Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what effect the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Executive has on the ability of the recent appointment of the Northern Ireland representative to the UK-wide Covenant Reference Group to carry out her role.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Northern Ireland Assembly agreed to nominate appropriate representatives to the national governance bodies of the Armed Forces Covenant on 6 December 2016. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has urged all parties to make appropriate nominations to the Covenant's national governance bodies a priority for the devolved Government once reconvened. In the interim, Northern Ireland's interests on the national governance bodies of the Armed Forces Covenant are represented by Ministers and officials from the Northern Ireland Office.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the uptake level has been of the Defence Discount Service in each region and constituent part of the UK since its introduction.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Defence Discount Service (DDS) is operated by Blue Light Card Ltd on behalf of the Ministry Of Defence. Blue Light is responsible for all marketing and promotion of the DDS throughout the United Kingdom and uses a variety of initiatives to engage both locally and nationally.
As at 3 March 2017, the DDS scheme had approximately 386,000 members. A regional breakdown of membership is unavailable. However, the following table provides a breakdown by constituent part of the UK:
England | 316,400 |
Scotland | 29,700 |
Wales | 23,200 |
Northern Ireland | 5,800 |
Outside UK | 2,300 |
Opted not to provide location | 8,700 |
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how his Department is promoting the Defence Discount Service in each region and constituent part of the UK.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Defence Discount Service (DDS) is operated by Blue Light Card Ltd on behalf of the Ministry Of Defence. Blue Light is responsible for all marketing and promotion of the DDS throughout the United Kingdom and uses a variety of initiatives to engage both locally and nationally.
As at 3 March 2017, the DDS scheme had approximately 386,000 members. A regional breakdown of membership is unavailable. However, the following table provides a breakdown by constituent part of the UK:
England | 316,400 |
Scotland | 29,700 |
Wales | 23,200 |
Northern Ireland | 5,800 |
Outside UK | 2,300 |
Opted not to provide location | 8,700 |
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential diminishment of US commitment to NATO after President Trump's reorganisation of the US National Security Council.
Answered by Mike Penning
During a recent call with Secretary of State for Defence, US Defense Secretary Mattis emphasised the United States' continued firm commitment to NATO.
This was reiterated during the Prime Minister's visit to the US, where President Trump stated that he is '100 per cent behind' NATO.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how contribution in lieu of council tax is calculated for service personnel stationed in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Service Families Accommodation and Single Living Accommodation for Service personnel in England, Scotland and Wales is formally exempt from the Council Tax regime and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) instead pays a Contribution in Lieu of Council Tax (CILOCT) to local authorities, broadly equivalent to the amount of Council Tax that would otherwise be due. The average contribution, determined by the type of property occupied, is then recovered from Service occupants with their accommodation charge. The levels of CILOCT charge applied to personnel living in Northern Ireland ensure consistency of charging with the same type of accommodation within the United Kingdom. The MOD pays the applicable rates in Northern Ireland.
Information on the amount of CILOCT that Service personnel living in Northern Ireland have paid in each year since 2011 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much service personnel in Northern Ireland have paid as a contribution in lieu of council tax in each year since 2011.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Service Families Accommodation and Single Living Accommodation for Service personnel in England, Scotland and Wales is formally exempt from the Council Tax regime and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) instead pays a Contribution in Lieu of Council Tax (CILOCT) to local authorities, broadly equivalent to the amount of Council Tax that would otherwise be due. The average contribution, determined by the type of property occupied, is then recovered from Service occupants with their accommodation charge. The levels of CILOCT charge applied to personnel living in Northern Ireland ensure consistency of charging with the same type of accommodation within the United Kingdom. The MOD pays the applicable rates in Northern Ireland.
Information on the amount of CILOCT that Service personnel living in Northern Ireland have paid in each year since 2011 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding the Capita-led consortium receives from the public purse to manage the defence estate annually.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Capita-led consortium (known as the Strategic Business Partner (SBP)) is responsible for leading and managing the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), the business unit within the Ministry of Defence that manages the majority of the defence estate.
As set out in the NAO Report "Delivering the defence estate" dated 15 November 2016, fees payable to the SBP for the period June 2014 to July 2016 totalled £90.2 million as follows:
2014-15 £33.3 million
2015-16 £55.2 million
2016-17 £1.7 million
Total £90.2 million
In the period to 30 September 2016 further fees of £7.3 million have become payable. The majority of the fees payable to the SBP are based on them delivering savings to the MOD that can be reinvested in Defence.
As the SBP is incentivised to achieve savings in the delivery of DIO's outputs and the fee payable in future years is, therefore, dependent on the level of savings delivered.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to monitor (a) staffing levels and (b) training of Royal Naval Reservists.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Commander Maritime Reserves continually plans and monitors current manning levels as detailed in Future Reserves 2020.
Royal Naval Reserves training is delivered by both Regular and Reserves personnel across a variety of locations around the UK and overseas. Training quality and consistency is achieved through audits and inspections conducted by internal and external organisations. In addition, training is subject to an internal feedback system from students and training documentation is reviewed on a three yearly cycle. Instructors are also assessed annually to ensure currency of training.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of Royal Navy staffing levels.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review made clear that the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Marines (RM) will increase in numbers with a 2020 target strength of 30,450. With regard to current staffing levels, the RN and RM Monthly Personnel Situation Report provides information on the number of RN and RM personnel joining and leaving the Regular Service. These can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/royal-navy-and-royal-marines-monthly-personnel-statistics-2016
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value was of his Department's naval maintenance contracts by shipyards in (a) England, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in the last 10 years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.