Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Commonwealth nationals joined the Armed Forces in each year since 2013.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mark Lancaster) on 21 January 2019 to Question 208803 to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell).
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many veterans applied through his Department for the Legion d'Honneur in each month from July 2014 to June 2016.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on 6 June 2016 to Question 38675, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received approximately 5,200 applications for the Legion d'Honneur between June 2014 and June 2016. We are unable to provide a breakdown by month. As at 24 June the MOD had submitted 3,750 cases to the French authorities. We are not automatically advised when awards are issued, but a list provided by the French authorities on 13 May 2016 showed that 3,200 awards had been made.
It is not possible to give a meaningful figure for an average waiting time for veterans to receive their awards, as this has reduced steadily, from over a year for initial applications to the current time of around two to three months owing to changes in the processing. Some priority cases, particularly where there are health concerns, are processed much more quickly.
The Department is working closely with the French authorities and we are doing our best to ensure that all awards are issued as soon as possible and at the maximum rate at which they can be produced.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38675, how many veterans who have applied for the Legion d'Honneur award are yet to receive that award.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on 6 June 2016 to Question 38675, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received approximately 5,200 applications for the Legion d'Honneur between June 2014 and June 2016. We are unable to provide a breakdown by month. As at 24 June the MOD had submitted 3,750 cases to the French authorities. We are not automatically advised when awards are issued, but a list provided by the French authorities on 13 May 2016 showed that 3,200 awards had been made.
It is not possible to give a meaningful figure for an average waiting time for veterans to receive their awards, as this has reduced steadily, from over a year for initial applications to the current time of around two to three months owing to changes in the processing. Some priority cases, particularly where there are health concerns, are processed much more quickly.
The Department is working closely with the French authorities and we are doing our best to ensure that all awards are issued as soon as possible and at the maximum rate at which they can be produced.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the average time between veterans applying for the Legion d'Honneur and subsequently receiving the award.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on 6 June 2016 to Question 38675, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received approximately 5,200 applications for the Legion d'Honneur between June 2014 and June 2016. We are unable to provide a breakdown by month. As at 24 June the MOD had submitted 3,750 cases to the French authorities. We are not automatically advised when awards are issued, but a list provided by the French authorities on 13 May 2016 showed that 3,200 awards had been made.
It is not possible to give a meaningful figure for an average waiting time for veterans to receive their awards, as this has reduced steadily, from over a year for initial applications to the current time of around two to three months owing to changes in the processing. Some priority cases, particularly where there are health concerns, are processed much more quickly.
The Department is working closely with the French authorities and we are doing our best to ensure that all awards are issued as soon as possible and at the maximum rate at which they can be produced.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for the Legion d'Honneur had been processed by the Personnel and Training, Defence Services Secretary, Commemorations department but had not yet been processed by the French authorities by 24 June 2016.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Following the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) on 6 June 2016 to Question 38675, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received approximately 5,200 applications for the Legion d'Honneur between June 2014 and June 2016. We are unable to provide a breakdown by month. As at 24 June the MOD had submitted 3,750 cases to the French authorities. We are not automatically advised when awards are issued, but a list provided by the French authorities on 13 May 2016 showed that 3,200 awards had been made.
It is not possible to give a meaningful figure for an average waiting time for veterans to receive their awards, as this has reduced steadily, from over a year for initial applications to the current time of around two to three months owing to changes in the processing. Some priority cases, particularly where there are health concerns, are processed much more quickly.
The Department is working closely with the French authorities and we are doing our best to ensure that all awards are issued as soon as possible and at the maximum rate at which they can be produced.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications from Normandy veterans for the award of the Legion d'Honneur have been made to his Department since 6 June 2014; how many such applications have been approved for forwarding to the French government; and how many of those applications have resulted in receipt of a medal by veterans.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials have received approximately 3,850 applications from Normandy veterans in the period 6 June 2014 to date; about 3,300 had been sent to the French authorities by April this year. The French system was overwhelmed by these and other applications from Allied nations, which have far exceeded expectations. We jointly developed a new administrative process with the French whereby, since July 2015, 100 cases per week have been re-submitted to the French authorities.
The MOD is not routinely informed when an individual veteran is awarded the Legion d'Honneur as this is a matter for the French authorities. MOD officials understand that around 150 awards had been made by the beginning of July and that, subsequently, approximately 950 additional awards have been approved; of these we believe that about 600 may have been sent out. I am confident that this number will increase significantly over the coming weeks and months.