Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what welfare support his Department offers to Royal Navy submarine crews following long at-sea deployments.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy is aware of the pressure put on submariners and their families during periods of absence. Submariners are given extensive training prior to deployment to help prepare for life underwater. While at sea, they have access to a weekly short message from their nominated loved one and support from their divisional system, medical officer and in some cases a Chaplain.
When returning from deployment, submariners have access to Royal Navy (RN) Family and People Support services which offers a range of specialist tailored welfare services to Naval personnel and their families, including during times of illness, grief and loss, separation and relationship concerns. Advice and guidance can also be accessed via the online RN Forum. This includes information on the impact of the emotional cycle of deployment, including family reintegration post operation deployment.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's planned timescale is for the independent review into the service and experience of LGBT veterans who served between 1967 to 2000.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs jointly commissioned the independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre 2000 policy relating to homosexual people serving in HM Armed Forces. The review underlines Defence’s unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT community.
LGBT veterans who served from 1967 to 2000 were invited to provide testimony of their experience. Testimony was also sought from those who witnessed the treatment of LGBT personnel; those involved in delivering the ban and friends and families of LGBT veterans no longer able to give evidence. The call seeking this testimony and views from individuals and organisations was made on 5 August 2022 and closed on 1 December 2022.
The report and recommendations are expected to be submitted for the Government’s consideration in May 2023. Defence will endeavour to publish the review as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's response to the Defence Committee’s Second Report, Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life, published on 2 December 2021, when the Secretary of State and the Minister of State for Defence (Lords) have met representatives of servicewomen’s networks; and what the focus of those meetings was.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Secretary of State personally tested the Ministry of Defence's response with the Defence Service Women's Networks to ensure the important issues highlighted by the Report were comprehensively addressed and that no opportunity was missed to bring about meaningful and enduring change.
The Secretary of State and the Minister of State for Defence (Lords) are both committed to regularly meeting with representatives of our Servicewomen's Networks to understand the impact of changes being made and to enable our servicewomen to hold us to account and to identify opportunities for further continuous improvement.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s response to the Defence Sub-Committee’s report, Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life, published on 2 December 2021, if he will take steps to ensure that new measures are developed by the single services to ensure that commanding officers who, when found by the Service Complaints Ombudsman to have fallen short of expected standards in handling service complaints, receive appropriate, consistent and robust consequences that appear on their employment records.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Defence is committed to ensuring that there are tangible consequences for Commanding Officers when they have fallen short of expected standards in their handling of a Service Complaint. A tri-Service policy is being developed and will come into force in August 2022.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s response to the Defence Sub-Committee’s report, Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life, published on 2 December 2021, whether the review of policy to strengthen levers available to dismiss or discharge those who are found to have committed sexual offences or unacceptable sexual behaviour has completed.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence's 'Zero Tolerance to Sexual Offending and Sexual Relationships Between in Instructors and Trainees' policy came into force on 31 March 2022. Under this policy, all Service persons who are convicted of a sexual offence, or who are placed on the Sex Offenders Register, will be dismissed from the Armed Forces. Further policies to address other unacceptable sexual behaviours will be published shortly.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s response to the Defence Sub-Committee’s report, Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life, published on 2 December 2021, what changes his Department made to the purchase, maintenance and use of uniform and equipment provided to servicewomen following the six-month sprint to accelerate existing work to tackle uniform and equipment improvements referred to in that response.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 June 2022 to Question 14580 to the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock).
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Defence Select Committee's Fourth Special Report of Session 2021–22, Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report, HC154, what changes were made to the provision of wellbeing and healthcare support for servicewomen following the ‘six-month sprint’ to accelerate new Women’s Health Policies mentioned in that Response.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 June 2022 to Question 14581 to the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock).
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Minister for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number of armed forces personnel who lost their (a) pensions, (b) medals and (c) status as a result of being dishonourably discharged due to their sexual orientation.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 May 2022 to Question 3460 to the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (James Gray).
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will publish the statistics on the levels of musculoskeletal injuries experienced by (a) male and (b) female members of the British Army as at 22 February 2022.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
In response to the request, between the dates 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021, 472 per 1,000male (total male cases = 36,631) Regular Army personnel and 569per 1,000 female (total female cases = 4,572) Regular Army personnel had a Read code for a musculoskeletal injury (MSKI) entered into their medical record.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) image analysts, (b) mission planning staff, (c) UAV pilots, (d) maintenance personnel and (e) other RAF personnel have been deployed to (i) Sigonella, Sicily, and (ii) other overseas bases in connection with flights of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) System in each of the last two years.
Answered by James Heappey
No image analysts, mission planning staff, UAV pilots or maintenance personnel have been deployed to Sigonella, Sicily or other overseas bases. One individual in the remaining category, other RAF personnel, deployed to Sigonella, Sicily in August 2021 on an enduring basis as part of UK routine support to NATO.
A small number of personnel have also deployed to conduct training for a short time only.
No personnel have been deployed to other overseas bases.