Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has paid to (a) Pinnacle Group, (b) VIVO and (c) Amey under the service accommodation contracts awarded in June 2021.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
I am unable to provide this information as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Tornado GR4s the Royal Air Forces owns.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Tornado GR4 went out of RAF service in 2019 and has been through a thorough disposal process. The RAF have retained nine as ground based training aids and gate guardians but none are airworthy and the majority of their systems have been permanently removed or inhibited to ensure long-term safety for ground instruction training or public display.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what lessons he learned from the findings of Sir Thayne Forbes in the Al Sweady Inquiry for setting the terms of reference of the independent inquiry into alleged unlawful activity by British Armed Forces during deliberate detention operations in Afghanistan.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Secretary of State for Defence engaged with Lord Justice Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, the inquiry chair, throughout the process of setting the terms of reference for the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan (IIA).
As part of this process, Sir Charles and the Secretary of State considered comparable inquiries into historical allegations, including the Al-Sweady Inquiry, with regard to the IIA's terms of reference, resourcing requirements and anticipated costs.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was spent on (a) Operation Northmoor and (b Cestro.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
£10 million was spent on Operation NORTHMOOR, which was the Royal Military Police's investigation into 675 allegations from Afghanistan (these allegations ranged from non-criminal allegations (of cultural insensitivity), to assault and ill-treatment, to unlawful killings during arrest operations).
Unlike Operation NORTHMOOR, Operation CESTRO was not budgeted separately from other Special Investigation Branch (SIB) Regiment RMP investigations. It is not therefore possible to extract costs data specific to that operation.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will fund independent legal representation for any serving or former members of the armed forces who are required to give evidence to the Independent inquiry into alleged unlawful activity by British armed forces during deliberate detention operations in Afghanistan chaired by Lord Justice Sir Charles Haddon-Cave.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
All current and former service and civilian personnel who are subject to legal proceedings as a consequence of their actions during service or employment, or who may give evidence in legal proceedings in connection with their official duties, are entitled to legal representation.
An individual acting in accordance with their employment or service will generally be offered representation by Government Legal Department (GLD) in England and Wales; Morton Fraser (MF) in Scotland; and the Crown Solicitor (CSO) in Northern Ireland.
Circumstances where the fees of other solicitors may be agreed will generally only include where there is a potential conflict of interest with the Department, or where GLD/MF/CSO do not have appropriate expertise or capacity to provide representation.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to offer (a) empty MOD homes (b) military accommodation to house people under the Homes for Ukrainians scheme.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Under the UK Government's 'Homes for Ukraine' scheme, as of 20 March 2022, over 150,000 expressions of interest have been received from individuals and organisations. The Ministry of Defence is assessing how the Department can contribute to the scheme, noting the unique nature of Service accommodation, which includes potential security implications where accommodation is 'behind the wire'.
Should a formal request be received for Defence to assist with accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, it will be considered in line with Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) principles.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) flying hours and (b) air strikes have been conducted by British armed forces against Daesh in (a) Iraq and (b) Syria in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by James Heappey
There have been 37 Weapon Release Events in the past 12 months (37 in Iraq and zero in Syria). The combined flying hours of Reaper and Typhoon during this period were 15,192 (Reaper: 7,799; and Typhoon: 7,393). As the data concern operational activity, figures may be updated in future.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the 40 most expensive substitute service family accommodation and substitute single living accommodation properties rented out in the last 12 months were.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Please see a table below displaying the 40 highest monthly rental charges for Substitute Service Family Accommodation (SSFA) and Substitute Service Single Accommodation (SSSA) in the last 12 months, these figures have been rounded to the nearest pound:
Type | Monthly Rental Charge* | Town |
SSFA | £5,008 | Esher |
SSFA | £4,850 | Taplow |
SSFA | £4,026 | London |
SSSA | £3,100 | Grantown On Spey |
SSFA | £3,085 | Tadworth |
SSSA | £2,900 | Moray |
SSSA | £2,700 | London |
SSFA | £2,650 | Edinburgh |
SSFA | £2,640 | Wallingford |
SSFA | £2,626 | Birmingham |
SSSA | £2,543 | London |
SSFA | £2,450 | Cambridge |
SSSA | £2,426 | London |
SSSA | £2,413 | London |
SSSA | £2,337 | London |
SSFA | £2,300 | Cambridge |
SSFA | £2,270 | Solihull |
SSSA | £2,263 | London |
SSSA | £2,238 | London |
SSFA | £2,200 | Cambridge |
SSFA | £2,200 | Bishops Stortford |
SSFA | £2,144 | Havant |
SSSA | £2,125 | London |
SSSA | £2,125 | London |
SSSA | £2,108 | London |
SSFA | £2,100 | Woodbridge |
SSSA | £2,057 | London |
SSSA | £2,050 | London |
SSSA | £2,050 | London |
SSSA | £2,043 | London |
SSSA | £2,029 | London |
SSSA | £2,025 | London |
SSSA | £2,023 | London |
SSFA | £2,023 | Middlesbrough |
SSSA | £2,011 | London |
SSSA | £2,000 | London |
SSSA | £2,000 | London |
SSSA | £2,000 | London |
SSSA | £2,000 | London |
SSSA | £2,000 | London |
* Includes where appropriate contributions to monthly rent paid by service personnel.
The substitute accommodation contract contains regional maximum rental charges which are commercially sensitive. Other than in exceptional circumstances MOD will pay only up to the maximum rent.
Personnel below the rank of Major (and its equivalents) in SSSA are expected to share with personnel of a similar rank, which is the case in some of the SSSA shown in the table.
Service personnel can also make a contribution towards the rent of a property over the rental charge limit, based on their personal requirements, which is the case in some of the properties shown in the table.