Lord Tunnicliffe

As of 10 December, 808 military personnel were deployed to assist the NHS in England, Wales, and Scotland.

There has not been a programme of ‘forced’ or compulsory redundancy since the UK Armed Forces redundancy programme of 2011-15. The redundancies in all four tranches of that programme were compulsory and the vast majority of Service personnel who were made redundant through it had left Service by March 2016. Another eight personnel left their Service on redundancy terms between April 2016 and December 2017.

A small number, under ten, have been made redundant since December 2017. These were in respect of personnel whose posts or organisations had been restructured and meant as a result of their terms and conditions of service, and after exhausting all other options, that compensatory redundancy was the only alternative.

Since the placement of contract for the Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle in late 2019 the project has been in a period of design finalisation which is nearing conclusion. No development issues have been identified to date, including during verification and validation trials.

An investigation into an aircraft accident can be a complex and necessarily long process involving the gathering and analysing of a vast amount of evidence from many different sources. A Service Inquiry will be convened to investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss of ZM152; it is not possible at this early stage to determine how the investigation will proceed.

An operation is ongoing to recover the F-35B. Due to reasons of operational security, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.

Our current expectation is to run a competitive process, the full details of which will be published in due course.

As of 6 December 2021, there were circa.1,336 Service personnel deployed on 19 MACA tasks. These tasks range from: personnel supporting local communities affected by Storm Arwen in the North of the UK; medical personnel in support to the NHS in Scotland; drivers assisting the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust; personnel supporting the COVID-19 vaccination programme across the UK; fuel tanker drivers to ensure the continuity of fuel supplies around the UK; and defence driving examiners supporting the Department for Transport.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to working with General Dynamics to achieve resolution of outstanding issues on the Armoured Cavalry Programme. We will not accept into service a capability which is not fit for purpose. David Marsh has not been asked to provide a specific report on a set of recommendations but will be providing advice to Ministers in the ordinary course in his role as SRO. The Minister for Defence Procurement supports the Secretary of State on the delivery of the MOD’s Equipment Plan.

I refer the noble Lord to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence People and Veterans (Leo Docherty), in the House of Commons on 6 September 2021 to the hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) in response to Question number 40594.

The Carrier Strike Group's ships navigated the South China Sea and HMS Richmond navigated the Taiwan Strait as necessary between planned activity in the Indo-Pacific region. The tension between China and Taiwan, although noted, did not change the routing of the Carrier Strike Group.

Detailed plans for the future structure of the Army are still being refined. There will be announcements made on our intent for both the regular and reserve force in due course.

I am withholding details of when HMS Vanguard will re-join the Fleet as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

The table below sets out the countries and/or overseas territories that the UK Carrier Strike Group has interacted with during this deployment.

*Whilst not a country, assets from the UK Carrier Strike Group also participated in NATO-led military exercises and engagements.

[1] Five Powers Defence Arrangements Exercise hosted by Malaysia with participants from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.

Under Military Aid to Civilian Authority, Defence has made available approximately 250 military fuel tanker drivers and a similar number of support staff, to assist the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with ensuring the continuity of fuel supplies around Great Britain.

As of 14 October 2021, 559 military personnel were deployed to support the NHS.

As of 15 October 2021, 710 UK Armed Forces Personnel were reported as having tested positive to COVID-19 since the UK Carrier Strike Group deployed in May 2021.

The decision about whether a claim should be rejected because of Part 2 of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021 is ultimately a matter for the court hearing that claim. No civil claims brought against the MOD have been rejected as a result of the operation of Part 2 of that Act since its commencement on 30 June 2021.

No civil claims against the Ministry of Defence have been affected by Part 2 of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel & Veterans) Act 2021, as this part of the Act has not yet come into force. Commencement Regulations relating to the Act were made by the Secretary of State on 7 June 2021, and the substantive provisions of the Act, including Part 2, will come into force on 30 June 2021.

The Armed Forces Criminal Legal Aid Authority (AFCLAA) holds detailed information dating from 2012, presented in the table below:

Notes:

Financial figures are rounded to the nearest £100. All other numbers are unrounded.

Some cases from 2019 are ongoing, meaning some bills are yet to be received/paid.

The low figures for 2020 reflect the fact that COVID-19 caused many court hearings to be delayed. Therefore, the numbers of personnel granted legal aid for 2020 cases is expected to rise as defendants decide whether to accept offers of legal aid. In addition, as 2020 cases come to a conclusion, financial figures for that year will increase significantly as bills are received/paid.

Very little information is available for 2021 at this time. Due to COVID-19, there are a number of cases awaiting a decision on prosecution by the Service Prosecuting Authority.

Figures for the number of unsuccessful applications (legal aid refused) include defendants who have refused an offer of legal aid and, therefore, do not wish AFCLAA assistance. This includes those who have refused legal aid whilst their case is awaiting a decision by the Service Prosecuting Authority, with a significant proportion of those cases discontinued before they reach court.

Figures also include a very small number who have been refused assistance by AFCLAA due to the individual exceeding the financial threshold which is currently set at an annual disposable income of £37,500.

The Armed Forces Criminal Legal Aid Authority (AFCLAA) holds detailed information dating from 2012, presented in the table below:

Notes:

Financial figures are rounded to the nearest £100. All other numbers are unrounded.

Some cases from 2019 are ongoing, meaning some bills are yet to be received/paid.

The low figures for 2020 reflect the fact that COVID-19 caused many court hearings to be delayed. Therefore, the numbers of personnel granted legal aid for 2020 cases is expected to rise as defendants decide whether to accept offers of legal aid. In addition, as 2020 cases come to a conclusion, financial figures for that year will increase significantly as bills are received/paid.

Very little information is available for 2021 at this time. Due to COVID-19, there are a number of cases awaiting a decision on prosecution by the Service Prosecuting Authority.

Figures for the number of unsuccessful applications (legal aid refused) include defendants who have refused an offer of legal aid and, therefore, do not wish AFCLAA assistance. This includes those who have refused legal aid whilst their case is awaiting a decision by the Service Prosecuting Authority, with a significant proportion of those cases discontinued before they reach court.

Figures also include a very small number who have been refused assistance by AFCLAA due to the individual exceeding the financial threshold which is currently set at an annual disposable income of £37,500.

The Ministry of Defence has a duty to ensure that common law compensations claims are paid at the correct level where there is a legal liability to do so. In exceptional circumstances, surveillance investigations are undertaken to observe the true extent of a claimant’s alleged injuries in cases where there is a reasonable suspicion about the veracity of a claim or where medical evidence suggests that the claimant’s disability is wholly inconsistent with the type of injury. There is no distinction made between serving or former personnel.

The table below shows the number of surveillance cases undertaken for the last five complete financial years.

I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to the right hon Lord Touhig on 26 November 2020, in response to Question HL10461.

Personnel from the countries listed in the table below have attended defence education or training in the UK in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Note: MOD records information on International Defence Training (IDT) by financial year, rather than by calendar year. Information is taken from a central IDT database. Some activity may not be captured on that database.

The Ministry of Defence has not purchased any second-hand Chinese manufactured equipment since 2015.

I refer the noble Lord to the previous replies given by my hon. Friend, Jeremy Quin MP (Minister of State, Ministry of Defence) to Questions 141933, answered on 27 January 2021, and 134370, answered on 13 January 2021.

The Protocol is clear that it respects the essential state functions and territorial integrity of the UK. It therefore places no restrictions on military movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

There is no additional paperwork required to move personnel and equipment to Northern Ireland.

As at Thursday 24 September 2020, 6,142 UK Armed Forces personnel were reported as isolating due to COVID-19.

As of 30 September 2020, three UK Armed Forces personnel have died where COVID-19 was either the primary cause of death or associated with the cause of death.

Armed Forces personnel have been carrying out door-to-door testing as part of Defence's ongoing COVID-19 response.

The safety and welfare of our Armed Forces is paramount, and all personnel wear appropriate PPE, in line with Public Health England guidance and existing Force protection measures.

No additional training is required, but all personnel are suitably briefed to carry out testing.

There is no statutory offence of ‘domestic abuse’ and actions amounting to it could be recorded under a number of offences such as Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), Actual Bodily Harm (ABH), Common Assault or sexual offences. Furthermore, within military police crime-recording systems, the categorisation of whether an incident involves ‘domestic violence’ or not, is not a mandatory field, meaning that the figures provided are indicative only.

The first document provided gives figures for the number of reported offences for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date where the incident has been categorised as involving domestic violence. The second document provided gives figures for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date, for the number of GBH, ABH, and Common Assault offences. The noble Lord should note that in both of the documents, the figures given are for reported offences – that is, to say an allegation has been made. These figures do not relate to charges brought or court convictions.

An average time cannot be given regarding the Chain of Command (CoC) reporting such incidents to the Service Police. Every case would require examination to determine when it was reported to the Service Police and not every investigation file may contain the date when an incident was originally reported to the CoC. Therefore, we would not be able to provide a complete answer and what we could provide could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However where reported to the CoC, any incident of domestic abuse must be reported to the Service Police no later than 24 hours after the incident has occurred. Further to this, a referral to the Welfare Service must be made in any situation involving domestic abuse or similar allegations.

Whilst there are no houses on the defence estate dedicated specifically for survivors of domestic abuse, support is provided through a suite of policies which seek to provide housing options for families in times of estrangement.

Short term accommodation for welfare or compassionate reasons is administered by Service welfare associations. Tri-Service accommodation policy requires the provision of welfare houses at each designated establishment, scaled to reflect density of Service population. Unit welfare staff, in conjunction with civilian police and local authorities assess whether utilisation of such are in the best interests of safeguarding abuse survivors, and may provide alternative accommodation (through local authority or charitable provision) if distance between perpetrator and survivor is required.

The MOD is currently reviewing the tri-service policy on domestic abuse with the help of leading charity Hestia, who sit alongside MOD on the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse. It is intended that this policy apply to the whole force – civilians, contractors and the single Services. The review will also focus on the availability of accommodation for survivors, taking advice from the domestic abuse charity Standing Together. MOD intends to refresh and re-launch the policy towards the end of 2020.

The MOD continually monitors whole force data on domestic abuse for prevalence and risk factors – this has been of particular focus during the Covid-19 pandemic. This data is disseminated and discussed within the MOD Domestic Abuse Stakeholder Forum the Domestic Abuse Working Group (DAWG), which meets quarterly. The DAWG seeks advice and guidance from national domestic abuse charities like Hestia, Aurora New Dawn and the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse, resulting in continual policy improvement.

There is no statutory offence of ‘domestic abuse’ and actions amounting to it could be recorded under a number of offences such as Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), Actual Bodily Harm (ABH), Common Assault or sexual offences. Furthermore, within military police crime-recording systems, the categorisation of whether an incident involves ‘domestic violence’ or not, is not a mandatory field, meaning that the figures provided are indicative only.

The first document provided gives figures for the number of reported offences for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date where the incident has been categorised as involving domestic violence. The second document provided gives figures for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date, for the number of GBH, ABH, and Common Assault offences. The noble Lord should note that in both of the documents, the figures given are for reported offences – that is, to say an allegation has been made. These figures do not relate to charges brought or court convictions.

An average time cannot be given regarding the Chain of Command (CoC) reporting such incidents to the Service Police. Every case would require examination to determine when it was reported to the Service Police and not every investigation file may contain the date when an incident was originally reported to the CoC. Therefore, we would not be able to provide a complete answer and what we could provide could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However where reported to the CoC, any incident of domestic abuse must be reported to the Service Police no later than 24 hours after the incident has occurred. Further to this, a referral to the Welfare Service must be made in any situation involving domestic abuse or similar allegations.

Whilst there are no houses on the defence estate dedicated specifically for survivors of domestic abuse, support is provided through a suite of policies which seek to provide housing options for families in times of estrangement.

Short term accommodation for welfare or compassionate reasons is administered by Service welfare associations. Tri-Service accommodation policy requires the provision of welfare houses at each designated establishment, scaled to reflect density of Service population. Unit welfare staff, in conjunction with civilian police and local authorities assess whether utilisation of such are in the best interests of safeguarding abuse survivors, and may provide alternative accommodation (through local authority or charitable provision) if distance between perpetrator and survivor is required.

The MOD is currently reviewing the tri-service policy on domestic abuse with the help of leading charity Hestia, who sit alongside MOD on the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse. It is intended that this policy apply to the whole force – civilians, contractors and the single Services. The review will also focus on the availability of accommodation for survivors, taking advice from the domestic abuse charity Standing Together. MOD intends to refresh and re-launch the policy towards the end of 2020.

The MOD continually monitors whole force data on domestic abuse for prevalence and risk factors – this has been of particular focus during the Covid-19 pandemic. This data is disseminated and discussed within the MOD Domestic Abuse Stakeholder Forum the Domestic Abuse Working Group (DAWG), which meets quarterly. The DAWG seeks advice and guidance from national domestic abuse charities like Hestia, Aurora New Dawn and the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse, resulting in continual policy improvement.

There is no statutory offence of ‘domestic abuse’ and actions amounting to it could be recorded under a number of offences such as Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), Actual Bodily Harm (ABH), Common Assault or sexual offences. Furthermore, within military police crime-recording systems, the categorisation of whether an incident involves ‘domestic violence’ or not, is not a mandatory field, meaning that the figures provided are indicative only.

The first document provided gives figures for the number of reported offences for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date where the incident has been categorised as involving domestic violence. The second document provided gives figures for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date, for the number of GBH, ABH, and Common Assault offences. The noble Lord should note that in both of the documents, the figures given are for reported offences – that is, to say an allegation has been made. These figures do not relate to charges brought or court convictions.

An average time cannot be given regarding the Chain of Command (CoC) reporting such incidents to the Service Police. Every case would require examination to determine when it was reported to the Service Police and not every investigation file may contain the date when an incident was originally reported to the CoC. Therefore, we would not be able to provide a complete answer and what we could provide could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However where reported to the CoC, any incident of domestic abuse must be reported to the Service Police no later than 24 hours after the incident has occurred. Further to this, a referral to the Welfare Service must be made in any situation involving domestic abuse or similar allegations.

Whilst there are no houses on the defence estate dedicated specifically for survivors of domestic abuse, support is provided through a suite of policies which seek to provide housing options for families in times of estrangement.

Short term accommodation for welfare or compassionate reasons is administered by Service welfare associations. Tri-Service accommodation policy requires the provision of welfare houses at each designated establishment, scaled to reflect density of Service population. Unit welfare staff, in conjunction with civilian police and local authorities assess whether utilisation of such are in the best interests of safeguarding abuse survivors, and may provide alternative accommodation (through local authority or charitable provision) if distance between perpetrator and survivor is required.

The MOD is currently reviewing the tri-service policy on domestic abuse with the help of leading charity Hestia, who sit alongside MOD on the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse. It is intended that this policy apply to the whole force – civilians, contractors and the single Services. The review will also focus on the availability of accommodation for survivors, taking advice from the domestic abuse charity Standing Together. MOD intends to refresh and re-launch the policy towards the end of 2020.

The MOD continually monitors whole force data on domestic abuse for prevalence and risk factors – this has been of particular focus during the Covid-19 pandemic. This data is disseminated and discussed within the MOD Domestic Abuse Stakeholder Forum the Domestic Abuse Working Group (DAWG), which meets quarterly. The DAWG seeks advice and guidance from national domestic abuse charities like Hestia, Aurora New Dawn and the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse, resulting in continual policy improvement.

Although it is not possible to provide the figures requested, the UK Armed Forces Families Strategy remains one of our priorities, setting the principles against which the Ministry of Defence (MOD) formulates policy; this acknowledges the challenges which mobility and separation present to family life, alongside the numerous positive aspects of Service life. Success is measured in satisfaction levels and improved outcomes for families, rather than in financial expenditure. In adhering to the principles of the strategy MOD has introduced flexible working, the Future Accommodation Model and is working across government, in the devolved administrations and the charitable sector to mitigate disadvantage in access to education and healthcare through the Armed Forces Covenant. £317 million has been provided by MOD to circa 21,000 families under the Forces Help to Buy Scheme - the current tranche of the scheme runs until December 2022 and we will actively look to extend this. This Government has committed to funding wrap around childcare for Armed Forces families, and recently announced the launch of a pilot programme beginning in September.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is a full member of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance; the Army act as the lead point of contact for MOD.

The MOD’s Suicide Prevention Working Group (now renamed as the Suicide Prevention Review Implementation Board (SPRIB)) was created in 2018 in response to an internal review on suicide within the Armed Forces. The first meeting took place on 13 November 2018, with the group meeting on three occasions in 2019 (March, May and September). The majority of recommendations were actioned within this time, yet further work was required on the key recommendation on the creation of a Defence Suicide Registry (DSR). To enable focus on this work, the SPRIB was paused until the DSR Project had completed its discovery phase, which concluded in March 2020, and the SPRIB will reconvene in the autumn.

Suicide rates in the UK Regular Armed Forces have shown a declining trend since the 1990’s, and for the last twenty years rates have been lower than the general population. The suicide rate among males aged 16-59 years in the UK between the general population in 2018 (latest data available) was 20 per 100,000 compared to a UK Armed Forces rate of 11 per 100,000 in 2018.

However, we are not complacent. One suicide is one too many and a tragedy for the individual, their family, friends and colleagues. The MOD and NHS(England) have jointly commissioned Manchester university to undertake a study into the factors which led to suicide for both serving and veteran personnel.

There is no statutory offence of ‘domestic abuse’ and actions amounting to it could be recorded under a number of offences such as Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), Actual Bodily Harm (ABH), Common Assault or sexual offences. Furthermore, within military police crime-recording systems, the categorisation of whether an incident involves ‘domestic violence’ or not, is not a mandatory field, meaning that the figures provided are indicative only.

The first document provided gives figures for the number of reported offences for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date where the incident has been categorised as involving domestic violence. The second document provided gives figures for each Service for the years 2015-2020 to date, for the number of GBH, ABH, and Common Assault offences. The noble Lord should note that in both of the documents, the figures given are for reported offences – that is, to say an allegation has been made. These figures do not relate to charges brought or court convictions.

An average time cannot be given regarding the Chain of Command (CoC) reporting such incidents to the Service Police. Every case would require examination to determine when it was reported to the Service Police and not every investigation file may contain the date when an incident was originally reported to the CoC. Therefore, we would not be able to provide a complete answer and what we could provide could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However where reported to the CoC, any incident of domestic abuse must be reported to the Service Police no later than 24 hours after the incident has occurred. Further to this, a referral to the Welfare Service must be made in any situation involving domestic abuse or similar allegations.

Whilst there are no houses on the defence estate dedicated specifically for survivors of domestic abuse, support is provided through a suite of policies which seek to provide housing options for families in times of estrangement.

Short term accommodation for welfare or compassionate reasons is administered by Service welfare associations. Tri-Service accommodation policy requires the provision of welfare houses at each designated establishment, scaled to reflect density of Service population. Unit welfare staff, in conjunction with civilian police and local authorities assess whether utilisation of such are in the best interests of safeguarding abuse survivors, and may provide alternative accommodation (through local authority or charitable provision) if distance between perpetrator and survivor is required.

The MOD is currently reviewing the tri-service policy on domestic abuse with the help of leading charity Hestia, who sit alongside MOD on the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse. It is intended that this policy apply to the whole force – civilians, contractors and the single Services. The review will also focus on the availability of accommodation for survivors, taking advice from the domestic abuse charity Standing Together. MOD intends to refresh and re-launch the policy towards the end of 2020.

The MOD continually monitors whole force data on domestic abuse for prevalence and risk factors – this has been of particular focus during the Covid-19 pandemic. This data is disseminated and discussed within the MOD Domestic Abuse Stakeholder Forum the Domestic Abuse Working Group (DAWG), which meets quarterly. The DAWG seeks advice and guidance from national domestic abuse charities like Hestia, Aurora New Dawn and the Employer’s Initiative on Domestic Abuse, resulting in continual policy improvement.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is a full member of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance; the Army act as the lead point of contact for MOD.

The MOD’s Suicide Prevention Working Group (now renamed as the Suicide Prevention Review Implementation Board (SPRIB)) was created in 2018 in response to an internal review on suicide within the Armed Forces. The first meeting took place on 13 November 2018, with the group meeting on three occasions in 2019 (March, May and September). The majority of recommendations were actioned within this time, yet further work was required on the key recommendation on the creation of a Defence Suicide Registry (DSR). To enable focus on this work, the SPRIB was paused until the DSR Project had completed its discovery phase, which concluded in March 2020, and the SPRIB will reconvene in the autumn.

Suicide rates in the UK Regular Armed Forces have shown a declining trend since the 1990’s, and for the last twenty years rates have been lower than the general population. The suicide rate among males aged 16-59 years in the UK between the general population in 2018 (latest data available) was 20 per 100,000 compared to a UK Armed Forces rate of 11 per 100,000 in 2018.

However, we are not complacent. One suicide is one too many and a tragedy for the individual, their family, friends and colleagues. The MOD and NHS(England) have jointly commissioned Manchester university to undertake a study into the factors which led to suicide for both serving and veteran personnel.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) are unable to answer the noble Lord’s question due to the way funding is tracked and division of policy areas. Defence have approached the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in military operations through a combination of dedicated training courses and specific modules added to existing training.

In support of the UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2018 – 2022, the MOD have issued a Joint Service Publication 1325; ‘Human Security in Military Operations’ supported by a two-week Human security Advisers Course. This provides an advanced understanding of Defence’s role in the prevention of sexual violence in conflict through; gendered approaches to planning and operations, appropriate response to survivors, and reporting mechanisms.

Tailored modules have also been embedded to routine training for; deploying peacekeepers, overseas capacity building for troop contributing countries, military planners, policy advisers, Defence Attachés and headquarters and units across the Royal Navy, the Army and the RAF at home and overseas.