Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether all naval vessels could currently be put to sea safely and with a full complement of trained personnel on board for each class of vessel.
Answered by James Heappey
The Royal Navy has the workforce required to meet their commitments, and we remain committed to ensuring they have the ships and capabilities required to fulfil Defence commitments now and in the future.
All Royal Navy ships rotate through planned operating cycles involving routine maintenance, repair, training, deployment, leave, essential modification and upgrades and will, therefore, be at varying levels of readiness in accordance with Defence requirements.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Type 45 ships are (a) undergoing engine refits, (b) planning to undergo engine refits, (c) fully refitted and back in service with a fully trained complement of personnel on board.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
All Type 45 Destroyers will receive new diesel generators under the Power Improvement Project conversion programme. Work is currently underway on HMS Dauntless, the first ship to enter the programme, and she will return to sea for trials in 2021. Following completion of these sea trials, she will return to the fleet.
It is planned that all six Type 45 ships will have received this upgrade by the mid-2020s. The programme is dependent on the availability of ships to undertake the upgrade, balanced against the Royal Navy’s standing and future operational commitments.
The Type 45 Destroyers are hugely capable ships and have been deployed successfully on a range of operations world-wide and they continue to make an enormous contribution to the defence of the UK and our international partners.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timeframe is for the (a) completion of the engine refit programme on Type 45 ships and (b) for those ships to be in service.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
All Type 45 Destroyers will receive new diesel generators under the Power Improvement Project conversion programme. Work is currently underway on HMS Dauntless, the first ship to enter the programme, and she will return to sea for trials in 2021. Following completion of these sea trials, she will return to the fleet.
It is planned that all six Type 45 ships will have received this upgrade by the mid-2020s. The programme is dependent on the availability of ships to undertake the upgrade, balanced against the Royal Navy’s standing and future operational commitments.
The Type 45 Destroyers are hugely capable ships and have been deployed successfully on a range of operations world-wide and they continue to make an enormous contribution to the defence of the UK and our international partners.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to establish in the 2020-21 financial year the final cost to the public purse of the Carrier Alliance project to build HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
We hope to conclude negotiations with our Aircraft Carrier Alliance industry partners on the final cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers before the end of the 2020-2021 Financial Year.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for veterans who are medically discharged from the armed forces to be informed of their compensation award.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Veterans UK is committed to an ongoing programme of digitisation and transformation which will reduce claims processing times and enhance the customer experience.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will commission an independent review and audit of the medical discharge process within the armed forces.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Armed Forces medical employment policy, which governs the process of medical discharge, is kept under continual review by our clinical experts, who take account of UK best practice in occupational medical policy, latest research and clinical information. This ensures that appropriate medical standards and medical boarding practice are maintained and are responsive to wider advances in medical practice and technology.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons veterans may be medically discharged from the armed forces before receiving a diagnosis for their condition.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
Ordinarily, an individual would not be medically discharged from the Armed Forces prior to a diagnosis of their condition being made.
However, it is possible in a limited number of cases that an individual displays symptoms and reduced function that is incompatible with Service, where even specialist medical opinion has been unable to determine a diagnosis, and all appropriate investigation and management have failed to improve functional outcome to the level required. A medical discharge decision is based on functionality rather than the condition per se.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of appointing an ambassador to the Arctic to represent the Government’s interests in that region.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
None. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon is Minister for the Polar Regions and is supported by the Head of the Foreign and Commonwealth's Polar Regions Department. The Government has consistently noted that such an Ambassador to the Arctic would not add significant value to existing structures and roles currently in place, nor justify the additional costs.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2019 to Question 287578 on Navy: Fisheries, what estimate he has made of the increase in the number of (a) Royal Navy vessels and (b) sea hours allocated to enhancing patrolling capacity at sea.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
As the hon. Member will be aware, fishery protection is a devolved responsibility, therefore within Scottish waters it is the responsibility of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency.
The Royal Navy does not maintain vessels exclusively employed for fishery patrol activities; however, it does have and operate River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), which conduct fishery patrol tasking alongside their other Defence tasks. These OPVs are used to fulfil the Royal Navy's commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Royal Navy and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).
As a part of Government's preparations to leave the European Union the MMO, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), The Royal Navy and other bodies assessed the probability of an increase in illegal fishing and the uplift required to patrol English and Welsh waters. The result was a predicted uplift of sea hours from 2000 to 6000, and an increase in presence around the UK. To that extent it is Defence's intent to have two OPVs at sea come 31 October conducting Fishery Protection/Marine Enforcement tasking. They will be joined by two further contracted MMO vessels and the Devolved Administration's own vessels. In addition, the Royal Navy maintains a number of high readiness forces in UK waters that could be called upon to assist if requested.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to increase the capacity of the UK’s marine patrol vessels to patrol fishing waters in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter. As such, it will continue to be for each Devolved Administration to decide how best to control its waters, and what new arrangements may be needed. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) continues to work closely with the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure a coordinated approach to fisheries control and enforcement across UK waters.
In England, the Marine Management Organisation on behalf of DEFRA has assessed the risk of increased illegal fishing when the UK leaves the EU, including under the scenario of doing so without a deal. As such DEFRA have decided to strengthen the allocated resources. This includes an increase to the number of Royal Navy vessels allocated to the task and increased sea time to enhance patrolling capacity at sea.