Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of gambling harms among serving members of the Armed Forces.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence recognises that gambling-related harms can have significant impacts on the health and wellbeing of Service personnel. In addition to the limits placed on gambling by Kings Regulations, active efforts are made to highlight both the harms of problem gambling and the available support, in awareness campaigns.
Defence has worked with Swansea University to help understand gambling harms. This research and other academic work inform our current assessment of the levels of gambling harms specifically within the Serving population.
Further initiatives to build understanding include the new Defence Primary Healthcare Gambling pathway, which has been developed by the Defence Medical Services to ensure there is robust clinical pathway for those at risk, but will also present an opportunity to collect information to inform targeted interventions.
The Defence Public Health Unit engages proactively with Department of Health counterparts and will continue to work cross-Government to secure the best possible evidence and insight into how to support Service personnel with gambling issues. Alongside the Single Services, the Public Health Unit continues to work with external agencies and charities that offer support to Service personnel.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the NHS on improving prevention and treatment of gambling harms among Armed Forces personnel and veterans.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence takes problem-gambling very seriously and works closely with Armed Forces personnel and Veterans who require support.
The comprehensive Defence Primary Health Care Gambling pathway within the Defence Medical Services, assesses and supports Service personnel who come forward with a gambling issue and, when required, refers them to specialist NHS gambling services and clinics. Service personnel can also self-refer into these services.
This pathway includes an assessment of gambling addiction using recognised validated assessment tools such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Data collected from these assessments can be used to help Defence monitor and understand the scale of gambling harms within Service personnel.
Defence engages routinely with NHS colleagues delivering specialist gambling prevention and treatment services. The Public Health Unit within Defence engages proactively with Department of Health counterparts and will continue to work cross-Government to secure the best possible evidence and insight into how to support Service personnel with gambling issues.
Veterans are eligible for gambling addiction treatment through the NHS. The Office for Veterans' Affairs in the Ministry of Defence regularly works with the third sector and academia to ensure veteran-specific needs are understood.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings the Secretary of State for Defence attended on (a) OP RUBIFIC and (b) the Afghan Response Route between September 2023 and 4th July 2024; and if he will provide the date of such meetings.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
When the Taleban seized control in 2021, many thousands of people who served and supported our British Armed Forces were left in Afghanistan.
The UK made a commitment to honour the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with us, there was cross party support for this at the time.
In February 2022, under the previous Government a spreadsheet with names of individual applicants for ARAP – the resettlement scheme for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan – was emailed outside of official Government systems.
This was mistakenly thought to contain the names of a small number of applicants, but in fact the email contained personal information linked to c18,700 applicants of ARAP and its predecessor scheme, the Ex-Gratia Scheme (EGS). The data related to applications made on or before 7 January 2022.
A very small section of this spreadsheet appeared online on 14 August 2023, which is when the Government first became aware that the MOD's ARAP case working spreadsheet had been mistakenly included with the original email.
The previous government decided to seek an injunction concerning the breach on 25 August 2023. The High Court granted a super injunction as a result. The previous Government also set up a new secret resettlement route to bring those affected to the UK. Former Ministers started work on this in Autumn 2023 and it was up and running by April 2024.
This Secretary of State then commissioned an independent Policy Review from ex Deputy chief of Defence Intelligence Paul Rimmer. This began earlier this year and concluded and was presented to Ministers in June. The review examined the overall policy context in spring 2025, three years since the data incident and concluded that it appears “highly unlikely” that merely being on the dataset would be grounds for targeting.
As the Defence Secretary outlined in his oral statement dated 15 July 2025, the Rimmer review was a very significant element in the Government’s decision to change policy to close the ARR, though not the sole element. This was not a decision taken lightly. We have now made the matter public so it can be subject to full Parliamentary scrutiny. The policy decisions we have now taken, in contrast to maintaining the policies and schemes we inherited from the previous Government, will result in an estimated £1.2 billion reduction in costs to the taxpayer.
The previous Secretary of State was invited to attend ten meetings on OP RUBIFIC and the Afghan Response Route (ARR) between September 2023 and 4 July 2024. The dates of these meetings are outlined below. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic there may have been discussions on these topics that were not recorded.
20/09/2023
25/09/2023
05/10/2023
06/10/2023
18/12/2023
18/12/2023
19/12/2023
22/01/2024
28/03/2024
22/05/2024
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many meetings the Minister for Defence Procurement attended on (a) operation RUBIFIC and (b) the Afghan Response Route between August 2023 and 4 July 2024.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
When the Taleban seized control in 2021, many thousands of people who served and supported our British Armed Forces were left in Afghanistan.
The UK made a commitment to honour the moral obligation we owe to those Afghans who stood with us, there was cross party support for this at the time.
In February 2022, under the previous Government a spreadsheet with names of individual applicants for ARAP – the resettlement scheme for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan – was emailed outside of official Government systems.
This was mistakenly thought to contain the names of a small number of applicants, but in fact the email contained personal information linked to c18,700 applicants of ARAP and its predecessor scheme, the Ex-Gratia Scheme (EGS). The data related to applications made on or before 7 January 2022.
A very small section of this spreadsheet appeared online on 14 August 2023, which is when the Government first became aware that the MOD's ARAP case working spreadsheet had been mistakenly included with the original email.
The previous Government decided to seek an injunction concerning the breach on 25 August 2023. The High Court granted a super injunction as a result. The previous Government also set up a new secret resettlement route to bring those affected to the UK. Former Ministers started work on this in Autumn 2023 and it was up and running by April 2024.
This Secretary of State then commissioned an independent Policy Review from ex Deputy chief of Defence Intelligence Paul Rimmer. This began earlier this year and concluded and was presented to Ministers in June. The review examined the overall policy context in spring 2025, three years since the data incident and concluded that it appears “highly unlikely” that merely being on the dataset would be grounds for targeting.
As the Defence Secretary outlined in his oral statement dated 15 July 2025, the Rimmer review was a very significant element in the Government’s decision to change policy to close the ARR, though not the sole element. This was not a decision taken lightly. We have now made the matter public so it can be subject to full Parliamentary scrutiny. The policy decisions we have now taken, in contrast to maintaining the policies and schemes we inherited from the previous Government, will result in an estimated £1.2 billion reduction in costs to the taxpayer.
The previous Minister for Defence Procurement was invited to attend seven meetings on OP RUBIFIC and the Afghan Response Route (ARR) between August 2023 and 4 July 2024. Four of these meetings scheduled on 24 August 2023 and three on 25 August 2023. Due to its sensitive nature, there may have been discussions on these topics that were not recorded.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) capacity and (b) operational readiness of the Lebanese Armed Forces, in the context of (i) disarmament initiatives and (ii) regional stability in southern Lebanon.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
For more than a decade, the UK has been a trusted partner of the Lebanese Armed Forces, providing £106 million of financial support and offering training, infrastructure, and equipment.
In collaboration with international partners, we continue to work closely with the Lebanese Armed Forces, identifying opportunities to support capability development to ensure the Lebanese Armed Forces are able to exert a monopoly of force across Lebanon.
Over the past six months, we have completed construction of key infrastructure to enhance border security on the eastern border and will be seeking to work with the Lebanese authorities to replicate this in the South. We have also started training Lebanese Armed Forces troops to conduct area security operations in southern Lebanon. This support package is confirmed and will cost £10 million for financial year 2025-26.
We also continue to coordinate our bilateral support with international partners. This government recognises the critical role the Lebanese Armed Forces play in ensuring future stability and security in Lebanon.
Asked by: Alex Ballinger (Labour - Halesowen)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the UK military support to Lebanon.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
For more than a decade, the UK has been a trusted partner of the Lebanese Armed Forces, providing £106 million of financial support and offering training, infrastructure, and equipment.
In collaboration with international partners, we continue to work closely with the Lebanese Armed Forces, identifying opportunities to support capability development to ensure the Lebanese Armed Forces are able to exert a monopoly of force across Lebanon.
Over the past six months, we have completed construction of key infrastructure to enhance border security on the eastern border and will be seeking to work with the Lebanese authorities to replicate this in the South. We have also started training Lebanese Armed Forces troops to conduct area security operations in southern Lebanon. This support package is confirmed and will cost £10 million for financial year 2025-26.
We also continue to coordinate our bilateral support with international partners. This government recognises the critical role the Lebanese Armed Forces play in ensuring future stability and security in Lebanon.