Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the retirement age for Ministry of Defence Police officers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Treasury and Cabinet Office Ministers have given thorough consideration to the merits of introducing an enhanced effective pension age of 60 years for Ministry of Defence Police Officers, but have not been minded to make such a change on the grounds that this would conflict with a key principle of the Government pension reforms that increased longevity requires longer working lives.
The Ministry of Defence is working with the Cabinet Office to reduce the Ministry of Defence Police Officers pension age to state pension age minus three years for alpha pension scheme members (with a minimum pensionable age of 65), to be funded by the Ministry of Defence. We are currently working with the Defence Police Federation on implementation.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to apply the effective pension age reduction to Ministry of Defence Police officers pensions.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Treasury and Cabinet Office Ministers have given thorough consideration to the merits of introducing an enhanced effective pension age of 60 years for Ministry of Defence Police Officers, but have not been minded to make such a change on the grounds that this would conflict with a key principle of the Government pension reforms that increased longevity requires longer working lives.
The Ministry of Defence is working with the Cabinet Office to reduce the Ministry of Defence Police Officers pension age to state pension age minus three years for alpha pension scheme members (with a minimum pensionable age of 65), to be funded by the Ministry of Defence. We are currently working with the Defence Police Federation on implementation.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of (a) armed forces and (b) his Department's personnel work for the Joint Cyber Unit in (i) Corsham and (ii) Cheltenham.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him to Questions 143807 and 143808 on 17 May 2018.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of each branch of the services are employed in the national offensive cyber programme.
Answered by Guto Bebb
As a partnership between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ, the National Offensive Cyber Programme is designed to harness the skills and talents of both organisations to deliver the tools, techniques and tradecraft required for the UK to establish a world-class offensive cyber capability. I am withholding specific information of the number of personnel from the armed forces employed in the programme as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of each branch of the armed services work at the National Cyber Security Centre.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) was established in October 2016. Since then, the Ministry of Defence has developed a close collaborative relationship with the NCSC. Members of the Armed Forces are employed in a number of roles within the NCSC, but I am withholding further details as their disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 3 April 2017 to Question 69592, on Reserve Forces: Pay, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the changes to internal tax code procedures for Reservist personnel.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence considers that the current arrangements are an improvement over those previously in place. However, accurate collection of income tax from our deployed Reservists requires their civilian employers to follow the guidance issued online at: https://www.gov.uk/employee-reservist.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 131619, on armoured fighting vehicles, which eight organisations returned questionnaires.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The eight organisations that returned questionnaires for the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle requirement are: ARTEC, BAES, FNSS, General Dynamics, Nexter, Patria, ST Engineering, and Thales.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence of 5 March 2018, Official Report, column 12, when his Department plans to write to the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney on its definition of a core activity and an additional facility.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I wrote to the hon. Member on 19 March.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many expressions of interest his Department has received on the supply of the future Mechanised Infantry Vehicle.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The Ministry of Defence has not received any Expressions of Interest. In 2016, it did conduct market analysis of the supply base for 8 x 8 Mechanised Infantry Vehicles via Defence Contracts On-Line; eight organisations returned questionnaires.
Asked by: Gerald Jones (Labour - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that equipment purchased via the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation or single source procurement provides value for money.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) approach to acquisition is to carefully assess the choices available to achieve best value for money while meeting the needs of the UK Armed Forces. This is sometimes achieved through competition, sometimes through single source arrangements, and sometimes through collaboration, which itself may involve elements of competition.
International organisations such as the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) will establish value for money in a similar way to the UK MOD. This can include establishing prices via competitions. They will also have similar provisions in place to those under the UK's Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCR), which includes detailed visibility of the breakdown of costs.
The MOD seeks to ensure value for money in single source procurement through the provisions of the Defence Reform Act 2014 and the associated SSCR. Parliament enacted this legislation specifically to address some of the difficulties the MOD had previously faced in assuring value for money when undertaking single source procurement. This approach has already significantly strengthened the MOD's ability to secure value for money through single source procurement.