Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) service personnel and (b) veterans his Department has referred to the Mefloquine Single Point of Contact in each year since it’s inception.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Mefloquine (commercially known as Lariam) is effective in the prevention and treatment of malaria and is licensed for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which regulates medication in the UK. The current product information for mefloquine states that neuropsychiatric adverse reactions may occur during treatment and includes warnings and precautions to minimise these risks. It also states that such adverse reactions may persist for months, or longer, even after discontinuation of the drug. It has not been established, however, that such adverse reactions may be permanent.
Notwithstanding, in September 2016, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) established the mefloquine Single Point of Contact (SPOC) email and telephone line, for both current and former Service personnel who have concerns about their experience of mefloquine. Up to 15 January 2019, the mefloquine SPOC has received the following number of enquiries.
Year | Enquiries from Serving Personnel | Enquiries from Veterans | Enquiries from Others | Total Number of Enquiries |
2016 | 24 | 33 | 22 | 79 |
2017 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 18 |
2018 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 17 |
2019 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Individuals can be referred to the SPOC in a number of different ways, including by Service charities. The MOD does not maintain a record of all such referrals.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to reach a final conclusion on the effect on veterans' health of the issuing of Larium to them while they were in the Armed Forces.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Mefloquine (commercially known as Lariam) is effective in the prevention and treatment of malaria and is licensed for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which regulates medication in the UK. The current product information for mefloquine states that neuropsychiatric adverse reactions may occur during treatment and includes warnings and precautions to minimise these risks. It also states that such adverse reactions may persist for months, or longer, even after discontinuation of the drug. It has not been established, however, that such adverse reactions may be permanent.
Notwithstanding, in September 2016, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) established the mefloquine Single Point of Contact (SPOC) email and telephone line, for both current and former Service personnel who have concerns about their experience of mefloquine. Up to 15 January 2019, the mefloquine SPOC has received the following number of enquiries.
Year | Enquiries from Serving Personnel | Enquiries from Veterans | Enquiries from Others | Total Number of Enquiries |
2016 | 24 | 33 | 22 | 79 |
2017 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 18 |
2018 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 17 |
2019 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Individuals can be referred to the SPOC in a number of different ways, including by Service charities. The MOD does not maintain a record of all such referrals.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many outstanding cases his Department is currently dealing with on disputes over applications for war pensions.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
As at 11 November 2019 there were 588 War Pension appeals in progress, of which 212 are waiting for a tribunal hearing date. Tribunal hearing dates are not set by the Ministry of Defence.
War Pensions Scheme statistics are published annually on the GOV.UK website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people (a) recruited into and (b) resigned from each infantry regiment in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017 and (d) 2018; and the extent to which each regiment is at full complement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The information requested will take time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member when it is available.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status is of the review of the air space around RAF Brize Norton; and if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for Transport to ensure that objections to the proposed changes are taken into account before a final decision is taken.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Brize Norton Airspace Change Proposal is intended to improve safety for all aviation users in the airspace around RAF Brize Norton.
The RAF is aware of the potential impact of its proposal on the public and the aviation community and therefore, in concert with London Oxford Airport, conducted a widespread public consultation. RAF Brize Norton has recently published the results of that consultation on its website.
Once complete the RAF will submit its finalised proposal to the Civil Aviation Authority who have responsibility for decisions on the regulation of UK airspace.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many current contracts his Department has with Serco; and what the (a) value, (b) start date and (c) end date of each of those contracts is.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The Ministry of Defence has 31 contracts with Serco; a full list is in the attached table.
In some instances, the contract end date is in the past. This could either be because outstanding payments are still to be made under the terms of the existing contract, or the contract has been extended and the database has not yet been updated to reflect this.
Under longstanding convention, the list includes contracts with AWE Management Limited, in which Serco has a 24.5% share. For completeness, the list also includes contracts with AWE plc. The figure provided is the attributable share of that contract value to Serco.
It should also be noted that since January 2011, details of central Government contracts above the value of £10,000 have been published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:
https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive
Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time is that the (a) Astute and (b) Trafalgar class of submarines are able to spend at sea.
Answered by Guto Bebb
It is UK policy that we do not comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Astute Submarines have been taken out of service as a result of leaks in the hold.
Answered by Guto Bebb
It is UK policy that we do not comment on matters relating to submarine activity or operations as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, who the consultees are on the Airspace Change Proposal for RAF Brize Norton.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I cannot comment on the Airspace Change Proposal for London Oxford Airport. While there has been coordination between the two proposals, the London Oxford Airport consultation is a matter for the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The Brize Norton Airspace Change Proposal identifies a very wide range of stakeholders, including local aerodromes and representative organisations for the General Aviation community.
As detailed in paragraph 6.6 of the Brize Norton Consultation Document, during preparation for consultation, a number of meetings were held with key aviation stakeholders. This process will continue throughout the consultation period.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the implications are for (a) gliding, (b) hang gliding, and (c) paragliding of the proposed changes to airspace around RAF Brize Norton.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The RAF takes its responsibility seriously to design RAF Brize Norton airspace in a manner to benefit the safety of all airspace users. The proposed changes are designed to improve safety for those users by reducing the chances of them coming into conflict with heavy transport aircraft in uncontrolled airspace. In developing the new procedures for use, and the subsequent consultation, the need to minimise additional controlled airspace in this area was a key consideration to try to minimise disruption to airspace users.
Since 2012 the Ministry of Defence has removed large areas of adjacent controlled airspace around the RAF Lyneham site and a parachute dropping danger area at Hullavington Aerodrome. RAF Brize Norton remains fully committed to providing services to all aircraft that wish to cross its airspace. We encourage pilots who wish to transit the Brize Norton Controlled Airspace to first consult with Brize Norton Air Traffic Control.