Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for joint working between the (a) proposed envoy to oversee production of weapons and ammunition and (b) head of Defence Equipment and Support.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence is working closely with other Government Departments to outline the scope of the envoy role and we will confirm further details in due course.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on whether personal data belonging to (a) current and (b) former armed forces personnel has been published online following the armed forces payment data breach reported on 6 May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Department has found no evidence of personal data that belongs to current and former Armed Forces personnel being published online following the armed forces payment data breach reported on 6 May 2024. This will continue to be monitored.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has found evidence that personal data has been copied out of the subcontractor’s IT system by a malign actor following the armed forces payment data breach reported on 6 May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The investigation into the network compromise is ongoing and at this time there is no evidence to suggest that any data has been exfiltrated.
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 his oral statement entitled Defence Personnel Data Breach of 7 May 2024, Official Report, column 466, when the investigation into that data breach will be concluded.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The investigation into the network compromise is ongoing and is expected to file an initial report at the end of June.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when his Department last made a payment to General Dynamics Land Systems UK in relation to the Ajax programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The most recent payment against the main General Dynamics Ajax contract was made on 14 May 2024.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of when Ajax will have completed its reliability growth trials.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on the 23 November 2023 to Question 2256.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) full-time equivalent and (b) part time civil servants there were at Defence Business Services in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The below table shows the number of full time and part time core workforce individuals within Defence Business Services (DBS) as at 31 March for each year.
Year | Full Time | Part Time | Grand Total |
2012 | 1,538 | 335 | 1,873 |
2013 | 1,352 | 255 | 1,607 |
2014 | 1,296 | 259 | 1,555 |
2015 | 1,807 | 436 | 2,243 |
2016 | 1,739 | 438 | 2,177 |
2017 | 1,780 | 464 | 2,244 |
2018 | 1,754 | 469 | 2,223 |
2019 | 1,852 | 489 | 2,341 |
2020 | 1,972 | 520 | 2,492 |
2021 | 1,414 | 413 | 1,827 |
2022 | 1,461 | 411 | 1,872 |
2023 | 1,460 | 414 | 1,874 |
2024 | 1,556 | 379 | 1,935 |
DBS was established in July 2011, therefore the earliest data provided is from 31 March 2012. The major changes in staff levels on 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2021 are the result of the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) merging with DBS on 1 April 2014, and UK Security Vetting (UKSV) leaving DBS on 1 April 2020.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personal data incidents affecting suppliers to his Department have been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The requirement to record personal data incidents reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours came into force in May 2018 under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. The figures requested per year are as follows:
2018 1
2019 2
2020 2
2021 1
2022 1
2023 0
2024 1
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which external organisation his Department has commissioned to conduct an independent investigation into the armed forces payment data breach reported on 6 May 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has commissioned the independent investigation under an existing cyber incident response contract. The MOD is unable to disclose which external organisation has been commissioned at present for national security reasons.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many airframes his Department plans to purchase for the New Medium Helicopter programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There has been no change to the advertised requirement of a range of up to 44 platforms in the New Medium Helicopter Contract Notice that was published in May 2022. The results of the contract competition will inform the number of airframes to be delivered.