To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Army: Equality
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the British Army has spent on diversity and inclusion personnel since 2019.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The British Army has spent £2,569,393.89 on salaries for people employed in dedicated Diversity and Inclusion roles from 2019 to 2023. Individuals in the roles described are paid at a commensurate rate to their rank. In February, the Secretary of State for Defence ordered a root and branch review of ethnicity, diversity and inclusivity policies in Defence which is ongoing.


Written Question
Army: Equality
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2024 to Question 12234 on Army: Equality, what proportion of the personnel employed by the British Army are in roles in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

As at 1 October 2023, there are 73,515 personnel in the Full Time Trade Trained strength of the British Army, and 7,901 Civil Servants employed in the Army Top Level Budget. Of these, there are currently eight people employed in dedicated Diversity and Inclusion roles in the Army Headquarters. This reflects a reduction since 31 January 2024, at which point the Army employed 13 people in roles dedicated to Diversity and Inclusion. The five roles in Army formations have subsequently been disbanded.


Written Question
Armed Forces: Equality
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what job titles are used for people with roles relating to diversity, equity and inclusion within the armed forces; and how many people have each job title.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member’s Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Remote Working
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department work from home.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence (MOD), along with other Government Departments, is committed to Smarter Working and much of our workforce has embraced the benefits of hybrid working both for themselves personally and for the business. We have implemented Government direction on increased office attendance and, as a broad average, 40% of time is spent working remotely for office based workers, for some this will be more and for others less. This is dependent upon the activity and business outcomes to be delivered. All employees agree their working location with their local line management, although this can sometimes be influenced by site capacity constraints.

Details of Departmental headquarters’ occupancy are published on a regular basis and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-headquarters-occupancy-data


Written Question
Armed Forces: Medical Records
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make it his policy to allow (a) next of kin and (b) executors of deceased armed forces personnel to gain access to the (i) medical records and (ii) diagnostic tests of those personnel that were completed before the Access to Health Records Act 1990 came into force.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

There are no plans to change Ministry of Defence policy which is consistent with wider UK practice across the medical profession. There is an ethical obligation to respect a patient’s confidentiality after death and access to deceased patients’ health records, including for Armed Forces personnel, is governed by the Access to Health Records Act 1990.

Under the terms of the Act, someone will only be entitled to access a deceased person’s health records created after 1 November 1991 if they are either a personal representative (the executor or administrator of the deceased person’s estate) or someone who has a claim resulting from the death (this could be a relative or another person). The only exception is if disclosure of medical records created before 1 November 1991 is needed to make intelligible any record created after that date.


Written Question
Army: Equality
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people are employed by the Army in roles relating to diversity and inclusion as of 31 January 2024.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

As at 31 January 2024, the Army has 13 people employed in roles dedicated to Diversity and Inclusion.


Written Question
Veterans: Radiation Exposure
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Defence People and Families during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records of 28 November 2023, Official Report, column 245WH, whether (a) any of those 150 files of data referenced contain comparative data or analysis of blood or urine tests on veterans taken subsequent to the weapons programme and (b) other files exist at the Atomic Weapons Establishment that may contain comparative data or analysis relating to blood and urine tests taken in the years after service at the weapons trials.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) archives do not contain any data or analysis of blood or urine tests relating to nuclear test veterans subsequent to the testing programme.


Written Question
Air Force: Equality
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people are employed in diversity and inclusion roles in the Royal Air Force.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

There are 14 people currently employed in diversity and inclusion roles in the Royal Air Force, with a further 10 positions to be recruited into.


Written Question
Navy: Recruitment
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the Royal Navy spent on (a) recruitment campaigns and (b) other initiatives to help increase the diversity of its workforce in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Royal Navy (RN) has spent the following amounts on recruitment campaigns:

Financial Year

Campaign Spend

2020-21

£18,982,539

2021-22

£16,719,697

2022-23

£16,547,488

The RN operates a recruit and marketing strategy which is Consciously Diverse and Actively inclusive and provides opportunity for all regardless of background. Therefore, the RN does not run marketing campaigns which are aimed specifically at people from certain backgrounds.


Written Question
Army: Recruitment
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the Army spent on (a) recruitment campaigns and (b) other initiatives to help increase the diversity of its workforce in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

Diversity, inclusion and respect sit at the heart of the Army's values and ethos. The Army aims to recruit and retain a diversity of talent and thought, drawing from all sections of society.

The Army Race Action Plan which was published internally in April 2023 directs a number of actions to bring equity to career progression across all ranks and including personnel from ethnic minority backgrounds.

This includes improving representation at all levels, gaining better access to talent, progressing all talent based only upon merit, improving and professionalising organisational culture and improving lived experience, retention and opportunities.

The Army does not run campaigns designed specifically to increase diversity within the workforce, but diversity and inclusion is an integral part of all recruitment campaigns. The below table shows the overall costs of Army recruitment campaigns for 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Financial Year

FY 2020-21

FY 2021-22

FY 2022-23

FY 2023-24

Total

£11,369,549

£9,773,603

9,361,444

£9,161,373

The total for FY 2023-24 includes figures up to December 2023.