Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with the National Grid on the proposed pylons from Norwich to Tilbury.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation, on behalf of the Secretary of State, has formally been consulted regarding the proposed pylons from Norwich to Tilbury. This was following a request made by the National Grid Electricity Transmission to the Planning Inspectorate.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has had discussions with National Grid on the potential impact of the East Anglia GREEN proposals on Wattisham Air Base.
Answered by Alex Chalk
Following the discussion on 14 July 2022 between National Grid and Wattisham Flying Station (WFS) regarding the East Anglia GREEN proposal, WFS await technical data from National Grid to allow the Airfield's safeguarding team to carry out an assessment.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the East Anglia GREEN proposals on operations at Wattisham Air Base.
Answered by Alex Chalk
I refer the hon. Member to the answer the then Minister for Defence Procurement (Alec Shelbrooke) gave him on 12 September 2022.
Wattisham Flying Station (WFS) continues to await a response from the National Grid project team before a full assessment regarding the impact on operations can be made.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to engage with National Grid's consultation on the East Anglia GREEN proposals in respect of Wattisham Air Base.
Answered by Alec Shelbrooke
Wattisham Flying Station (WFS) are in consultation with the National Grid East Anglia Green project team. National Grid representatives attended a meeting at WFS on 14 July 2022 to outline the proposal to WFS stakeholders to understand the risks and issues that may arise due to low flying aircraft in proximity to the power lines. Future engagements will continue.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the East Anglia GREEN proposals on operations at Wattisham Air Base.
Answered by Alec Shelbrooke
Requests for information have been submitted to the National Grid project team by Wattisham Flying Station (WFS). WFS are awaiting a response from the project team, before a full assessment regarding the impact on operations can be made. The WFS team will confirm the findings once the assessment has been made.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the publication of the UK's defence mechanisms in the media for reasons of national security.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Ministry of Defence has robust processes, to make sure that information disclosed in public does not jeopardise operations, personnel or national security, while respecting the need for transparency and public and Parliamentary accountability. This is complemented by the Defence and Security Media Advisory (DSMA) Notice System. This is a voluntary code between Government Departments and the national media, designed to prevent the inadvertent public disclosure of information which would damage national security.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for the future of Wattisham Airbase.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The estate optimisation strategy aims to provide a more efficient and better quality Defence estate to support our Armed Forces, which will be fit for purpose for future generations.
This long-term, detailed work seeks to identify a rationalised Defence estate which more appropriately meets the needs of our Armed Forces by being of better quality, more cost effective and more efficient, as well as 30% smaller overall, by 2040.
No decision about the future of individual sites has been made at this point, other than those that have been previously announced
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for the future military capacity of Wattisham Airbase.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The estate optimisation strategy aims to provide a more efficient and better quality Defence estate to support our Armed Forces, which will be fit for purpose for future generations.
This long-term, detailed work seeks to identify a rationalised Defence estate which more appropriately meets the needs of our Armed Forces by being of better quality, more cost effective and more efficient, as well as 30% smaller overall, by 2040.
No decision about the future of individual sites has been made at this point, other than those that have been previously announced
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of progress on defeating Daesh; and what steps his Department plans to take to protect national security from the threat of terrorism.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The UK is making a significant contribution to the coalition of more than 60 countries, supporting the Iraqi security forces to deny ISIL the freedom to operate in 30% of the Iraqi territory it once held, helping Syrian Kurds take 17,000 sq km from ISIL in Syria, and degrading ISIL's ability to refine oil or to access the international financial system.
But defeating ISIL is not a military task alone and the global coalition is working to defeat ISIL on all fronts - militarily, cutting off ISIL finance, reducing the influx of fighters, challenging its ideology and providing humanitarian assistance.
Within the UK the Home Office has the lead for counter terrorism but certain military specialist capabilities are always available, should they be required.