Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created by the construction of the next generation of Royal Navy frigates on the River Clyde.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence has agreed a contract worth £859 million for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship programme's Demonstration Phase, which will start on 1 April 2015. This investment will sustain around 1,700 jobs across the UK.
The number of jobs required for the Manufacture Phase, which on current plans is scheduled to start in 2016, will be assessed at the programme's main investment decision.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will discuss with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission measures to safeguard overseas war graves from desecration by Islamist extremists.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cares for cemeteries and memorials at 23,000 locations, in 153 countries. It is therefore not practical to expect that all of these sites can be protected from those who, for whatever reason, might seek to damage the graves or memorials. However, in the event of such damage, the Commission will ensure that appropriate repairs are made as soon as is practicably possible.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many community grant applications have been received from HQ 38 (Irish) Brigade in Northern Ireland; how many such applications were successful; and how much was disbursed in respect of those applications in each year since the inception of that scheme.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The first community grant application from HQ 38 (Irish) Brigade was submitted in January 2015. There have been no previous applications submitted because there have been no Community Covenants signed in Northern Ireland.
Despite this, good progress has been made on Covenant issues during 2014 with nearly all of the measures in the Covenant now extending to Northern Ireland. HQ 38 (Irish) Brigade provides a focus for taking Covenant issues forward in the region. The Armed Forces Covenant annual report, laid before the House on 16 December 2014, highlights this progress. I am planning to visit Northern Ireland soon, and I will take the opportunity to see for myself the progress that has been made and its effect on the Armed Forces Community in the Province.
We will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that the needs of the Armed Forces community are met.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK armed forces will be employed in training Iraqi and peshmerga brigades to fight against ISIS.
Answered by Mark Francois - Shadow Minister (Defence)
For several months we have provided training and equipment to Kurdish forces, including infantry, combat first-aid, sharp-shooting and counter-IED training. The National Security Council agreed in December that we should do further work to scope the additional assistance we could offer to the Iraqi military. At this stage no firm decisions have been made.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many British service personnel are serving in (a) Afghanistan and (b) other countries.
Answered by Mark Francois - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Around 600 UK Armed Forces personnel are currently deployed on operations in Afghanistan and around a further 2,930 are deployed on operations in other countries. Information on the stationed location of all UK Regular Forces is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/376061/QLS_Quarterly_Location_Statistics__October_2014.pdf#page=4
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with other EU member states on export licences granted to Israel.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Secretary of State for Defence has not held any discussions with other EU member states on export licences granted to Israel.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the terms of engagement are of the deployment to Sierra Leone to tackle Ebola.
Answered by Mark Francois - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The current Ebola crisis in West Africa is beyond the capacity of national authorities and NGOs to tackle alone. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is assisting the Department for International Development in providing a key component in the UK's response. MOD involvement will enable the provision of direct medical care and the implementation of measures needed to contain a wider outbreak, and thus help keep Britain safe from the disease.