Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 16 November, HCWS369, on Shipbuilding Update, who the prime contractor for the Fleet Solid Support Ships will be; and what estimate he has made of the balance of work between the shipyards involved.
Answered by Alex Chalk
Team Resolute, a team consisting of Harland & Wolff, BMT and Navantia UK has been announced as the Preferred Bidder to build the Fleet Solid Support ships. Navantia UK, a UK registered company, will hold the contract as prime contractor.
The majority of the shipbuild will take place in the UK. The precise balance of work between each individual yard is a matter for Harland & Wolff.
No workers are currently employed in building the Fleet Solid Support ships by Harland & Wolff at any of its sites. No contract has yet been signed for the ships. Harland & Wolff has indicated that it expects the workforce employed to build the ships to grow by around 1,200.
The number of people employed by BMT in the competition for the Fleet Solid Support ships is purely a matter for the company. BMT has indicated that it expects its workforce engaged to deliver the Fleet Solid Support ships to grow to around 120.
The number of jobs sustained in Spain to deliver the Fleet Solid Support ships is a matter for the contractor concerned but it will be fewer than the number of jobs sustained and created in the UK.
The transfer of technology and skills from Navantia to the UK shipbuilding industry that the Fleet Solid Support ship programme will facilitate includes provision for a team of Spanish shipbuilding experts to be resident within Harland & Wolff in order to upskill local staff to deliver the construction in the UK and ensure build productivity and quality levels are met.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) effectiveness, (b) health and safety and (c) comfort of the current standard of military body armour.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
VIRTUS is the current military body armour used by personnel across Defence.
Military body armour is designed to improve the wearer’s survivability by protecting them from a variety of blast and fragmentation threats; but it also must be balanced against the wider system requirements – specifically mobility and lethality. Combat effectiveness is measured by the overall interaction between protection, mobility, and firepower.
The current military body armour (VIRTUS) has been developed with DSTL and assessed against industry standards. It was developed to address previously identified capability gaps. It was subjected to field and lab trials testing which concluded that the VIRTUS system increased agility and overall performance..
Military body armour (VIRTUS) complies with current UK Health and Safety at Work legal requirements and meets all other legal and Ministry of Defence obligations.
The current in service body armour (VIRTUS) was consistently rated more favourably in respect of comfort than the other systems in the majority of questions during initial trials, and subjective evaluations relating to usability and functionality were predominately positive. Defence is constantly seeking to refine the capability, and has recently developed a wider variety of body armour accessories for those with smaller statures.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cars there are in his Department's fleet; and how many of those cars are (a) electric and (b) hybrid vehicles.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence no longer purchases commercial, non-combat motor vehicles but leases them through a Fleet Management Service contract known as Phoenix II.
The number of cars under the contract in each category is detailed in the table below (figures correct as at 07 June 21). These leases are competitively tendered to ensure that Defence receives value for money.
The MOD is committed to meeting Government targets for zero emission cars and is developing its infrastructure to support a significant increase in electric vehicles which will roll out in coming years. To avoid paying early lease termination fees, the MOD uses milestone adjustments during contract term to transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to both electric and hybrid vehicles.
Vehicle Type |
|
Internal Combustion Engine | 7,066 |
Electric | 225 |
Hybrid | 411 |
TOTAL | 7,702 |
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what Fleet Solid Support ship capacity is sailing with the HMS Queen Elizabeth Carrier Strike Group.
Answered by James Heappey
RFA Fort Victoria has been allocated to the Carrier Strike Group as the Fleet Solid Support ship.
She will provide vital support to CSG21 by acting as a stores ship and a fleet tanker. RFA Fort Victoria is fitted with four central replenishment rigs, so she can replenish two warships simultaneously with fuel and stores and has another refuelling rig at her rear. She also has a large flight-deck, hangar and maintenance facilities for helicopters.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Enhanced Pallet Load System trucks the British Army has; and where those vehicles were manufactured.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The British Army's UK fleet consists of 559 Enhanced Pallet Load System (EPLS) vehicles, all originally manufactured in Austria with the majority acquired between 2008 and 2013.
In November 2018 work began to upgrade 382 of the EPLS 15-tonne Support Vehicle platforms. The conversions took place in Manchester, with all upgraded vehicles now in service.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to issue the invitation to tender for the Fleet Solid Support Ships; and what steps he will take to ensure the use of British steel in those ships.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Contract Notice and Pre-Qualification Questionnaire is planned for issue in spring 2021 and consideration of the responses received will determine the exact date for issue of the Invitation To Negotiate.
It is too early to say what the steel requirement for the Fleet Solid Support ships might be. Responsibility for sourcing steel for the ships will rest with the prime contractor, who will make their steel requirements known to the UK steel industry in line with Cabinet Office guidelines.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with Boeing on the E-7 Wedgetail programme.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
In common with other projects of this size and complexity, officials are in regular contact with their opposite numbers in Boeing on a range of subjects relating to the E-7 programme.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what risk assessment has been made for in-service support of (a) complex warships, (b) submarines and (c) naval base services with relation to the future life extension requirements of the Vanguard; what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of ageing critical infrastructure and complexities around logistics and transport on (i) cost and (ii) equipment in-service dates.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Future Maritime Support Programme employs a full suite of professional project and programme management planning and risk tools. The provision of services under this programme is currently under commercial tender and negotiation and I am therefore withholding the requested information as its disclosure at this time would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and for the purpose of safeguarding National Security more widely.
I am, however, able to confirm that the MOD is currently delivering a significant programme of recapitalisation updates for HM Naval Base Clyde nuclear infrastructure assets, to the value of some £1.6 billion. This programme is scheduled to complete by 2032 and will deliver around £0.425 billion of investment in nuclear assets on the Clyde by the end of this financial year.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what risk assessment has been undertaken as part of the planning and consultation process on the move from a single source supplier at HMND Clyde to multiple contractors; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of that move on the delivery of integrated operations in support of CASD.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Future Maritime Support Programme employs a full suite of professional project and programme management planning and risk tools. The provision of services under this programme is currently under commercial tender and negotiation and I am therefore withholding the requested information as its disclosure at this time would be prejudicial to the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and for the purpose of safeguarding National Security more widely.
I am, however, able to confirm that the MOD is currently delivering a significant programme of recapitalisation updates for HM Naval Base Clyde nuclear infrastructure assets, to the value of some £1.6 billion. This programme is scheduled to complete by 2032 and will deliver around £0.425 billion of investment in nuclear assets on the Clyde by the end of this financial year.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the health and safety record over the course of the Maritime Support Delivery Framework.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence takes the health and safety practices of its industrial partners extremely seriously and we expect suppliers to comply with all applicable regulatory and legal requirements.
The health and safety performance of contractors working on the Maritime Support Delivery Framework Contract is routinely monitored as part of contractual governance provisions. The contractors are also independently regulated by the Health and Safety Executive and, for the nuclear sites at HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport, the Office for Nuclear Regulation.