Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government who funded the recent trip of the Minister for the Armed Forces, Leo Docherty MP, to Bahrain; and, insofar as sponsorship was provided by the government of Bahrain, what this sponsorship covered.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Shadow Minister (Defence)
I can confirm that this visit was funded only through HMG, there was no funding or sponsorship from Bahrain.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost of the Home Secretary's use of a helicopter on her visit to Manston Immigration Centre on 3 November.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The Chinook flight for the Home Secretary was incorporated into a routine training sortie, for the operational crew of four personnel, based at RAF Odiham.
The duration of the training sortie was three and a half hours, including the 30-minute leg to Manston, during which the Home Secretary was embarked. It is not possible to separate the costs of these legs from the wider training sortie.
The Chinook was not diverted away from other defence tasks.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding, if any, they allocated from the Defence Assistance Fund to (1) Saudi Arabia, (2) Kuwait, (3) Qatar, (4) the United Arab Emirates, (5) Oman, and (6) Bahrain, in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The Defence Assistance Fund (DAF) only represents one aspect of our engagement with these nations,
The DAF funding allocated to Gulf countries is shown in the following tables:
Country | Allocation Financial Year (FY) 2016-17 |
Bahrain | £26,966 |
Kuwait | £24,734 |
Oman | £395,026 |
Qatar | £3,775 |
Saudi Arabia | £124,427 |
United Arab Emirates | £42,756 |
Grand Total | £617,684 |
Country | Allocation FY2017-18 |
Bahrain | £13,730 |
Kuwait | £85,410 |
Oman | £445,146 |
Qatar | £4,250 |
Saudi Arabia | £46,756 |
United Arab Emirates | £0 |
Grand Total | £595,292 |
Country | Allocation FY2018-19 |
Bahrain | £55,481 |
Kuwait | £32,995 |
Oman | £336,731 |
Qatar | £51 |
Saudi Arabia | £96,544 |
United Arab Emirates | £12,000 |
Grand Total | £533,802 |
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 4 June (HL15900), whether the British Armed Forces have provided training to the Royal Guard of Bahrain at any time over the past three years; if so, on what dates the training was delivered; and what was the purpose of any such training.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The British Armed Forces provided the Bahrain Royal Guard with physical training instruction in 2018, and close protection and military annual training tests (medical and basic life support) training in 2019.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the British Armed Forces have provided training to the (1) Saudi Royal Guard, (2) United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard, (3) Kuwait Emiri Guard, (4) Royal Guard of Oman, and (5) Qatari Royal Guard, in the past two years; and if so, in each case, when such training was delivered.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
British Armed Forces have not provided training to the Saudi Royal Guard or the United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard in the past two years.
Training was provided to the Royal Guard of Oman in 2017, 2018 and 2019; and to both the Qatari Amiri Guard and the Kuwaiti Emiri Guard in 2019.