Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average length of time is between receiving an expression of interest and receiving a formal application and the start of a training programme for a new recruit in the (a) Army and (b) Army Reserve.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
In the 12 months ending 1 July 2025, the average time taken between application and untrained entry for UK/Irish Regular Other Ranks was 249 days.
In regard to the average time taken between application and untrained entry for the Army Reserve, this is information is not held centrally and will take some time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member with a response.
Notes/caveats:
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of expenditure by his Department on businesses in the West Midlands.
Answered by Maria Eagle
The Ministry of Defence spent £1.6 billion in the West Midlands in 2023-24, which equates to £260 per person in the region and directly supported 7,100 jobs. This includes £137 million spent directly with SMEs in the same period.
Through the Defence Industrial Strategy, we will continue to engage with industry, devolved governments and local authorities to better understand the regional opportunities and barriers for growth in the defence sector.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK military personnel have been deployed in Yemen in the last six months.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Defence Attache accompanied the Foreign Secretary on his trip to Aden at the beginning of March. I am aware of speculative media conjecture regarding UK Special Forces in Yemen but, as the hon. Member knows, it is a longstanding policy of successive Governments not to comment on Special Forces.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the British armed forces have been injured on active service in the Yemen in the last six months.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
None.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Daily Mail article entitled Our secret dirty war, published on 23 March 2019, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports that members of the British armed forces have recently been injured in the Yemen.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
None.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of operations involving British armed forces in the Yemen in the last six months.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
None.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment the Government has made of the effect of military action on port operations at Hodeidah, Yemen.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The port of Hodeidah is vital for Yemen. Together with the port of Al-Saleef it accounts for 80 per cent of all imports into Yemen, a country that relies on imports to meet 90 per cent of its basic needs such as food and fuel. There are no other ports in Yemen that can handle such volumes of imports.
The recent Houthi offensive has mainly affected the outskirts of the city of Hodeidah and has not damaged port infrastructure. However, it has reduced the availability of safe transit corridors and storage facilities for commercial and humanitarian goods leaving the port for major population centres in Yemen. Reduced levels of imports and damage to distribution networks has severely limited access to food and medicines for Yemeni citizens.
Only safe, rapid, and unhindered commercial and humanitarian access to the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Al-Saleef will ensure that millions of Yemenis in the north of the country receive the vital supplies of fuel, food, and medicine they desperately need.
The Government continues to raise concerns with the Saudi led-Coalition about the potential impact of any assault on the port and city of Hodeidah. We also continue to make clear that any military operations must be conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law, and not disrupt commercial and humanitarian flows.
Since 2016, the Government has been a strong supporter of the peace talks between the Government of Yemen and the Houthis; the first round concluded on 13 December 2018 with some significant progress including an agreement for the redeployment of forces away from the city and port of Hodeidah. If successful, this should help enable increased flows of vital humanitarian and commercial supplies to the Yemeni population.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish on a weekly basis information on Russian and Syrian air assets engaged in attacking civilian targets in Syria; if he will publish the identity of the officer in the chain of command under which those air assets operate; and if he will make such information available to his EU counterparts with responsibility for sanctions policy.
Answered by Mike Penning
The information available to the UK Government on Syria originates from a variety of intelligence and other sources, which it would not be appropriate to publish. The UK will, however, with our US and EU allies, continue to seek means of highlighting the responsibilities of the Syrian Regime and Russia for the humanitarian crisis in Syria and on seeking means to resolve it, including through maintaining EU resolve on sanctions.