Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what cost benefit analysis has been carried out on the plans to refurbish an RAF Voyager for ministerial travel in the colours of the Union Jack; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The VIP Voyager aircraft is already used to fly senior Government Ministers and members of the Royal Family on official business. The decision to re-paint the VIP Voyager aircraft was taken to ensure that the aircraft could better represent and promote the UK around the world with national branding. The new livery will benefit the UK by more clearly promoting Global Britain the world over.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how might flights RAF Voyager was used for ministerial travel in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The number of occasions Voyager ZZ336 has been used on Prime Ministerial or Ministerial business since it was converted for its VIP role is given in the table below.
Voyager ZZ336 use in VIP role
FY 2016-17 | FY2017-18 | FY2018-19 | FY2019-20 | FY2020-21* |
7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
* 1 April to 22 June 2020
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the (a) Prime Minister or (b) Prime Minister's office requested that RAF Voyager be painted in the colours of the Union Jack.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 22 June to questions 60776, 60814, 60842, 60852, 60853 and 60864 to the hon Members for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner), Newport West (Ruth Jones), Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald), Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) and Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan).
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what direction he gave the Ministry of Defence to paint the RAF Voyager used for ministerial travel in the colours of the Union Jack; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 June to Question 60814.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential for RAF Voyager becoming more identifiable to enemy combatants after it is painted in the colours of the Union Jack; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The new livery, incorporating the Union Flag, represents Global Britain and will support the MOD’s Defence Task to promote UK prosperity. While the distinctive new livery will allow the aircraft to better represent the UK at high-profile events around the world, military Air to Air refuelling remains its primary mission. Decisions on whether to deploy the VIP Voyager aircraft, or other members of the Voyager fleet, on military operations will be taken on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific circumstances.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much energy his departmental buildings have used in (a) each of the last five years and (b) 2020 to date.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Department does not hold information on the entirety of energy use by the buildings on its estate as a (relatively small) proportion are provided ‘off contract’, falling outside the frameworks and local contracts.
However, the Department’s recorded energy consumption across its estate, falling under the frameworks and local contracts, for the previous 5 years and current year to date is shown in the table below:
2015-16 | 5,229,447,046 kWh |
2016-17 | 5,213,898,631 kWh |
2017-18 | 5,090,803,519 kWh |
2018-19 | 4,974,891,458 kWh |
2019-20 | 4,967,433,252 kWh |
2020-21 (up to April 30) | 384,641,178 kWh |
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the countries that RAF Reaper drones are being deployed in outside of those of Operation Shader; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by James Heappey
REAPER is an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform. We do not comment on intelligence matters and I am therefore withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much revenue the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst has received from the training of foreign nationals since 2010, by country.
Answered by James Heappey
The attached table provides the total income received by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for foreign nationals completing courses since 2010. Country specific breakdowns have been withheld from publication to protect international relations.
Governments are charged equally for all courses, but some are paid for by a combination of those governments and UK funding.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, the amount spent on art on display on the Parliamentary Estate in the last five years broken down by (a) gender and (b) ethnicity.
Answered by Pete Wishart
This answer applies to the House of Commons expenditure only.
The Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art has spent £400,500 on acquiring art over the last five financial years. Of that figure 47% was spent on acquiring art which documented women’s history and 6.8% on art documenting BAME history.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department had caring responsibilities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The information is not held in the format requested.
The Ministry of Defence recognises the unique challenges faced by people with caring responsibilities. In addition to flexible working arrangements, in 2018 the Department adopted the Civil Service Carer's Passport. This provides staff with the right to discuss and formally agree with their Line Manager a working pattern that considers both working and caring responsibilities. Serving military personnel have the option, where appropriate, to adopt flexible working arrangements, including for caring responsibilities, under the 'Flexible Service' arrangements introduced in January 2019.