a separate Ministry of Defence investigation is not planned.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much humanitarian aid has been delivered to civilians in Gaza with the support of Armed Forces personnel in each month since October 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
UK Armed Forces personnel have been deployed as planning teams with Allies and partners to support the wider delivery of humanitarian aid. UK Armed Forces have directly delivered over 225 tonnes on humanitarian aid to support the civilian population of Gaza since October 2023. It is broken down by month below.
UK Armed Forces directly delivered to aid agencies via Egypt | |
October 2023 | 21 tonnes |
November 2023 | 53 tonnes |
December 2023 | 87 tonnes of UK and Cypriot aid |
January 2024 | Nil |
UK Armed Forces directly delivered to Gaza | |
February 2024 | (4 tonnes of UK aid air dropped by Jordan) |
March 2024 | 42 tonnes |
April 2024 (to 17 April) | 24 tonnes |
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much income the Defence Infrastructure Organisation has generated by renting out Service Family Accommodation properties to non-service personnel each year since 2010.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The amount the Department has received for renting out Service Family Accommodation (SFA) to non-Service personnel each year since financial year (FY) 2016-17 is shown in the table below:
FY | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Sublet Income (£million) | 1.1 | 2.1 | 5.5 | 9.1 | 12.2 | 11.6 | 15.8 | 14.8 |
No information is held prior to FY 2016-17 as the Department only started subletting surplus SFA in 2016.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since its announcement at the AUKUS Defence Ministers meeting in December 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) have consulted on the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum TORs, developing them in partnership with trade associations from all three nations. The MOD hosted the first forum trilaterally in Washington DC on 9 April 2024. Two further forums are planned for 2024, in the UK and Australia respectively.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what civil service grade are the officials supporting the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A variety of officials at varying grades are engaged in supporting the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum. We have an SCS 2 official as a co-chair to the Forum. It is not practical to further quantify a specific number of people supporting it at any given moment.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has paid to Navantia UK under the Fleet Solid Support Ship programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am withholding the information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.