Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to progress the Type 31 Frigate ships project.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Type 31 frigate programme is progressing to schedule and to cost. The current key outputs for the programme are focused on design, shipyard infrastructure development and supply chain mobilisation.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy solely to use UK steel in the building of new Fleet Solid Support Ships.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
It is too early to say what the steel requirement for the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships might be. Responsibility for sourcing steel for the FSS ships will rest with the Prime Contractor and in line with Cabinet Office guidelines, it will be for the Prime Contractor to make its steel requirements known to the UK steel industry in order that they may consider bidding.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
When his Department plans to award the contract to build the Fleet Solid Support Ships; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Ben Wallace
We have already started a market engagement exercise and have had a healthy response. I intend to announce the procurement timetable for these warships in due course after market testing has completed. We intend to encourage international partners to work with UK firms to bid, which will build on the successes of Type 31.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in which countries in 2019 UK armed forces were deployed on counter-terrorism operations where they used lethal force.
Answered by James Heappey
During 2019 UK Armed Forces exercised lethal force in Iraq and Syria as part of the counter-Daesh campaign.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in which countries the UK is (a) conducting air and drone strikes and (b) deploying military personnel on countert-errorism operations.
Answered by James Heappey
UK Armed Forces are currently operating in support of counterterrorism operations in four countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Mali), are presently providing counterterrorism training to an additional nine partner nations: Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. The RAF is conducting strike operations only in Iraq and Syria. The publicly available 'Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2018 to 19' contains further details.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many countries the UK armed forces are conducting counter-terrorism operations; and in how many of those countries the UK is (a) conducting air and drone strikes and (b) deploying troops where they may use or have used lethal force.
Answered by James Heappey
UK Armed Forces are currently operating in support of counterterrorism operations in four countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Mali), and are presently providing counterterrorism training to an additional nine partner nations: Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. The RAF is conducting strike operations only in Iraq and Syria. The publicly available 'Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2018 to 19' contains further details. UK Armed Forces retain an inherent right to self-defence wherever they are deployed. This includes up to (and including) lethal force if there is an imminent threat to life and it is judged that there is no other way to stop the danger.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in which countries the UK armed forces are deployed on counter-terrorism operations for which their rules of engagement permit them to use lethal force.
Answered by James Heappey
UK Armed Forces are currently operating in support of counterterrorism operations in four countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Mali). For operational and personnel security reasons we do not comment on specific operational rules of engagement in each theatre. More broadly, UK Armed Forces have an inherent right of self-defence wherever they may be deployed. This permits them to use force, up to and including lethal force, if there is an imminent threat and provided that it is proportionate to the threat faced.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to ensure that only British steel is used to build the three new Royal Navy support ships regardless of the outcome of the international tender.
Answered by Guto Bebb
Decisions about the sourcing of steel for our major procurement programmes are taken by our prime contractors, taking into account the cost, timeliness of availability and the specification of steel needed to meet the requirements of defence contracts. These considerations allow defence contractors to deliver value for money for the taxpayer, and will be finalised upon contract award.
European and UK procurement regulations do not allow the Ministry of Defence to mandate the use of specific suppliers as part of the contract.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK steel which will be used to produce the five new frigates announced on 6 September 2017.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
A competition to design and build the Type 31e General Purpose Frigate in the UK was announced on 7 September 2017. It is therefore too soon to say who the successful supplier(s) will be. The responsibility for steel procurement on major shipbuilding programmes will lie with our prime contractor(s), who take into account cost, time and quality.
However, as part of our support for British steel manufacturers, new public procurement policy guidelines have been introduced, and UK steel suppliers will be strongly encouraged to bid in line with these. Going forward, the Ministry of Defence will continue to carry out early market engagement and forecast our steel requirements for shipbuilding through the publication of the UK Government Steel Pipeline.