Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former members of the regular Army have regular reserve recall liability in the event of a national emergency as of 1 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 January 2024 there were 22,676 Army Regular Reservists with recall liability under Section 22 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 96.
In addition, there are approximately 55,000 ex-Regular personnel as of March 2024 subject to recall under Section 68 of the RFA 96.
Notes/caveats:
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former members of the regular Army have regular reserve call out liability as of 1 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 1 January 2024 there were 22,676 Army Regular Reservists with recall liability under Section 22 of the Reserve Forces Act (RFA) 96.
In addition, there are approximately 55,000 ex-Regular personnel as of March 2024 subject to recall under Section 68 of the RFA 96.
Notes/caveats:
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by how much (a) Resource Departmental Expenditure Limits and (b) Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits will be reduced following the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 in each affected Department; and if he will publish in which Departments these savings will be made.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government has committed to re-invest every penny that is saved from the cancelled phases of HS2 into alternative transport projects through Network North.
This means that every penny of the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 will be reinvested in the North; every penny of the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands leg will be reinvested in the Midlands; and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston will be spread across every other region in the country.
Departmental Expenditure Limits in 2024-25 are published at the relevant Estimates in the usual way. Departmental budgets beyond 2024-25 will be set as part of the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world, published 18 July 2023, what his Department's expected timeline is for publishing its Head Office reform plans.
Answered by James Heappey
The key aspects of the reforms to Head Office were included in the Defence Command Paper Refresh, paragraphs 25 to 31 in Chapter 4, published 18 July 2023. Plans for the reform of Head Office will be taken forward as part of Defence Design, a departmental-wide programme to optimise the Defence operating model.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many FTE civil servants have been employed by his Department in each year since 2015.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Please see the Government Annual Civil Service Statistics published online to show how many FTE civil servants have been employed by the Cabinet Office.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics
From 2015 to present day the Cabinet Office has grown to absorb a number of other functions. For example, the whole of the Civil Service Fast Stream headcount now sits in the Cabinet Office although the large majority do not work in the Cabinet Office. The establishment of a Government Digital Service, Government Recruitment Service and functional specialities like the Government Commercial Function have all resulted in an increase to the number of FTE employed by Cabinet Office although value and efficiencies are delivered across the Civil Service.
The Cabinet Office is committed to driving efficiencies as directed by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of enabling the use of UCAS to (a) search and (b) apply for level (i) 6 and (ii) 7 apprenticeships on take-up of those courses; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Halfon
UCAS have recently expanded their service so students can easily see the different options open to them, including apprenticeships. Having apprenticeships showcased in this way boosts the profile of apprenticeships to school leavers and is a huge step forward in putting apprenticeships on an equal footing with traditional university degrees. Over 200 degree-level apprenticeship vacancies are currently being advertised on the UCAS website for people to consider.
This month the Department, in partnership with UCAS, will launch a pilot that aims to test different ways to connect even more students to apprenticeship opportunities. The pilot will run in 3 regions throughout the 2023/24 academic year – Lancashire, the North East and Greater London – engaging employers and providing students with access to additional support designed specifically for those interested in exploring and applying for apprenticeships alongside their other options (including undergraduate courses). The pilot will be followed by an evaluation in October 2024, including an assessment of the impact of having apprenticeship vacancies listed on the UCAS student hub. In 2024, students will be able to apply for apprenticeships through UCAS alongside an undergraduate degree application. The assessment of the impact of this will then follow at a later date.
We have seen year-on-year growth of degree-level apprenticeships with over 195,550 starts since their introduction in the 2014/15 academic year. To ensure that the supply of degree apprenticeship opportunities available meets demand, we are allocating an additional £40 million over the next two years, supporting degree apprenticeship providers to expand, on top of the £8 million investment in 2022/23.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the New Hospital Programme in Preston and Lancaster; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The New Hospital Programme (NHP) scheme for Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary is at the early stages of development and the trusts are currently exploring options for sites, including investment at Furness General Hospital. This will include a public consultation, expected in 2024. The trusts have received an overall indicative funding allocation for their scheme to support planning, and up to the end of the 2022/23 financial year, the trusts have received £11.36 million in fees and funding for the development of their scheme.
We are working closely with Preston and Lancaster on how our national standardised approach, Hospital 2.0, can support their plans using standardised designs to streamline approvals and speed up construction. This will deliver improvements for patients and staff whilst driving cost reduction and decreasing overall development timescales.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the assessed spiral development costs and upgrades for the CH47(ER) are.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department acknowledge and are working to resolve H47(ER) cost growth. The updated programme costs and schedule, including Spiral Development, will be considered by the Ministry of Defence Investment Approvals Committee upon conclusion of this work and, until this has taken place, it would not be appropriate to disclose the figures.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost growth is of the CH47(ER) since approval by his Department's Investment Approvals Committee.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Department acknowledge and are working to resolve H47(ER) cost growth. The updated programme costs and schedule, including Spiral Development, will be considered by the Ministry of Defence Investment Approvals Committee upon conclusion of this work and, until this has taken place, it would not be appropriate to disclose the figures.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on the delivery of the National Cyber Force at Samlesbury; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Heappey
The National Cyber Force (NCF) headquarters in Samlesbury is currently undergoing construction work. It will open in 2025, and the NCF is planning for several hundred staff to be based there within the first 12 months. By the 2030s this will have increased to up to two thousand people, including those from other partners, working there. We continue to prioritise the NCF workforce growth.