Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when Boulogne Barracks, Catterick, was last used as accommodation for single servicemen and women; what the maximum number of personnel who could be accommodated in that barracks was at that time; and if he will make an estimate of how much the cost was of renovating that barracks for use as single living accommodation.
Answered by Mark Francois - Shadow Minister (Defence)
Bourlon Barracks still routinely provides accommodation for up to 112 personnel. It can accommodate up to 1,108 personnel but there are no plans to use other buildings within the Barracks for this purpose. There has, therefore, been no estimate of how much the cost of renovating Bourlon Barracks for use as Single Living Accommodation would be.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) military personnel and (b) UK personnel there will be in the NATO training, advice and assistance mission in Afghanistan in 2015.
Answered by Mark Francois - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The recent signature of the US/Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the Afghan Government opened a new chapter for cooperation between Afghanistan and the international community. The SOFA provides the legal basis for the NATO follow-on mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces from 2015.
We would expect to contribute a few hundred military personnel.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether agreement has been reached with the President of Afghanistan on the role and status of (a) foreign and (b) UK military personnel in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Francois - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The recent signature of the US/Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the Afghan Government opened a new chapter for cooperation between Afghanistan and the international community. The SOFA provides the legal basis for the NATO follow-on mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces from 2015.
We would expect to contribute a few hundred military personnel.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) HM service personnel and (b) civilians have been seconded by the UK Government to (a) MINUSMA and (b) the EU Training Mission in Mali; and how many such personnel speak both English and French.
Answered by Mark Francois - Shadow Minister (Defence)
There are currently 30 UK Service personnel and two Foreign and Commonwealth Office civilians serving in the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali). There are two UK Service personnel serving in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Of these 34, five speak both English and French.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many single servicemen and servicewomen based at or near Catterick, North Yorkshire, are currently accommodated in (a) single living accommodation provided for his Department by a contractor and (b) other private rented accommodation; and what the average cost per month per person is to his Department for each such type of accommodation.
Answered by Anna Soubry
No Single Living Accommodation at Catterick is provided by a contractor.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has nearly 6,000 bedspaces at Catterick which the MOD owns.
Where Single Living Accommodation is not available, the MOD may rent accommodation from the local private market, known as Substitute Service Single Accommodation. This is only ever used as a last resort where no other option is available.
There are currently 25 Service personnel posted to Catterick living in 19 Substitute Service Single Accommodation properties at an average monthly cost per person of £468.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in providing accommodation for HQ1 Division in York what assumption his Department has made about how long the Divisional HQ will remain at Imphal Barracks.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
There are currently no plans to move Headquarters 1 (United Kingdom) Armoured Division from Imphal Barracks once it has moved there from its current location in Germany.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which military units and agencies are currently based at Imphal Barracks; how many square metres of accommodation they each occupy; whether his Department has any plans to close any of those units, or to move them away from Imphal Barracks; and if so which units are involved and what plans are under consideration.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The following military units are based at Imphal Barracks:
Headquarters 1 (United Kingdom) Division Implementation Team (followed by Headquarters 1 (United Kingdom) Division in Summer 2015)
Headquarters 15 (North East) Brigade
Headquarters York Garrison
Army Welfare Services York
Equipment Care Inspection Team York
Support Command Educational Training Services Branch
3 Army Education Centre York
2nd Signal Regiment
1 Military Intelligence Battalion 12 Military Intelligence Company 221 Military Intelligence Section
Defence Business Services (Defence Vetting Agency)
Headquarters North Region Special Investigation Branch Royal Military police
Support Command Forward
Elements of Defence Infrastructure Organisation
Elements of Defence Equipment and Support
The information on the number of square metres each of these units occupies is not held in the format requested.
Apart from Headquarters 15 (North East) Brigade, which will disband by 31 December 2014, there are no current plans to close or move any of these units away from Imphal Barracks.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) sets of accounts will be audited and (b) value for money studies will be completed this calendar year by the International Board of Auditors of NATO; how many of these audits were completed in the first six months of the year; when NATO will publish these accounts and audit reports; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The information requested is not held by the Ministry of Defence. However NATO has agreed to consider for public release all reports from the International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN) from financial year 2013 onwards. Given the importance of full transparency and public accountability, we continue to call for all reports to be published except where this would prejudice Alliance security.
The UK remains committed to improving NATO's transparency, accountability and Value for Money to tax payers and will therefore continue to work closely with Allies and NATO on this issue.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed by the Defence Vetting Agency in (a) York and (b) total on 1 April in each year since it was created.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The figures in the following table represent people employed by the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting for 2012, 2013 and 2014 and its predecessor the Defence Vetting Agency until 2011, in York and total, on 1 April each year.
Staff based in York | Overall total | |
2003 | 220 | 320 |
2004 | 220 | 340 |
2005 | 230 | 350 |
2006 | 230 | 350 |
2007 | 230 | 360 |
2008 | 250 | 390 |
2009 | 300 | 450 |
2010 | 310 | 470 |
2011 | 260 | 430 |
2012 | 220 | 350 |
2013 | 180 | 310 |
2014 | 162 | 297 |
Notes:
Although the Defence Vetting Agency was founded in 1996 reliable figures are only available from 2003.
Figures are for Full Time Equivalents.
Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Asked by: Hugh Bayley (Labour - York Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK (a) regular military and (b) civilian personnel were based in City of York in each year since 2008.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Information on the number of UK regular military personnel based in the City of York Unitary Authority area for each year from 2008 until 2013 is published in Ministry of Defence Quarterly Location Statistics Table 3.3a, available on The National Archives website:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140116142443/http://www.dasa.mod.uk/index.php/publications/personnel/combined/quarterly-location-statistics
Information on the number of UK regular military personnel based in the City of York Unitary Authority area for each year from 2010 until 2014 is published in Ministry of Defence Quarterly Location Statistics Table 3.3a, available on the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/location-of-all-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-index
Information on the number of UK civilian personnel based in City of York Unitary Authority area for each year from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2011 is produced in the table below:
2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
650 | 680 | 720 | 640 |
Information on the number of UK civilian personnel based in the City of York Unitary Authority area for each year since 1 April 2012 is now published in Ministry of Defence Quarterly Location Statistics Table 3.3a, available at the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/location-of-all-uk-regular-service-and-civilian-personnel-quarterly-statistics-index
Additionally, copies of the Quarterly Location Statistics are available in the Library of the House.