Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recommendations by the Service Complaints Ombudsman are under current consideration by her Department.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 12 June 2019 to Question 261162.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the planned centre of excellence for human security will be based, on what date it will start; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Centre of Excellence is currently the subject of a feasibility study which will provide Ministers with options on timings, scope and costs. At this stage, no decision has been made on when the Centre of Excellence will begin operation.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding her Department plans to allocate to the centre of excellence for human security; what the (a) priorities and (b) objectives of that centre will be; how many staff will be employed in that centre; and of those staff how many will be gender advisers; what training her Department plans to provide; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Centre of Excellence will work to help the UK military and its international partners better integrate UN Security Council Resolutions linked to human security into military planning and conduct of operations. The Centre is currently the subject of a feasibility study which will provide Ministers with options on timings, scope and costs. At this stage, no decision has been made on when the Centre of Excellence will begin operation.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate she has made of the number of recommendations in the (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018 Service Complaints Ombudsman's annual report have been complied with; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
In her annual reports for 2016 and 2017 the Service Complaints Ombudsman made a total of 22 recommendations. Of these recommendations, we consider that 15 have either been completed or were not accepted, and that seven remain in progress. In her annual report for 2018 which was published in April this year, the Ombudsman made nine new recommendations. We are currently in the process of considering these recommendations with the single Services and will respond formally to the Ombudsman once this work is complete.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) the RAF have been (i) investigated by and (ii) discharged from the services as a result of (A) membership of national action (B) membership of a far right organisation, (C) anti-Semitic organisations and (D) Islamophobic organisations; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Since April 2007 (when offences started to be recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration system), no members of the Royal Navy or Royal Air Force have been investigated or discharged from Service as a result of membership of the named organisations.
During that time, less than five (this figure is rounded to avoid identification) members of the Army were investigated and discharged due to membership of National Action.
Extremist ideologies are completely at odds with the values and standards of the military. We have robust measures in place, including during the recruitment process, to ensure those exhibiting extremist views are neither tolerated nor permitted to serve.
We are working with the Home Office to implement the Prevent programme across the Armed Forces, including training personnel to ensure they are aware of what to do if they believe an individual is showing signs of radicalisation.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials her Department sends to ASD-STAN organisation committee meetings; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The resource allocated to ASD-STAN committees is dependent on subject matter and typically ranges between two and four individuals as appropriate.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress she has made in establishing representations with the ASD-STAN organisation; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Ministry of Defence continues to have well-established representation at ASD-STAN committees, and officials are actively engaged in developing European aerospace standards alongside our industry and European partners.
Asked by: Madeleine Moon (Labour - Bridgend)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Defence Medical Service doctors have (a) taken early retirement and (b) left the armed forces as a result of pension taxation changes in the last two years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Voluntary Outflow (VO) is defined as all exits from trained UK Regular Forces which are voluntarily generated by the individual before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.
Between 1 April 2017 and 31 December 2018, the latest period for which figures are available, 60 Defence Medical Services (DMS) Medical Officers and 20 DMS Dental Officers were VO exits. These figures have been rounded to the nearest five.
Information about VO exits as a result of pension taxation changes is not held in the format requested.