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 update the letter deposited in the Library of the House on 27 December 2023, reference DEP2024-0002, with the latest figures available.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Data provided in response to Questions is not updated when new data becomes available.
If the data was later found to be incorrect, then a correction would be issued. However this is not the case with the Question referred to by the hon. Member.
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 (a) payments additional to their wages and (b) deployment allowances have been made to the crew of submarines providing the continual at sea deterrent in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The table below provides information requested and shows the total volume of all payments made covering additional Recruitment and Retention payments made above basic salary, Local Overseas Allowance and Longer Separation Allowance payable on deployment. This count has not been broken out as the data could compromise operational security.
Financial Year | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | Grand Total |
Count of payments additional to wages | 16,285 | 17,509 | 14,021 | 17,932 | 19,503 | 82,250 |
It would be prejudicial to the effectiveness, capability and security of His Majesty's Armed Forces to provide any further detail.
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 trained marine systems personnel the Royal Navy has; and what the target number is.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Marine Engineering branch is a vital part of the Royal Navy (RN) these are exceptionally skilled and highly valued personnel, crucial to ensuring the RN can continue to meet its commitments.
The number of trained Marine Engineers (MEs) is a constantly fluctuating number, however as of 17 April 2024:
| ME General Service | ME Submariner |
Officer | 276 | 248 |
Rating | 2,125 | 1,070 |
Total | 2401 | 1318 |
The forecast figures for April 2025 are:
| ME General Service | ME Submariner |
Officer | 298 | 283 |
Rating | 2, 464 | 1,204 |
Total | 2762 | 1487 |
*These figures do not include those currently in the training pipeline to join the branch.
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 he plans to sail RFA Fort Victoria again.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
RFA FORT VICTORIA is in a scheduled refit package to prepare her for future service.
All Royal Navy (RN) ships rotate through planned operating cycles and this results in individual ships being at various levels of readiness at any one time in accordance with long-term operating schedules and operational needs; they remain in service during these periods but may not be deployable.
It is our policy not to disclose the fine details of forward availability forecasts of individual ships as this would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces. The RN does publish annual figures for readiness days, the first of which was released in November 2023.
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 Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships have been placed at (a) extended readiness, (b) mothballed and (c) tied up alongside without a date to return to sea as of 12 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As of 12 April 2024, RFA Wave Knight and Wave Ruler are currently in extended readiness. All other RFA platforms were either at sea or are planned to return to sea in future.
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 21 March 2024 to Question 19178 on Armed Forces: Housing, if he will provide a breakdown of this figure for Scotland.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
For the period 1 April 2023 to 29 February 2024, the Department spent £21,004 on housing Service personnel and their families in emergency accommodation in Scotland due to major repairs needed at their military accommodation.
Information for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 is not separately identifiable due to the way in which data was held at the time.
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 the operational status is of each of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates as of 12 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As of 12 April 2024, five Type 23 Frigates were available. The remaining six were in various stages of refit and therefore were not available for operations.
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 data his Department holds on the number of compensation payments awarded to families living in service family accommodation in Scotland since April 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since 1 April 2022 1,724 compensation claims have been paid to Service personnel living in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in Scotland.
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 RFA Tiderace is being placed at extended readiness.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships are adjusted to reflect operational requirements and to ensure outputs are optimised. Individual ships will be generated to different levels of readiness as required. As such, RFA Tiderace is currently alongside for a period and will be regenerated as needed.
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 expects RFA Tiderace to next be put to sea.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships are adjusted to reflect operational requirements and to ensure outputs are optimised. Individual ships will be generated to different levels of readiness as required. As such, RFA Tiderace is currently alongside for a period and will be regenerated as needed.