Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate the Government has made of the amount of lead pollution from (a) leaded aviation fuel use, (b) leaded petrol use, (c) tyre wear and brake wear and (d) other types of use by the (i) Royal Navy, (ii) British Army and (iii) Royal Air Force in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to ensure that all Defence Standards and commercial specifications adopted by the Department meet the relevant UK legislation regarding lead and sulphur content. To ensure MOD remains legislatively compliant in all respects, MOD procures products to the latest specification. The Department tracks fuel use at the user level, led by the Armed Services.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to publicise the ability to join the Self and Custom Build register of any local authority in England among members of the Armed Forces.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD), through the Defence Transition Service, delivers an annual programme of civilian housing briefings to help inform and guide Service personnel and their families about the choices available to them and the need to plan ahead.
The MOD plans to incorporate appropriate reference to the Self and Custom Build register, to help raise awareness of it amongst the members of the Armed Forces community.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of the Chinook force for the wider capability of our Armed Forces; and what his plans are for the number of Chinook platforms.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Chinook Force provides the UK Armed Forces with vital rotary wing heavy lift capability and supports a range of users and Defence outputs, from crisis response through to war fighting.
Regarding the number of Chinook platforms, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Norwich South (Mr Clive Lewis MP) on 11 November 2022 to Question 80797.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the performance of Pinnacle Service Families: and if he will seek the views of servicemen and women and their families at RAF Odiham.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has directed all three Future Defence Infrastructure Services Accommodation suppliers (Pinnacle, Amey and VIVO) to provide Rectification Plans as performance has been significantly below acceptable levels.
DIO, VIVO, Pinnacle and the RAF Odiham Welfare Team hold monthly meetings to identify concerns affecting Service personnel and their families. VIVO and Pinnacle also hold weekly Housing Clinics to enable families to raise issues directly with them.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the standard of accommodation available to RAF Odiham personnel; and whether his Department has taken recent steps to improve the quality of that accommodation.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The condition of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties is formally assessed against the Decent Homes (DH) Standard. The DH standard is a technical standard for public housing, defined by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). More than 98% of SFA meet this standard; properties below it are not allocated to Service personnel.
In financial year 2021-22, investment to improve SFA at RAF Odiham included the installation of new windows and doors for 106 homes and an additional 20 homes were refurbished. Over the course of this financial year, a further 34 homes will benefit from new roofs.
The launch of the Defence Accommodation Strategy in October 2022 introduced a Defence Minimum Standard for Single Living Accommodation (SLA) and informs the future investment of SLA.
In financial year 2021-22, kitchen and utility rooms in four SLA blocks at RAF Odiham were upgraded and ablutions were refurbished in one SLA block. Further improvement work to SLA is also taking place, which includes painting and decorating, improving the shared ablutions areas and cooking facilities.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy in North East Hampshire constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2015.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Ministry of Defence's (MOD) over-riding priority is to provide national security for the UK as a whole and its extensive regional footprint exists to provide UK national security.
Spending or investment decisions are appraised on the basis of costs and benefits to UK society overall irrespective of the location of the expenditure, as required by HM Treasury Green Book.
The department does not routinely undertake assessments of the effect of national spending or investment decisions on local economies.
MOD Regional Expenditure with UK Industry and Commerce and Supported Employment is published at the Government Office Regional level as a National Statistic at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774871/Finance_and_economics_annual_statistical_bulletin_201718.pdf
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
If he will introduce a statute of limitations to protect servicemen and women from prosecution.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The prosecution of veterans is something that we take very seriously. Our Service personnel are of course subject to the law, but veterans should not have to face repeated investigations many years after the events in question. This is why we have just completed a public consultation on proposed legal protections measures for serving personnel and veterans. Once we have analysed the responses, we will bring forward legislation.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on introducing a statute of limitations to protect servicemen and women.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
There are regular meetings between Cabinet colleagues to discuss matters relating to the development of legal measures which will provide protection for our Armed Forces and veterans from the threat of re-investigation, and possible prosecution, for events which occurred many years ago.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment her Department has made of the accuracy of media reports on 7 May 2019 that war graves on the Falkland Island are being disrespected; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure the protection of those graves.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Anti-social behaviour of this nature is clearly reprehensible; action to address it would be a matter for the Royal Falkland Islands Police.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on the deployment of the army to assist the police in clearing an unauthorised traveller encampment on Ministry of Defence land.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Under Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 only the police have the power to remove trespassers. Military personnel have no role in this removal. Ministry of Defence (MOD) policy remains that the Department will take appropriate action, complicit with the law, to recover possession of MOD land occupied by unauthorised traveller encampments.