Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what variants of CV12 power packs are fitted to (1) the Challenger 2 tank, (2) the Challenger Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle (CHARRV), and (3) the Trojan armoured engineer tank.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The variants of the CV12 powerpacks fitted to the Challenger base vehicle family are:
| Powerpack |
Challenger 2 | CV12-6A |
Challenger 3 | CV12-9A |
Challenger Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle (CRARRV) | CV12-5C/6C |
TITAN/TROJAN | CV12-8A |
A small number of CRARRV vehicles are currently fitted with CV12-5C powerpacks that will be replaced with CV12-6C powerpacks on failure or when the vehicle is attending base workshop, whichever comes first.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the power pack fitted to the new Challenger 3 is (1) a contemporary CV12 engine similar to a 5A, or (2) a CV12 with common rail fuel injection and new engine management system, or (3) something else; and if it is something else, what is its specification.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The variants of the CV12 powerpacks fitted to the Challenger base vehicle family are:
| Powerpack |
Challenger 2 | CV12-6A |
Challenger 3 | CV12-9A |
Challenger Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle (CRARRV) | CV12-5C/6C |
TITAN/TROJAN | CV12-8A |
A small number of CRARRV vehicles are currently fitted with CV12-5C powerpacks that will be replaced with CV12-6C powerpacks on failure or when the vehicle is attending base workshop, whichever comes first.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in rationalising the variants of the CV12 power packs fitted to the various marks and variants of the Challenger 2 tank, including the armoured engineer vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Overall powerpack commonality can be only achieved between Challenger 2, Challenger 3 and the Challenger Armoured Recovery and Repair Vehicle following the identification of a replacement refrigerant to fill the crew temperature control system to comply with the Montreal protocol. A post-design services task has been placed on contract with Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land for this work.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Challenger 3 tank has been trialled by (1) the Armoured Trials and Development Unit at Bovington, or (2) an equivalent establishment; and if so, (a) what track mileage has been covered so far, and (b) with what type of power pack.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Challenger 3 programme remains in the early stages of Demonstration and Manufacture, with detailed design work ongoing prior to Critical Design Review. The assembly of initial prototypes will follow along with a detailed trials programme.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to protect international underwater telecommunication cables; and what would be the consequences of a failure to do so.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sub-sea cables are a critical part of the UK’s telecommunications infrastructure connecting the UK to the rest of the world. Working with operators, DCMS ensures their security and resilience. We support industry efforts to enhance the cable networks’ resilience to loss or damage and provide advice and guidance to mitigate the risks posed by physical and cyber threats.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to The Integrated Review 2021, published on 16 March, what will be the level of readiness of the 3rd (UK) Division; and how many days would it take for at least one manoeuvre brigade to be deployed in an operational theatre outside of the European mainland.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Army is always ready to fulfil the task of protecting the nation and holds various people and units at different readiness, along with the equipment and stocks required to support them, to enable us to compete against our adversaries, tackle threats at source and reassure allies.
I am unable to disclose further details of the level of readiness of the 3rd (UK) Division, as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our Armed Forces.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it will be possible for a fully formed and equipped 3 Commando Brigade to be embarked on shipping that (1) is owned by, or is under the control of, Her Majesty's Government, or (2) that can be made available to Her Majesty's Government (a) whatever the intentional circumstances, and (b) without significant recourse to the United States assets.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As set out in the Integrated Review, the Royal Marines are now in transition to the Future Commando Force (FCF). The FCF re-designs how Commando Forces operate and fight.
Through one element of this, they will form two Littoral Response Groups (LRG) with associated enablers, including shipping. One LRG will be persistently deployed East of Suez, with an Initial Operating Capability in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether both of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers are fully operational and can be deployed simultaneously; and in the event of such deployments, how many aircraft would each ship carry.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH and HMS PRINCE OF WALES are capable of deploying to protect and enhance the Nation's interests around the globe. The number of aircraft onboard each carrier will be tailored appropriately dependent upon the nature of the tasking. Both aircraft carriers are fully capable of operating a spectrum of Rotary Wing aircraft and Lightning F-35Bs.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) current housing targets, and (2) the effect of current housing targets on (a) communities, and (b) ecosystems; and what plans they have to reduce such housing targets.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
To help make home ownership affordable for more people, and to help more people rent their own home, we need to deliver more homes. Last year, we committed to review the standard method formula for assessing local housing need and consulted on how we could best balance the need for clarity, simplicity and transparency for local communities with the Government’s aspirations for the housing market. In December, following consultation, we changed the standard method to help enable the country to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. However, this is only the starting point in the process of planning for new homes, it is not a housing target. Local authorities will still need to consider the constraints they face locally, including environmental constraints, to assess how many homes can be delivered in their area.
Our Planning for the Future reforms propose significant changes to the focus and processes of planning – to secure better outcomes including improving our precious countryside and environment alongside increasing the supply of land for new, beautiful homes and sustainable places. The Environment Bill currently before Parliament will legislate for mandatory net gains for biodiversity as a condition of most new development. The planning system will support the implementation of this and overall environmental outcome enhancements.
Asked by: Lord Richards of Herstmonceux (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Foreign Secretary’s Mansion House speech on 6 May, whether they will conduct a review of defence spending; and whether they will commit to spending more than the minimum NATO endorsed proportion of GDP on defence.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government has committed to meet the NATO pledge to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence every year of this Parliament.
Future defence spending will be agreed at the Spending Review.