Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the RAF spent on advertising (a) above the line, (b) on Tiktok, (c) on Facebook and Instagram, (d) on Snapchat and (e) on Twitter in each financial year since 2017.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
This question has been interpreted as spend on advertising for Recruitment. With regards to the figures for 2017, I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House
Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Spend £ | 742,162 | 9,453,479 | 8,334,191 | 2,820,455 | 8,541,160 | 11,240,860 | 2,209,334. |
Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Facebook/Inst | £52,735 | £887,324 | £874,933 | £310,407 | £158,550 | £610,013 | £179,662 |
SnapChat |
| £63,001 | £178,558 | £6,663 | £542,277 | £654,943 | £175,206 |
|
| £48,384 | £11,152 | £83,269 | £4,992 |
|
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the Army spent on advertising (a) above the line, (b) on Tiktok, (c) on Facebook and Instagram, (d) on Snapchat and (e) on Twitter in each financial year since 2017.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The table shows the cost of the Army’s recruitment advertising costs by financial year.
Media Name | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2202-23 |
£231,425 | £576,454 | £494,971 | £532,996.82 | £606,351 | |
Snapchat | £79,903 | £130,020 | £204,345 | £388,521.19 | £479,342.14 |
£55,431 | £203,164 | £129,277 | £196,164.98 | £90,000 | |
Display | £1,292,885 | £3,506,037 | £3,804,808 | £3,500,017 | £2,309,891 |
Out of Home | £287,000 | £451,614 | £190,000 | £200,000 | £150,000 |
Radio | £388,980 | £1,813,738 | £859,134 | £1,045,000 | £964,998 |
Paid Search | £209,532 | £699,264 | £1,153,600 | £1,355,525 | £1,165,874.32 |
TV | £1,992,500 | £3,076,945 | £4,429,580 | £2,524,105 | £3,594,987 |
Please note the following notes/caveats:
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2024 to Question 13532 on Armed Forces: Parachuting, if he will break down the data provided by (a) broken bones, (b) respiratory illness, (c) punctured lungs, (d) other injury and (e) death.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
From 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2023, a total of 527 Service personnel sustained injuries from parachuting. Of these:
There was one fatality as a result of parachuting in 2021.
This information was drawn from a number of databases and relied on manual data extraction based on specific search terms.
The type of injury was identified from a number of different variables in the data including the free text narrative of the description of the incident. The MOD Health and Safety systems are not medical databases and do not contain clinical diagnoses. The databases are also live and therefore information is subject to change or revisions. As a result, there is a risk of inconsistency with the data, and the returns may not be exhaustive.
Any records that did not contain one of the search terms used has been categorised as ‘other’. These are reported conditions including but not limited to sprains, pain, bruising and lacerations.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people suffered (a) death and (b) injury on his Departments firing ranges in each year since 2018.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Since 2018, there have been two fatalities involving UK Armed Forces personnel on firing ranges. These occurred in 2018 and 2021.
During the same period 1,429 people sustained injuries on firing ranges. The table below provides a breakdown of injuries by year between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2023:
Table 1: Number of people injured at firing ranges broken down by year.
'Table 1 lists all injuries linked to firing range activities. These injuries range from superficial e.g. abrasions, lacerations, physical strains, falls to more severe e.g. gunshot wounds, hearing loss.'
Calendar Year | Total |
All | 1,429 |
2018 | 158 |
2019 | 160 |
2020 | 168 |
2021 | 243 |
2022[1] | 332 |
2023 | 368 |
[1] The annual increases in 2022 and 2023 may be due to improved reporting levels due to a new reporting system being introduced.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military personnel reported non-freezing cold injuries in each year since 2018.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The number of UK Armed Forces personnel with a record for a Non-Freezing Cold Injury (NFCI) in each year since 2018 is presented in the table below:
Year | Number |
2018 | 406 |
2019 | 334 |
2020 | 263 |
2021 | 354 |
2022 | 302 |
2023 | 421 |
The data is compiled from the following medical, safety and casualty reporting systems to provide the most complete picture possible:
These systems have been searched for coded information or text entries relating to NFCI: information entered as free text is not included.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average vehicle availability rate was for (a) Chinook, (b) Wildcat Mk1, (c) Wildcat Mk2 and (d) Merlin HM2 in each year since 2018.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 December 2023 to Question 6474 to the hon. Member for Easington (Mr Grahame Morris).
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average vehicle availability rate was for (a) wheeled support vehicles, (b) Landrovers, (c) Typhoon and (d) Lightning in each year since 2018.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The British Army holds and maintains an appropriate amount of all its platforms to meet operational requirements. For security reasons, I am withholding further information on the number of wheeled support vehicles and Land Rovers available for operational deployment.
Average annual Forward Fleet figures for the Typhoon and F-35B Lightning fleets are given in the table below.
Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Typhoon | 96 | 100 | 100 | 101 | 100 | 99 |
Lightning (1) | 7(2) | 11 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 24 |
The Forward Fleet comprises serviceable and short-term unserviceable aircraft. Typically, the short-term unserviceable fleet aircraft are undergoing minor works, forward maintenance or other unforeseen rectification or technical inspection that can arise on a day-to-day basis. The number of aircraft varies day-to-day, according to normal flight management activities.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of his Department's ammunition stocks.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) holds sufficient munitions to conduct current operational tasks. Munitions stockpile levels are kept under review balancing current holdings against threats, availability, industrial capacity and evolving technology. We are investing in munitions. The Defence Command Paper 2023 announced that the MOD would spend an additional £2.5 billion on munitions. This is in addition to the Government's provision of £560 million over two years in the Autumn Statement 2022 to build our munitions stockpiles and a further £1.9 billion over two years announced in the 2023 Budget for investment in wider readiness and resilience.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8292 on Vodafone Group: Contracts, when his Department last made an assessment of the adequacy of its contracts with Vodafone; and for what reasons his Department reviewed those contracts.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As previously stated, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) actively monitors all of its key suppliers and their current contracts including those with Vodafone in accordance with MOD policy and process.
The MOD last reviewed its contractual position with Vodafone in the Summer of 2023, following the announcement of the merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of his Department's contracts with Vodafone.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) actively monitors all key suppliers and their current contracts, including those with Vodafone in accordance with MOD policy and process.
Each contract is managed at a top level budget level (e.g. Defence Digital) where the adequacy of each contract is assessed on an ongoing basis.