Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Lewer Excerpts

Monday 11th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This is topicals; I decide how quick they will be. I do not need any help from those on the Front Bench. Can we please make sure we get Back Benchers in? If not, tell me which one you do not want to allow in.

[Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) (Con)]

T4. Continuity of education allowance is an important recruitment and retention facility for the armed forces, but it has not kept up with inflation in recent years. Can the Minister commit to ensuring that CEA levels are not eroded in the future?

[Dr Murrison]

CEA is an important way of making sure that the education of service children is not disrupted. To that end, I have asked for a review of CEA to make sure it is fit for purpose, and I will have the results of that review later this year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Lewer Excerpts

Monday 21st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Wallace]

The hon. Gentleman does not have long to wait—he will find out on Wednesday.

[Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) (Con)]

My constituent’s father is a former Afghan army officer who is in hiding. He was not able to get here under the ARAP—Afghan relocations and assistance policy—scheme. May I ask a defence Minister to discuss this further?

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (James Heappey)]

I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this particular case. However, he and colleagues from around the House will appreciate, although I know this is a disappointment to many, that ARAP was never a mechanism for rank and file members of the Afghan national army to come to the UK.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Lewer Excerpts

Monday 5th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Wallace]

The truth is that the right hon. Gentleman does not seem to understand defence procurement or how things are manufactured. For example, 15% to 20% of the global components for all 3,000 of the F-35 aircraft—the rear part of the aeroplane—are made in Lancashire. Many of the highly complex, highly expensive defence projects are a collaboration. Typhoon is often championed on both sides of the House: that is an international collaboration between Spain, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. When the right hon. Gentleman mentions the word “supplier”, he is of course deliberately confusing that with the actual number of jobs and the ownership of their business. Let us ask the question: how many people are working on American companies’ business but based in the UK? He will find that most of them are here in this country.

[Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the families of UK armed forces personnel.

[Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)]

What steps his Department is taking to support the families of UK armed forces personnel.

[Mr Wallace]

The Government support families by providing successful wraparound childcare pilots, and in the last financial year awarded grants totalling £4.5 million from the MOD’s education support grant fund and its early years and childcare fund. Through Forces Help to Buy, we have helped around 24,100 personnel to buy a home or move as their families’ needs changed. The future accommodation model is looking at how we can support service families with more choices about how, where and with whom they live.

[Andrew Lewer [V]]

What is the Ministry of Defence doing to ensure that eligible personnel know that the continuity of education allowance—an important and necessary support for young people from military families, the vast majority of whom are a great asset to the schools they attend—is available to NCOs as well as to officers?

[Mr Wallace]

The CEA is available to all ranks, and we should encourage as many people as possible to take it up. It is used to achieve essential continuity of education for children, providing educational stability when personnel are assigned to service locations to meet the obligations of their service. Service personnel of all ranks may qualify, subject to their satisfying eligibility criteria, and they are encouraged to seek advice from the chain of command if they wish to take it up.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Lewer Excerpts

Monday 21st October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to maintain the capabilities of UK defence manufacturing.

[Andrew Lewer (Northampton South) (Con)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to maintain the capabilities of UK defence manufacturing.

[Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

18. What steps his Department is taking to maintain the capabilities of UK defence manufacturing.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Wallace]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on being appointed engineering envoy by the Government. Engineering is incredibly important, which is why we support the “Engineering: Taker a Closer Look” campaign, which will form part of that legacy and focus on STEM youth engagement, targeting not only young people but the gatekeepers, such teachers and parents. We are fully supportive of the campaign objective, which is to increase consideration of a career in engineering with a specific focus on 11 to 16-year-olds, especially among under-represented groups, such as girls and black and minority ethnic groups.

[Andrew Lewer]

What steps is the Department taking to ensure key industries maintain sovereign capability?

[Mr Wallace]

To keep skills and innovation here the Government have been determined to invest in home-grown innovation. It is the best way to sustain UK capability in the long term. That is why the defence and security accelerator, launched in 2016, is so important, as is the defence innovation fund, under which £800 million will be spent in that sector over the next 10 years.