Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to cover the cost of military equipment supplied to Ukraine from central funds; and if so, how this amount will be calculated.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The government remains committed to supporting Ukraine to defend itself in response to Putin’s illegal invasion, providing £2.3 billion in military support to Ukraine in Financial Year 2022-23, as well as additional funding for replenishment of stocks already donated to Ukraine.
Replenishment of granted assets is managed under a standing arrangement between the Ministry of Defence and HM Treasury, with funding provided from Treasury reserves.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the announcement that defence spending will rise to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, whether they plan to provide a breakdown of estimated defence spending for each financial year from 2022 to 2030 in terms of (1) percentage of GDP, and (2) pounds sterling.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
While the Department does not routinely publish forecast figures for its spending, a further spending review will be required to determine the available budget beyond 2025. This in turn will determine the annual profile for the years the settlement covers.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether regular officers and soldiers serving in (1) the Royal Gibraltar Regiment; (2) the Cayman Islands Regiment, (3) the Turks and Caicos Regiment, (4) the Bermuda Regiment, (5) the Falkland Islands Defence Force, and (6) the Royal Montserrat Defence Force, are entitled to qualify for (a) the Long Service, and (b) the Good Conduct Medal.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Full and part-time members of British Overseas Territories Defence Forces and Regiments were formerly eligible for the same long service and efficiency awards as UK Reserve Forces.
With successive policy changes over the past few decades and particularly following the introduction of the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal in 1999, it is acknowledged there is a need to ensure clarity in relation to the grounds for eligibility.
The basis for continued eligibility to UK awards is currently under review and the outcome will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether volunteer reserves serving in (1) the Royal Gibraltar Regiment; (2) the Cayman Islands Regiment, (3) the Turks and Caicos Regiment, (4) the Bermuda Regiment, (5) the Falkland Islands Defence Force, and (6) the Royal Montserrat Defence Force, are entitled to qualify for (a) the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal, and (b) the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Full and part-time members of British Overseas Territories Defence Forces and Regiments were formerly eligible for the same long service and efficiency awards as UK Reserve Forces.
With successive policy changes over the past few decades and particularly following the introduction of the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal in 1999, it is acknowledged there is a need to ensure clarity in relation to the grounds for eligibility.
The basis for continued eligibility to UK awards is currently under review and the outcome will be communicated in due course.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether replacements for the munitions gifted to Ukraine have been ordered; and which Government department will pay for them.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Ministry of Defence continually manages and reviews all of its stocks of weapons and munitions to ensure that it can meet its commitments, including supplying to Ukraine whilst maintaining sufficient stocks for the UK Armed Forces.
Where replenishment occasioned by the supply of stocks to Ukraine is required, this is expected to be funded from the HM Treasury Special Reserve.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria they used when deciding to donate 131,000 doses of Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine bilaterally to the government of Nepal; and what were the reasons for those criteria.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a leading donor to COVAX, the multilateral mechanism set up to support international co-operation on vaccines. We are donating a smaller quantity to bilateral partners and countries. The main objective of any donation is to promote the economic development and welfare of the recipient country, though we will also seek to strengthen key relationships, in line with the Integrated Review. Decisions are taken on a case by case basis, when vaccines are available to be donated.
The UK has provided £548 million to COVID, which has shipped over 610 million doses to144 participants, including 4.3 million doses to Nepal. As G7 chair the UK also secured commitment to donate 1 billion doses to the developing world by June 2022, including 100 million donated by the UK. The majority of these doses will be donated to COVAX, which remains best-placed to allocate vaccines to where they will be most effective. The UK also funds the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank whose finance has enabled the Government of Nepal to purchase vaccines. This financing together with COVAX supplies can vaccinate 70% of the population of Nepal.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to respond to the Reserve Forces 2030 Review.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The Reserve Forces 2030 Review was published on 12 May 2021. The Ministry of Defence is currently working to fully understand the implications of the review's 18 recommendations and their coherence with wider Defence work, before reaching decisions on the way forward. A formal response can be expected very early in 2022.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the role of the Veterans Advisory and Pension Committees.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
We are currently working with the Veterans Advisory and Pension Committees (VAPCs) to ensure they can continue to make veterans' voices heard within Government, and support both the Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans' Affairs as we improve veterans' services and deliver on the Strategy for Our Veterans. This may include, in agreement with the VAPCs, some additional activities over and above their existing statutory functions. We will have an update on this in due course.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the qualification criteria for the Operational Service Medal (Afghanistan) to ensure that service personnel deployed to theatre during Operation Pitting qualify.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Medallic recognition for the evacuation in Afghanistan will be considered in due course. The current qualifying length of service is 30 days and any decision to change that will take lengthy consideration.
Medals or awards for individual acts of bravery or leadership are separate to the length of deployment criteria and are therefore considered based on a citation by citation basis.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they consider the differential treatment of the vaccination of British Army Gurkha Veterans living in Nepal compared to their UK based counterparts as a breach of the Armed Forces Covenant.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Nepal during this pandemic. The UK has an enduring defence relationship with Nepal and their Armed Forces.
We were one of the first countries to send life-saving medical equipment to Nepal, including 260 ventilators and thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment, to help the country’s fight against Covid-19. The UK is also one of the leading donors to COVAX, having committed £548million to the scheme. COVAX has allocated 2,000,000 vaccine doses to Nepal, of which 348,000 have already been delivered and we understand another tranche will arrive by August.
UK aid to the Gurkha Welfare Trust has also ensured access to life-saving support and supplies to Gurkha veterans and their communities throughout the pandemic. Their distinguished service is a source of immense pride in both our countries.
The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation that those who serve, or have served, in the Armed Forces, and their families, will be treated fairly and will not be disadvantaged in accessing public and commercial goods and services in the UK as a result of their military service.
The Covenant is there for the Armed Forces Community as a whole, which includes everyone who has previously served in the UK Armed Forces. But the purpose of the Covenant is to address disadvantage that is attributable to the effects of someone’s time in service. Disadvantage in this context principally concerns access to goods and services available in the UK, and it is usually measured in comparison to the levels of access enjoyed by the local civilian population