Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of uniformed Royal Navy personnel based at (a) Faslane and (b) Coulport are Scottish taxpayers.
Answered by James Heappey
At 1 January 2021, 3,624 uniformed Royal Navy Service personnel were stationed at locations in Argyll and Bute, comprising the Faslane and Coulport sites. Of these, 1,393 personnel were Scottish taxpayers, which translates to 38.4% of the total.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many financial mitigation payments have been made to his Department's personnel based in Scotland in relation to the Scottish rate of income tax; and at what salary level those payments began.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Since Tax Year (TY) 2018-19, retrospective mitigation payments have been made to those Regular Service personnel adversely affected, by £12 or more, through having to pay higher rates of income tax in Scotland compared to their counterparts resident outside Scotland. Not all Service personnel meeting the residency requirement for paying Scottish income tax serve in Scotland, and not all those who serve in Scotland are resident there for tax purposes.
So far, the Ministry of Defence has made just over 14,000 mitigation payments covering TYs 2018-19 and 2019-20. These have been triggered where gross taxable earnings (i.e. not just pay) have been £27,200 or more in TY 2018-19, or £28,193 or more in TY 2019-20. Payments covering TY 2020-21 will be made in June, to those whose gross taxable earnings have been £28,443 or more.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 6 December 2018 to Question 197642, how many submariners have received radiation doses in excess of safe limits in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
No submariners have received radiation doses in excess of safe limits in any of the last ten years.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department made on meeting the target in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, published in 2010, to reduce the UK's nuclear warhead stockpile ceiling from not more than 225 to not more than 180 by the mid 2020s.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As announced in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, published on 16 March 2021, the UK will move to an overall nuclear weapon stockpile of no more than 260 warheads. I am withholding further details on the size of the stockpile for the purposes of safeguarding national security.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the carbon emissions of the British Forces South Atlantic have been over the last three years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not record the total carbon emissions of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands.
As part of the MOD Climate Change and Sustainability Review we are developing a methodology to expand the scope of defence greenhouse gas emissions reporting to include overseas activities.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) names and (b) locations are of the non-inhabited listed buildings on his Department's estate.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
A list of names and locations of the non-inhabited listed buildings on the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) estate will be placed in the Library of the House.
The list consists of 463 sites that are located on the MOD's estate.
The list is limited to the UK estate.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list his Department's unused properties in Scotland; and what plans he has for each of those properties.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As of 2 March 2020, there are 863 unused Ministry of Defence (MOD) properties in Scotland. These properties are Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and a complete list by county can be found below:
Aberdeenshire | 4 |
Angus | 27 |
Argyll and Bute | 133 |
Ayrshire | 7 |
Dumbarton | 4 |
Edinburgh | 159 |
Fife | 206 |
Inverness-shire | 29 |
Isle of Benbecula | 6 |
Midlothian | 23 |
Moray | 234 |
North Lanarkshire | 3 |
Perth | 1 |
Renfrewshire | 21 |
Stirling | 6 |
The Department needs to maintain a management margin of 10% vacant properties at each location so that there are sufficient homes of the appropriate size to accommodate Service Personnel when required. Although currently above this level at 27%, the Department has a plan to reduce these as part of the work to achieve a 10% management margin by Autumn 2021.
MOD continues to maintain vacant properties in Scotland at minimum Decent Homes Standard to allow their allocation to Service families, while looking for opportunities to better utilise or further rationalise the SFA estate.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) location and (b) condition is of Ramsar sites in his Department's (i) ownership and (ii) control.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
A list of the location of Ramsar sites within the Defence estate will be placed in the Library of the House.
The list includes land that is either freehold, leasehold or a combination of both.
All sites on the list are deemed to be in Ministry of Defence (MOD) control by virtue of being Defence establishments.
The list is limited to the UK estate.
No information is held with regards to the condition of Ramsar sites with MOD ownership or control.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the (a) sites and areas of special scientific interest, (b) special protection areas and (c) special areas of conservation under his Department's (i) ownership and (ii) control.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
A list of the Sites and Areas of Special Scientific Interest; Special Protection Areas and Special Areas for Conservation within the Defence estate will be placed in the Library of the House.
The list includes land that is either freehold, leasehold or a combination of both.
All sites on the list are deemed to be in Ministry of Defence control by virtue of being Defence establishments.
The list is limited to the UK estate.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) names and (b) locations are of the (i) listed buildings and (ii) scheduled monuments under his Department's (A) ownership and (B) control.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
A list of names and locations of the listed buildings and scheduled monuments under his Department's ownership and control will be placed in the Library of the House.
The list includes 778 scheduled monuments and 851 listed buildings that are located on the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) estate.
All sites on the list are deemed to be in MOD control by virtue of being Defence establishments.
The list is limited to the UK estate.