Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to publish all documents relating to the bombing of RFA Sir Galahad that are held at the National Archives.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The losses of RFA Sir Galahad due to enemy action was a tragedy. The sacrifice made by those onboard will not be forgotten, and we remain grateful to all the Armed Forces personnel and civilians who bravely served in the Falklands conflict.
The release of papers is governed through the Public Records Act (PRA).
At my request, officials have conducted a thorough review of the files under the terms of the Public Records Act (PRA) to determine whether any additional information can possibly be released, and I will be visiting The National Archives to view the files personally in the very near future as discussed last week.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average (a) AS90, (c) L118 light gun, (c) Jackal and (d) Foxhound vehicle availability rate was in each year since 2018.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The British Army holds and maintains an appropriate amount of all its platforms to meet operational requirements. I am withholding further information on the number of platforms available for operational deployment for security reasons.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 25 October 2023 to Question 203030 on Military Exercises: Conventional Weapons, how many 81mm mortars were fired on training exercises in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Heappey
Due to the time required to collate the information, I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish a list of the types of small arms and light weapons that went missing from his Department's establishments and facilities in each year since 2015.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We take the security of our small arms and light weapons extremely seriously and have a range of measures in place to ensure the integrity of these arrangements. Whilst we do not publish data in full, we do publish some information on weapon losses on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) website under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. MOD officials will collate that information and I will write to the hon. Member when it is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken to resolve an appeal is in the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; and what steps he is taking to reduce that time.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The average (median) clearance time for AFCS appeals is published in Table 9 of the annual Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Statistics.
The latest release was published on 6 July 2023 and can be found at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-statistics-financial-year-20222
To better support claimants and reduce timelines that are within Miistry of Defence control, resource is flexed across teams supporting veterans' services to target priority areas wherever possible. Additional resource is also being onboarded along with continuous review and improvement to processes. Overtime is being utilised where required.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Quinquennial Review 2023, published on 17 July 2023.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Department is considering the recommendations in full, and the Government's response will be published later this year.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many eligible principle Afghan nationals were relocated through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme from December 2022 to May 2023; and how many applications were received in that time period.
Answered by James Heappey
Between December 2022 and May 2023, 15 Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) eligible principals and 49 of their family members were relocated to the UK. Over this same period 4,129 unique ARAP applications were received.
The ARAP scheme is not, and never was, intended as a general resettlement scheme for all Afghans. As such the vast majority of the applications received between the above dates will be ineligible. In total, we have received over 141,000 applications, of which 3,511 have been granted eligibility.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many eligible principals under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy has his Department lost contact with; and how many of these people are in Afghanistan.
Answered by James Heappey
The number of ARAP eligible principals who have failed to respond to contact is currently 70. Of these, our records show that 37 were in Afghanistan at the time of their last contact with the Ministry of Defence.
Applicants may fall out of contact with us for a variety of reasons: they may have changed their contact details and not informed us or have decided to relocate elsewhere. We continue to use a range of means to re-establish contact with these applicants in order to continue their relocation to the UK, should they wish to proceed.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghans confirmed eligible for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy prior to the end of Operation Pitting remain in Afghanistan.
Answered by James Heappey
As of 7 July 2023, our records show four Afghans confirmed eligible prior to the end of Op Pitting remain in Afghanistan. We are actively supporting the relocation of those in this cohort who still wish to relocate to the UK.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghans were resettled in the UK through the Ex-Gratia Scheme by November 2022.
Answered by James Heappey
By November 2022 there were 526 principals resettled in the UK with their family members under the Ex-Gratia Scheme.