Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government under what legal obligation, if any, they are required to procure the building of the new Royal Navy supply ships through open international competition.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the then Minister for Defence Procurement (Guto Bebb), in the House of Commons on 19 June 2018 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman) in response to Question 152792.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve the vessels available for naval protection in the territorial waters of Gibraltar.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 25 February 2019 to Question HL13801 to the noble Lord, Lord Taylor of Warwick.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to remedy the problems caused by the failure in hot climates of intercooler units on Type 45 destroyers.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Mr Philip Dunne) in the House of Commons on 8 February 2016, to Question number 25165. Type 45 destroyers were designed for world-wide operations, from sub-Arctic to extreme tropical environments and continue to operate effectively in the Persian Gulf and South Atlantic at all times of the year.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether steel produced in Britain will be used for the construction of the Type 26 Frigates and other vessels announced in the recent Strategic Security and Defence Review.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
As to the source of steel to be used for the construction of the Type 26 Global Combat Ships, I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement in the House of Commons on 20 January 2016 to Question 22739.
The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (Cmd 9161) also announced that we will launch a concept stage for a new General Purpose Frigate, build two further Offshore Patrol Vessels and buy three new logistics ships to support the Fleet. As with the Type 26 Global Combat Ship, it is too early to say from where the steel for these programmes will be sourced, but a range of UK suppliers and others will be invited to bid and provide steel for these programmes.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Ministry of Defence decided to adopt the SAE International specification for metal finishes; and what control they have retained over the specifications they use.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
UK Defence Standardization is responsible for maintaining a portfolio of defence-specific standards appropriately sized to meet defence needs and, where possible, will seek opportunities to rationalise that portfolio in the pursuit of more effective acquisition. The agreement with SAE International is consistent with this approach and in accordance with the Open Government Licence process.
Asked by: Lord Hoyle (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why Royal Air Force aircraft flying to Gibraltar cannot fly over Spain; what cost that adds to the flight; and what representations they have made to the government of Spain about the restriction.
Answered by Lord Astor of Hever
All requests to Spanish authorities by any nation for a military over flight that has Gibraltar as a departure or arrival airfield, is routinely denied by Spanish authorities. We make clear to the Spanish government that this is not the sort of arrangement close allies should have to manage.
The military aircraft that routinely fly to Gibraltar are the Hercules C130 and C17 Globemaster. The difference in cost of a direct flight to Gibraltar from, for example, RAF Brize Norton and a route not overflying Spain is as follows.
C130 - £2,600 each way
C17 - £4,900 each way
It should be noted that Spanish authorities are swift and cooperative in allowing our military aircraft to pass through Spanish airspace to any other destination. The refusal to use their airspace to access Gibraltar is an irritant that we have managed since the 1980s, and is set against an otherwise productive defence relationship between our two countries.