Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made in making available surplus operational ration packs to organisations supporting people who are homeless.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence is reviewing the current disposal process for operational ration packs to reduce wastage, and to investigate whether elements from out of date packs could be donated.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of public spending on defence equipment has been allocated to equipment made in the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The proportion of the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) equipment spending allocated to equipment made in the UK is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, information on the Department's expenditure with industry and other regional information is published on GOV.uk at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-supported-employment-index.
Additionally, total MOD equipment expenditure (not just with UK industry) can be found at the following link, but this is not broken down by country:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-departmental-resources-index.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) pays over and above the National Living Wage that was increased to £7.83 per hour in April 2018.
The MOD has not formally signed up to the Living Wage Rates, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. In 2015 the then Secretary of State for Defence agreed that all London-based staff should be paid at least the equivalent of the Living Wage Foundation's London Living Wage rate. MOD continues to pay above that rate.
Contracted workers' rates of pay, where paid by their parent company or recruitment agency, are not visible to the MOD.
The MOD does not employ individuals on zero-hours contracts.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2018 to Question 131423, what progress he has made on reviewing his Department's policy of redistributing surplus ration packs to the homeless.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The Ministry of Defence continues to review its storage and disposal policy for Operational Ration Packs.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many operational ration packs have been disposed of in each of the last five years and what the total tonnage is of those packs.
Answered by Guto Bebb
Only out-of-date Operational Ration Packs (ORPs) are withdrawn from use and disposed of in line with current food safety legislation and guidelines by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Based on information recorded on Ministry of Defence Inventory Management systems, the number of ORPs that have been disposed of is given below. The weight of these disposals is not recorded.
Financial Year | Number of ORPs |
2013-14 | 110 |
2014-15 | 5,004 |
2015-16 | 10,798 |
2016-17 | 14,273 |
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2017 to Question 1786 on Armed Forces: Food what progress his Department has made on diverting surplus Operational Ration Packs to people who are homeless.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The Ministry of Defence is reviewing its storage and disposal policy for ration packs.