Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with his European allies on the potential merits of jointly developing (a) aircraft and (b) other defence platforms as an alternative to reliance on US procurement.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Secretary of State has had recent discussions with both US and European Allies regarding joint development and procurement of defence capabilities. The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) sets out our need for a NATO First approach and enhanced cooperation. To this end, the Secretary of State’s recent discussions with the US, the UK’s most important bilateral alliance, have explored how the UK can maximise its industrial and technological collaboration to strengthen collective security and prosperity beyond already unprecedented UK-US industrial and nuclear cooperation. To the same end, the Secretary of State’s recent discussions with European Allies, including through the E5 format, consisting of the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Italy, represent a strong collaboration within the Alliance to develop a collective industrial base and deliver NATO critical warfighting capabilities. These capabilities include Complex Weapons with France, Land systems with Germany, and the Global Combat Air Programme which includes Italy.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to offer a right of appeal to an independent judge for Afghan citizens refused protection under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme.
Answered by James Heappey
As set out in HMG policy on gov.uk, if an individual application under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme is found ineligible, the individual has the right to seek a review of that decision within 90 days if they believe the decision was not in accordance with the policy, and/or if they can supply new evidence to support their case that was not available when the decision was made. There are no plans to offer a further right of appeal to an independent judge.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Defence Infrastructure Organisation are taking to increase housing delivery at Dalton Barracks, Abingdon.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation continue to work with the Local Authority to release Dalton Barracks in line with the adopted Local Plan and subsequent Supplementary Planning Document for a high quality, sustainable new community founded on garden village principles.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) applications (a) are awaiting decision as of 25 January 2023; how many and what proportion of those applications were submitted more than a year ago; and what is the average length of time taken to process an ARAP application.
Answered by James Heappey
As of 25 January 2023, we have 70,382 ARAP applications awaiting decisions, of which 66,568 are more than a year old. However, A finite number of people are eligible for ARAP: HMG knows who has worked with the British Armed Forces or partners, and based on our records we estimate there are fewer than 320 eligible Afghans are left to find.
As such, the Ministry of Defence is not simply processing applications at pace, but is focussing resource on finding in our casework system applications from the approx. 320 individuals we know are eligible for relocation and need our support.
Due to variables such as case complexity, conducting checks with other Government Departments, or response times from applicants to follow-up queries, it is not possible to provide processing timeframes as they vary considerably.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) non-disclosure and (b) other confidentiality agreements relating to (i) employment, (ii) bullying, (iii) misconduct and (iii) harassment cases have been agreed by their Department in each year since 1 January 2010; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on (A) legal costs and (B) financial settlements for such agreements in each year since 1 January 2010.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Ministry of Defence does not routinely use non-disclosure agreements or other confidentiality agreements. Information regarding their use is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the total value of British military support provided to Ukraine in 2022 broken down by category of support.
Answered by James Heappey
We can not disclose the category of support due to the sensitivity of this information, however the total value of British military support provided to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began is more than £450 million in Grant in Aid.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has plans to increase the number of UK service personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia.
Answered by James Heappey
We keep our plans for our presence in Saudi Arabia under review.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK service personnel are stationed in Saudi Arabia as at 22 November 2021.
Answered by James Heappey
142 UK Service personnel are stationed in Saudi Arabia. Numbers vary according to operational and other requirements.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of days taken as sick leave by (a) Royal Navy, (b) British Army, (c) Royal Air Force, (d) Maritime Reserve, (e) Army Reserve, (f) Royal Auxiliary Airforce, (g) Royal Fleet Reserve, (h) Army Reserve (Regular) and (i) Air Force Reserve personnel due to covid-19 in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) to date.
Answered by James Heappey
Whilst the Ministry of Defence records the medical employability and deployability of Service personnel, more specific information about the level of sickness absence in the Armed Forces is not held centrally. As at 1 June 2021, 98.6 per cent of the trained UK Armed Forces were fit to work.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of military personnel referred to date for treatment for long covid at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre have (a) been treated and (b) returned to work.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Between 23 April 2020 and 19 July 2021, the latest period for which figures are available, a total of 462 UK Armed Forces personnel had at least one appointment at one of the COVID clinics at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC). Of these, 447 personnel attended a COVID outpatient appointment, 260 attended a Defence COVID Recovery Service appointment, 224 a COVID course appointment and 26 a COVID course review appointment.
Information about sickness absence in the Armed Forces is not held centrally. It is therefore not possible to provide with accuracy the number of personnel who have returned to work after attending a DMRC COVID clinic.