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Written Question
National Flagship: Procurement
Monday 12th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to whether their intention to build a new Royal Yacht breaches WTO rules.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The decision to build the National Flagship in the UK does not breach our obligations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). The WTO GPA contains a number of exemptions to open competition.


Written Question
National Flagship
Monday 12th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allocate additional finance to the Ministry of Defence to pay for the costs of the proposed new Royal Yacht.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

The capital costs of building the National Flagship will accrue over a number of years and will be met from the Defence Budget.


Written Question
National Flagship
Monday 12th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made for the annual cost of the proposed new Royal Yacht.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

I refer the Noble Lord to the reply given by my right hon. Friend Ben Wallace MP (Secretary of State for Defence) to Question 13199, answered on 16 June 2021 in the House of Commons.


Written Question
National Flagship
Monday 12th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) costs, and (2) benefits, of the proposed new Royal Yacht.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

I refer the Noble Lord to the reply given by my right hon. Friend Ben Wallace MP (Secretary of State for Defence) to Question 13199, answered on 16 June 2021 in the House of Commons.


Written Question
National Flagship
Monday 12th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what contribution they expect the proposed new Royal Yacht to make to the UK's defence capability.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

I refer the Noble Lord to the reply given by my right hon Friend, Ben Wallace MP (Secretary of State for Defence) to Question 10179, answered on 16 June 2021 in the House of Commons.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Private Education
Wednesday 23rd October 2019

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding was allocated to the Continuity of Education Allowance to fund school places (1) globally, and (2) in England, in each of the last five financial years.

Answered by Baroness Goldie

I refer the noble Lord to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Johnny Mercer), in the House of Commons on 21 October 2019 to the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock) in response to Question number 751.


Written Question
Army: Recruitment
Thursday 17th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, why they did not test the proposed changes to their recruitment approach for army recruitment prior to the introduction of the partnering agreement with Capita Business Services.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

At the outset of the contract the Army and Capita failed to understand the complexity of the Army recruitment requirement and the challenges faced. These were compounded by the delays in developing the new information technology to support the processes.

The Army and Capita are implementing a range of policy and process changes to increase enlistments to the Army. These have been informed by lessons learned and are, where appropriate, being piloted prior to full introduction. The improvements include changes to simplify and streamline the process.


Written Question
Army: Recruitment
Thursday 17th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, whether the British army has completed its assessment into whether it can adapt the Capita online army recruitment system for its own use after the Capita contract ends in 2022.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

The Future Recruiting Programme (FRP) is considering the best approach to Armed Forces recruiting for when the current contract expires. The Ministry of Defence has secured, under the contract with Capita, the rights to use, modify or copy the Defence Recruiting System at the end of the current contract, or we could decide to source a new on-line system. As part of the FRP an early scoping project has been initiated to look at the future ICT provision, no conclusions or decisions have yet been made.


Written Question
Army: Recruitment
Thursday 17th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, why the British army did not simplify its recruitment process before introducing the Capita online army recruitment system.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

At the outset of the contract the Army and Capita failed to understand the complexity of the Army recruitment requirement and the challenges faced. These were compounded by the delays in developing the new information technology to support the processes.

The Army and Capita are implementing a range of policy and process changes to increase enlistments to the Army. These have been informed by lessons learned and are, where appropriate, being piloted prior to full introduction. The improvements include changes to simplify and streamline the process.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Contracts
Thursday 17th January 2019

Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the National Audit Office Investigation into the British Army Recruiting Partnering Project, published on 14 December 2018, what action they are taking to improve contract (1) letting, and (2) management.

Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continually seeks to improve its commercial award and management processes. We have established a comprehensive training and education programme under the Commercial Professionalism Programme, which is supported by a robust accreditation process.

Improving skills and capability will achieve better commercial delivery, which will continue to be measured against the Government commercial operating standards.

More broadly, contract letting and contract management activities have also been looked at as part of the Government's work to build a new model for delivering outsourced services. The MOD has been actively engaged in this work.