Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2024 to Question 15728 on Afghanistan: Refugees, how many applicants are awaiting an eligibility decision as of 18 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As of 23 April 2024, 2,352 applicants are awaiting an initial eligibility decision under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme.
Of these, 632 are applications raised in the last 3 months and 1,720 applications are complex cases awaiting an eligibility decision. The ARAP scheme remains open, and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has received over 96,000 principal applications in total.
Defence is working hard to consider all remaining applications, conducting checks and seeking additional information to ensure a decision can be made.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Afghan people are (a) in the UK and (b) awaiting an initial decision on their eligibility under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme as of 18 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As of 23 April 2024, we have relocated over 16,300 Afghans to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
For statistics on the number of ARAP applicants awaiting a decision, I refer the right hon. Member to my answer to Question 22470.
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.
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 Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many ‘meet the buyer’ events did UK Defence and Security Exports host in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
a) 2021
1
b) 2022
2
c) 2023
3
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 opened its own investigation into the potential causes of the explosion at BAE Systems Monmouthshire on 17 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This was an isolated incident at the BAE Systems (BAES) Glascoed site, Monmouthshire that occurred in a remote building away from the production facilities. Tried and tested safety protocols were immediately enacted and there were no casualties. BAES is continuing to investigate and has engaged the Health and Safety Executive.
At this stage BAES do not envisage anything but a minimal impact on operations. Defence Equipment & Support are closely engaged with BAES to support their investigations. At present, a separate Ministry of Defence investigation is not planned.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much humanitarian aid has been delivered to civilians in Gaza with the support of Armed Forces personnel in each month since October 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
UK Armed Forces personnel have been deployed as planning teams with Allies and partners to support the wider delivery of humanitarian aid. UK Armed Forces have directly delivered over 225 tonnes on humanitarian aid to support the civilian population of Gaza since October 2023. It is broken down by month below.
UK Armed Forces directly delivered to aid agencies via Egypt | |
October 2023 | 21 tonnes |
November 2023 | 53 tonnes |
December 2023 | 87 tonnes of UK and Cypriot aid |
January 2024 | Nil |
UK Armed Forces directly delivered to Gaza | |
February 2024 | (4 tonnes of UK aid air dropped by Jordan) |
March 2024 | 42 tonnes |
April 2024 (to 17 April) | 24 tonnes |