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Written Question
Somalia: Armed Forces
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on the training of Somalian armed forces in each of the last five years.

Answered by James Heappey

In each of the last five financial years (FY) the costs of Ministry of Defence support to the Somali Armed Forces amount to:

FY 2023-24 - £9,748,133 (actuals until end of February 2024)

FY 2022-23 - £14,315,675

FY 2021-22 - £11,268,135

FY 2020-21 - £11,051,788

FY 2019-20 - £11,982,973


Written Question
NATO: Armed Forces
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to increase the size of the armed forces in the context of conventional military threats to NATO allies in eastern Europe.

Answered by James Heappey

The Ministry of Defence is committed to delivering the Armed Forces set out in Defence Command Paper 23. This includes the transformational restructuring and modernisation originally set out in Integrated Review 21. Headline numbers of regular personnel do not define operational effectiveness. A more efficient training pipeline, fewer formed-unit deployments, organisational refinement and investment in improved capabilities mean that more units are ready more of the time.

The UK has committed almost all our Armed Forces and military capabilities to NATO under the new NATO Force Model - our strongest ever force commitment to the Alliance.


Written Question
Nuclear Weapons
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to diversify the UK's nuclear deterrent capabilities.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The 2013 Trident Alternatives Review demonstrated that no other system is as capable, resilient or cost effective as our current deterrent capability based on a four nuclear-armed submarine solution. That has not changed; the Trident II D5 missile system, carried by our Vanguard Class submarines, remains the most reliable weapons system in the world having successfully completed more than 190 tests.

The Government has absolute confidence that the UK’s deterrent remains effective, dependable, and formidable. That is why we are continuing to invest in the next generation of Dreadnought Class ballistic missile submarines, in extending the life of the Trident missile and in replacing the warhead, to keep us safe for decades to come.


Written Question
Ajax Vehicles: Procurement
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to improve the delivery rate of the Ajax armoured vehicle programme.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As a result of revised contractual terms with MOD, General Dynamics UK have introduced a number of measures designed to improve the delivery rate. These measures include:

- Extending the current shift patterns and building contingency throughout the production schedule;

- Optimising the build line to balance activity and recruitment of additional resource to anticipate potential pinch points in the schedule; and

- An increase in collaborative practices, such as the introduction of joint acceptance, to reduce overall timelines.


Written Question
Reserve Forces
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of (i) conscription and (ii) civilian training for the purposes of increasing the size of the reserve force.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 February 2024 to Question 14972 to the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan).


Written Question
National Security
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will update his Department's Fusion Doctrine to reflect lessons learned from the integration of civil society and private business responses as part of defence efforts in Ukraine.

Answered by James Heappey

Fusion Doctrine is not published by the Ministry of Defence as it relates to the UK's whole government approach to orchestrating National Security capabilities. Military Joint doctrine is reviewed continually by the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre through a five yearly plan. Review of Military Joint doctrine is required to reflect best practice and agreed lessons from operations and training.


Written Question
NATO: Armed Forces
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the size of the defence force in the context of NATO commitments relating to any escalation of the Russian threat in eastern Europe.

Answered by James Heappey

Headline numbers of regular personnel do not define operational effectiveness. A more efficient training pipeline, fewer formed-unit deployments, organisational refinement and investment in improved capabilities mean that more units are ready more of the time. Through our offer to NATO, we offer the Alliance the full spectrum of defence capabilities.

20,000 Service personnel from the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force will deploy across Europe to take part in Exercise Steadfast Defender 24. Our Armed Forces continue to meet all their operational commitments, including participating in every single NATO mission, supporting Ukraine, and tackling Houthi shipping attacks in the Red Sea.


Written Question
Canada: AUKUS
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the expansion of AUKUS to include Canada.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Our ambition to deliver nuclear-powered submarines for Australia will remain trilateral, however, as our work progresses on AUKUS Pillar Two and other critical defence and security capabilities, we and our Australian and American partners will seek opportunities to engage key partners and allies when and where relevant, potentially including Canada, with whom we already enjoy a close defence relationship.


Written Question
Antisatellite Weapons: Research
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to support research and development of space-based weaponry.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Defence Space Strategy (2022) sets out the role of the Ministry of Defence to protect and defend our interests in space. We have allocated £1.4 billion over 10 years to develop military space capabilities. This investment enhances operations in terrestrial domains as well as making our space capabilities resilient to a range of threats and hazards. Our goal is to promote a safe, secure and sustainable space domain in accordance with our strategy as well as UK and international law.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Recruitment
Friday 1st March 2024

Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has taken steps to increase Armed Forces recruitment from Commonwealth countries.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Commonwealth citizens have a long and distinguished history of service in the UK Armed Forces, and we continue to value the contribution they make. The recruitment of Commonwealth citizens is against the 1,350 per annum limit for the Armed Forces introduced on 5 November 2018, a 15% limit per Army cap badge, and the roles available. These limits remain extant but are kept under review.