Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2024 to Question 6514 on Ministry of Defence: P&O Ferries, what the cost to the public purse was of payments made to (a) P&O Ferries and (b) DP World (i) for support of operational movement services, (ii) for business travel and (iii) on Government Procurement Cards in the period between 17 March 2022 and February 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Between 17 March 2022 and 26 February 2024, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) made payments of £710,388.88 directly with P&O using either physical or virtual GPC cards. This includes transactions by the National Movement Coordination Centre (Army). £182,307.89 was spent through GBT, the MOD's contracted travel management company, primarily for business travel.
There are no transactions recorded to DP World.
This is the total consolidated spend as we are unable to identify separately, transactions specifically for the support of operational movement services.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1933 on Ministry of Defence: P&O Ferries, if he will list the payments over £500 made from his Department to P&O Ferries in each financial year between 2018-19 and 2022-23.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Please find the information requested attached.
The data provided from the Ministry of Defence's contracted travel management company (GBT) goes back to April 2019. The data prior to this has been archived and is no longer accessible by the Department.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the procurement of P&O Ferries’ services by his Department.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
No recent discussions have taken place between myself and the Secretary of State for Transport concerning the Ministry of Defence's use of P&O Ferries' services.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 13 July 2023 to Question 193273 on Ministry of Defence: P&O Ferries, whether his Department's expenditure on P&O Ferries services between 17 March 2022 and 1 July 2023 were recorded in the departmental returns for expenditure over £500 using a government procurement card; and whether his Department used a government procurement card on (a) support of operational movement services or (b) business travel with P&O Ferries since 2 July 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
In accordance with Ministry of Defence (MOD) transparency policy, all GPC (Government Procurement Card) payments over £500 in value are published monthly on gov.uk; this includes any payments made to P&O.
Between 2 July 2023 and 15 November 2023, the MOD made payments of £91,449 directly with P&O using GPC cards primarily for freight movements (this includes operational and freight movements by the National Movement Coordination Centre (Army)), and a further £45,751 was spent through GBT, the MOD's contracted travel management company, primarily for business travel. Transactions over £500 are subject to the above transparency process.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 192709 on 10 July 2023, what was the cost to the public purse of payments made to P&O Ferries for (a) support of operational movement services and (b) business travel between 17 March 2022 and 1 July 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Between 17 March 2022 and 1 July 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) made payments of £425,166 directly with P&O using ePC cards primarily for freight movements (this includes operational and freight movements by the National Movement Coordination Centre (Army)), and a further £164,000 was spent through GBT, the MOD’s contracted travel management company, primarily for business travel.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department made any payments to P&O Ferries between 17 March 2022 and 1 July 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Ministry of Defence has made payments for the use of P&O Ferries services between 17 March 2022 and 1 July 2023 in support of operational movements and for business travel.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many cyber specialists are employed by the armed forces.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence recognises the importance of cyber specialists in the Armed Forces, and we are significantly growing the number of dedicated cyber experts to deliver cyber operations. This includes the Joint Cyber Reserve Unit, who are experts from industry and academia using world leading skills and experience to provide crucial support to our Armed Forces.
In addition, cyber is becoming an essential part of core military training. In January 2018, a dedicated state-of-the-art Defence Cyber School will open at Shrivenham, alongside the UK's Defence Academy; this will bring together all military joint cyber training to make it more efficient, and increase the amount of British troops who can be trained. We do not comment on the detail of our capability as a matter of national security.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many unpaid internships there are in his Department.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
There are no unpaid internships. The Civil Service runs the Summer Diversity Internship Programme, which is a two month placement and is paid. The Civil Service also runs the Early Diversity Internship Programme which is for a week only (and more akin to work experience) - it provides expenses to encourage applications and ensure there is no financial loss.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people employed in human resources roles in his Department have (a) prior experience and (b) qualifications in human resources.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Records of prior Human Resources (HR) experience and qualifications in HR, for people employed in HR roles in the Civil Service, are not held centrally within the Ministry of Defence. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what official contingency plans his Department had in place prior to the referendum result planning for the eventuality of a vote to leave the EU.
Answered by Julian Brazier
None.