Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Government's press release entitled, PM to announce largest-ever military aid package to Ukraine on visit to Poland, published on 23 April 2024, when the first deliveries of military support under the package will take place.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
This latest military aid package to Ukraine, the most comprehensive so far, covering the land, sea and air environments, will be delivered over the next few months. It will be delivered as quickly as possible, in accordance with priorities agreed with Ukrainian partners.
For operational security reasons, we generally do not comment on the progress of our deliveries, as to do so would risk both lives and the effectiveness of the aid.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan (a) principals and (b) dependents are being housed in hotel accommodation under the (i) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (ii) Afghan citizens resettlement scheme.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to resettle Afghans fleeing persecution and those who served the UK.
The latest published Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) show that (up to the end of December 2023) we have brought around 27,900 people to safety from Afghanistan and the region.
These statistics also show that:
Afghan operational data is viewable at Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan people are awaiting an initial decision on their asylum application as of 18 April 2024.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications awaiting an initial decision by nationality are published in table Asy_D03 of the ‘Asylum applications awaiting an initial decision detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to 31 December 2023. Data as at 31 March 2024 will be published on 23 May 2024.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's definition of initial operating capability for the Dragonfire directed energy weapon programme is.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has committed to accelerating DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) into operational capability. This is being procured under the new Integrated Procurement Model, and so we will be equipping multiple Royal Navy ships with DragonFire LDEW as a minimum deployable capability from 2027, and will spirally develop as necessary. As such, there will be no initial operating capability or full operating capability date.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's definition of full operating capability for the Dragonfire directed energy weapon programme is.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has committed to accelerating DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) into operational capability. This is being procured under the new Integrated Procurement Model, and so we will be equipping multiple Royal Navy ships with DragonFire LDEW as a minimum deployable capability from 2027, and will spirally develop as necessary. As such, there will be no initial operating capability or full operating capability date.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Soldier on stand requests UK Defence and Security Exports (a) received and (b) fulfilled in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022, and (iii) 2023.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
2021
Requested – 3
Fulfilled – 3
2022
Requested - 5
Fulfilled – 5
2023
Requested – 16
Fulfilled – 12
2024 (to date)
Requested – 6
Fulfilled - 4
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which ship his Department plans to fit first with the Dragonfire directed energy weapon.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has committed to accelerating DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) into operational capability by equipping multiple Royal Navy ships with a DragonFire LDEW minimum deployable capability from 2027. During the development of the first DragonFire Directed Energy Weapon, the MOD will identify the most appropriate ship for first deployment of this capability to meet operational requirements and increase the capability of the Royal Navy as well as the number of ships we will fit with this capability.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many ships his Department plans to fit with the Dragonfire directed energy weapon.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has committed to accelerating DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) into operational capability by equipping multiple Royal Navy ships with a DragonFire LDEW minimum deployable capability from 2027. During the development of the first DragonFire Directed Energy Weapon, the MOD will identify the most appropriate ship for first deployment of this capability to meet operational requirements and increase the capability of the Royal Navy as well as the number of ships we will fit with this capability.