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 aircraft owned by his Department have carried Ministers on flights in each of the last five years; and how many of those flights were (a) scheduled flights and (b) flights arranged for Ministers.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Depending on the situation, the Ministry of Defence has a number of aircraft that could be used for Ministerial travel. This information is publicly available as part of the Government's commitment to publishing transparency information which includes Ministerial travel. The information is published every quarter and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/search/all?keywords=Ministerial+travel&order=relevance
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 unauthorised incursions there have been at (a) Faslane and (b) Coulport naval bases in each of the past ten years.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The number of unauthorised access incidents at HMNB Clyde, Faslane and Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport, is provided in the table below:
Year | Total | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Unauthorised access Faslane | 10 | - | - | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | ~ | - | - | - |
Unauthorised access Coulport | ~ | - | - | ~ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid bias, 5 or fewer is represented by ‘~’, 0 is represented by ‘-‘.
Unauthorised access is defined as an individual, or individuals, gaining access to a defined Restricted access area within HMNB Clyde by circumventing the site security system. There was no risk to the safety of personnel or vessels arising from these incidents.
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 visits there have been to UK naval bases by foreign vessels capable of carrying nuclear weapons in each of the last ten years; which bases those vessels visited; and what nations those vessels originated from.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Many ships and submarines are theoretically capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Information regarding all visits to the UK by any nation's vessels over the last ten years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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, when he plans to provide substantive answers to Questions 240575 and 240576, tabled by the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith on 3 April 2019.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I responded to the hon. Member today.
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 his Department will publish any environmental audit it has carried out on its activities on Cape Wrath.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation and its Industry Partner undertake routine internal audits of its Environmental Management Systems delivered across the UK Training Estate which includes Cape Wrath.
No additional audits are planned to be completed this year that specifically investigate the environmental impacts of military activity on Cape Wrath.
It is not routine for the Ministry of Defence to externally publish these internal environmental audits.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2019 to Questions 272213 and 272215, when it became his Department's policy to withhold the planned out-of-service dates for Royal Navy submarines.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In February 2017, the Ministry of Defence determined that the in and out of service dates for submarines should be withheld as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
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 visits there have been to UK naval bases by foreign vessels carrying nuclear weapons in each of the last ten years; which bases those vessels visited; and what nations those vessels originated from.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
It is UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons onboard specific ships or submarines at any particular place or time, for the purposes of safeguarding national security and international relations.
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, when HMS Talent and HMS Triumph will be based at HMNB Clyde; and when and where those vessels will be decommissioned.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The planned out-of-service dates for Royal Navy submarines are withheld as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
An error has been identified in the answer given to the hon. Member to Question 269749 answered on 3 July 2019 which stated that the three Trafalgar Class submarines were based at Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde. While all Royal Navy submarines operate under the administrative command of the Submarine Flotilla, on current plans HMS Talent's base port change will take place in the next few weeks and HMS Triumph's in 2020.
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 1 July 2013 to Question 162999 on Trafalgar Class Submarines, whether those planned end of service dates remain the same for each boat.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The planned out-of-service dates for Royal Navy submarines are withheld as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
An error has been identified in the answer given to the hon. Member to Question 269749 answered on 3 July 2019 which stated that the three Trafalgar Class submarines were based at Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde. While all Royal Navy submarines operate under the administrative command of the Submarine Flotilla, on current plans HMS Talent's base port change will take place in the next few weeks and HMS Triumph's in 2020.
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, when HMS Audacious will enter service.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 February 2019 to Question 220928 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Mr Chapman).