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Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Renewable Energy
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the energy used by his Department is from renewable sources.

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

In financial year (FY) 2022-23 1.2% of Ministry of Defence (MOD) electricity consumption was generated directly from renewable sources. The majority of MOD electricity supply comes from the National Grid, of which a sizable proportion is generated from renewable sources. The proportion of renewable sources used in the National Grid varies but based on Government figures published for the UK in December 2023, renewable generation reached 44.5%.

MOD's energy consumption figures are published in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts (ARAC).


Written Question
Warships: Fires
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many fires broke out on Royal Navy warships in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022, (d) 2023 and (e) 2024 as of 19 March 2024.

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

The table below shows the numbers of fires that have broken out on Royal Navy warships since 2020.

Year

Number of reported fires

2020

24

2021

23

2022

19

2023

24

2024 (as of 22 March 2024)

5

All of the fires listed were considered minor and were extinguished by first responder firefighters.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Carbon Emissions
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of his Department's contribution to the Government's total carbon emissions in the last 12 months.

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

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) assesses carbon emissions at the end of the Financial Year. (FY) Once the data has been gathered for FY 2023-24 the breakdown of the Department's carbon emissions will be published as part of the MOD Annual Report and Accounts. In the last published Greening Government Commitment Report MOD emissions made up 53.7% of the total Government emissions.


Written Question
HMS Queen Elizabeth: Fires
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Royal Navy is taking to (a) assess the cause of the fire on HMS Queen Elizabeth on 8 March 2024 and (b) prevent future fires on ships.

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

An investigation is underway to establish the cause of the fire onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth on 8 March 2024. This will seek to identify any appropriate lessons that can be implemented in future instances of this nature.


Written Question
Radar: Wind Power
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on installing military radars that are not affected by floating offshore wind installations.

Answered by James Heappey

Through the Air Defence and Offshore Wind Task Force, Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials are working closely, and collaboratively, with colleagues from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Scottish Government, the Crown Estates and windfarm industry stakeholders to address the problems that future windfarms would cause to MOD's radars.

This joint work is essential to ensure air security of the United Kingdom and supporting the deployment of offshore windfarms that are essential for our nation's future energy security and decarbonisation.

MOD has established Programme NJORD to deliver the technical solutions needed to address the problems that future offshore windfarms, including Floating installations, would have on MOD's Air Defence Radar. A commercial framework of potential suppliers is now in place and MOD will launch the first call-off competitions within this framework later this year.


Written Question
HMS Queen Elizabeth: Fires
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the (a) damage caused and (b) injuries sustained by staff working on the HMS Queen Elizabeth as a result of the fire on 8 March 2024.

Answered by James Heappey

I can confirm that no injuries were sustained by staff working on the HMS Queen Elizabeth as a result of the fire on 8 March 2024. There was also no permanent damage caused and the fire will have no impact on HMS Queen Elizabeth’s current programme. An investigation is underway to establish the cause of the fire and this will seek to identify any appropriate lessons that can be implemented in future instances of this nature.


Written Question
Radar: Wind Power
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has (a) raised objections to and (b) taken steps to mitigate the potential impact on radar systems of the proposed floating offshore wind around RAF Lossiemouth.

Answered by James Heappey

Without details of the specific development being referred to, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) are unable to confirm whether we have been consulted upon this particular development.

If the MOD is consulted upon the development of wind farms, it carries out assessments to determine whether they will affect defence radars, including those located at RAF Lossiemouth.

When a proposed wind farm development will impact the effective operation of a specific radar(s), the MOD will register an objection. If the developer wants to propose mitigation, this will be considered by the MOD.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Housing
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he last had discussions with representatives of (a) VIVO, (b) Amey and (c) Pinnacle on the maintenance of service accommodation properties.

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

The Secretary of State for Defence has not engaged directly with representatives from VIVO, Amey and Pinnacle on the maintenance of Service accommodation. However, I have engaged with VIVO, Amey and Pinnacle representatives in summer 2023 regarding overdue Landlord Gas Safety Inspections and Electrical Insulation Condition Reports.

In addition to this, Defence Infrastructure Organisation officials are in daily contact with VIVO, Amey and Pinnacle regarding delivery and performance.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Housing
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 10349 on Armed Forces: Housing, how much his Department has spent on housing forces personnel and their dependents in emergency accommodation due to major repair needs at their military accommodation since 1 April 2022.

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

From 1 April 2022 to 29 February 2024, the Department has spent £1,591,838 on housing forces personnel and their dependants in emergency accommodation due to major repairs needed at their military accommodation.

Where an alternative permanent solution is either not appropriate or not immediately available, families are placed into temporary accommodation.

Temporary accommodation is provided for a number of reasons, including non-habitable faults at Move-In, leaks, heating/hot water issues, total loss of cooking facilities, fires or floods.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Housing
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 10351 on Armed Forces: Housing, how many Service Family Accommodation units were treated for (a) electrical faults and (b) pest infestation between 23 January and 18 March 2024, broken down by region.

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

The number of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties that were treated for electrical faults between 23 January 2024 and 29 February 2024, broken down by region is detailed in the table below:

Region

Electrical Faults

South East

1,390

South West

1,445

North

681

Central

1,109

The number of SFA properties treated for pest infestation between 23 January 2024 and 29 February 2024, broken down by region is detailed in the table below:

Region

Pest Infestation

South East

148

South West

108

North

37

Central

90

Please note that we can only provide data up to 29 February 2024 as this is processed month-by-month.