Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2017 to Question 107311, on HMS Duncan: Belfast, which affiliates the Commanding Officer maintains relationships with.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Commanding Officer and Logistics Officer oversee the daily management of a unit's relationships, being best placed to determine how these are managed within a ship's programme.
HMS DUNCAN's Commanding Officer maintains relationships with the following affiliations:
City of Belfast
City of Dundee
The Worshipful Company of Saddlers
The Worshipful Company of Cooks
The Scots Guards
225 Medical Regt
1(F) Sqn RAF (Typhoon)
Marine Society and Sea Cadets
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the ambassadorial use of HMS Duncan by Belfast City Council or Invest NI.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
There have been no discussions in relation to the ambassadorial use of HMS DUNCAN by Belfast City Council or Invest Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the benefit to Belfast of its twinning with HMS Duncan.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Affiliation allows society to have greater visibility and understanding of the Royal Navy that serves them. This was particularly the case for HMS DUNCAN in 2014 and 2016 when she visited Belfast, the latter being in company with the other vessels in the NATO Task Group.
These visits also allow wider defence engagements and support to the community and charities. For example, the ship's company of HMS DUNCAN have conducted outreach activities with the local hospice and youth groups.
In parallel with this, the ship's Commanding Officer maintains an on-going relationship with various affiliates in the region.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria are used when twinning a naval vessel with a UK city; and for what purpose such twining is undertaken.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
UK cities, by nature of their population and diversity, provide an opportunity for the Royal Navy to form affiliations with large numbers of the society they protect, represent, and recruit from. All these are points that are considered as part of the affiliation process.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what process his Department follows when a request is made to fly a political campaign flag at one of or all of its sites.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Government policy on the flying of flags on Government buildings is owned by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Ministry of Defence (MOD) regulations are set out in Queen's Regulations. These regulations do not include the flying of political campaign flags at MOD sites. The Department has flown the following non-national and non-military flags at Whitehall and other sites over the last three years:
Rainbow Flag - annually during Pride Fortnight and other Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender events
Transgender Flag - annually on 31 March.
In addition, the Army routinely flies the Armed Forces Day Flag at all Army sites to mark Armed Forces Day.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what occasions in the last three years a non-national, non-military flag has been formally flown at any or all of his Department's sites in the UK.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Government policy on the flying of flags on Government buildings is owned by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Ministry of Defence (MOD) regulations are set out in Queen's Regulations. These regulations do not include the flying of political campaign flags at MOD sites. The Department has flown the following non-national and non-military flags at Whitehall and other sites over the last three years:
Rainbow Flag - annually during Pride Fortnight and other Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender events
Transgender Flag - annually on 31 March.
In addition, the Army routinely flies the Armed Forces Day Flag at all Army sites to mark Armed Forces Day.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of in-service complaints were not dealt with in the recommended time for disposal within each of the three armed forces in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Information on the numbers and proportion of Service complaints which met the stipulated target of 24 weeks in calendar years 2014 and 2015 is available in the Annual Reports of, respectively, the Service Complaints Commissioner and the Service Complaints Ombudsman. These publications can be found at the following link:
http://www.servicecomplaintsombudsman.org.uk/service-complaints-ombudsman/publications-and-reports/annual-reports/
Information for 2016 is currently being compiled for inclusion in the Service Complaints Ombudsman's Annual Report 2016.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many in-service complaints recorded by each of the armed forces included an oral hearing; and if he will detail the procedures for securing an oral hearing in each of the armed forces.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The numbers of Service complaints last year which included an oral hearing are given below:
|
|
Naval Service | 1 |
Army | 60 |
Royal Air Force | 5 |
A complainant may request an oral hearing, but the final decision as to whether one will be held is determined on a case-by-case basis by the body appointed to decide the Service complaint. Full details of the policy position regarding oral hearings in Service complaints are set out in Joint Service Publication 831 ‘Redress of Individual Grievances: Service Complaints’, Part 2, Chapter 5, paragraphs 29 to 34. This publication can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many internal formal complaints have been recorded by each of the armed forces in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Information on the numbers of Service complaints in calendar years 2014 and 2015 is available in the annual reports of, respectively, the Service Complaints Commissioner and the Service Complaints Ombudsman. These publications can be found at the following address:
http://www.servicecomplaintsombudsman.org.uk/service-complaints-ombudsman/publications-and-reports/annual-reports/
Figures for 2016 are currently being compiled for inclusion in the Service Complaints Ombudsman's annual report 2016.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken was to conclude an internal formal complaint by each of the armed forces in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The following table provides the average number of weeks to conclude a Service complaint from the date of submission, in each year since 2014.
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
Naval Service | 20.0 | 15.0 | 17.0 |
Army | 32.4 | 25.1 | 14.0 |
Royal Air Force | 14.9 | 12.9 | 15.3 |