Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Written Answer of 26 September 2016, HL 1779, whether Joint Doctrine Publication 0-30.2, entitled The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, will address the conclusions and recommendations of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Second Report of Session 2015-16, the Government's policy on the use of drones for targeted killing, HC 574, published on 10 May 2016.
Answered by Mike Penning
In the Government's response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights 4th Report The Government's policy on the use of drones for targeted killing, the Secretary of State for Defence made clear during his evidence session, the Government does not have a 'policy on targeted killing'. Rather it has a policy to defend the UK and its citizens against threats to their security.
The Government takes the view that the existing legal frameworks, including both applicable international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) are adequate to govern the use of Remotely Piloted Air Systems and, therefore, that there is no need to develop a special regime for the use of these weapons.
All doctrine produced by the Ministry of Defence's Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre is subject to legal review. The current draft of JDP 0-30.2 is no exception and it is compliant with the UK's legal and policy framework that regulates the use of unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft systems.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on the issuing of compensation of ex gratia payments to civilians killed or injured by UK airstrikes.
Answered by Mike Penning
The Ministry of Defence normally pays compensation only where it accepts that it is or might be held legally liable for the harm in question. These payments are distinguished from ex gratia payments, which require the consent of HM Treasury. In the special circumstances of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan HM Treasury authorised the Department to make ex gratia payments in theatre in appropriate circumstances to nationals of those countries who had suffered harm or damage as a result of UK military activities: information on such payments was published annually. No such authorisations are currently in force, and any proposal to make ex gratia compensation payments to civilians killed or injured by UK airstrikes would require HM Treasury approval on an exceptional basis. There are currently no such proposals.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will investigate for what reasons military helicopters flying over Manchester on 27 October 2016 did so without running lights; and what communications were made between the Royal Air Force and Manchester City Council on that exercise.
Answered by Mike Penning
We have no record of Military helicopters flying over Manchester on 27 October 2016.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many helicopters flew over properties in Manchester on 26 October 2016 as part of a military exercise.
Answered by Mike Penning
On 26 October 2016 two Puma helicopters flew over Manchester as part of routine military activity. All processes were followed.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution of 7 November 2016, Official Report, column 1240, whether he plans to discuss the Coalition policy on investigating civilian casualties at the meeting of the counter-Daesh coalition to be chaired by the UK in London in December 2016.
Answered by Mike Penning
The UK policy remains that we will carry out an investigation in any case where there is credible evidence of possible civilian casualties. There are no plans to discuss an overarching Coalition policy on investigating civilian casualties at the counter-Daesh Coalition meeting which is to be held in London in December 2016.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2016 to Question 43260, what progress has been made on the development of Coalition policy on investigating civilian casualties.
Answered by Mike Penning
While the Coalition continues to consider the need for a joint policy on investigating civilian casualties, the position remains as set out in my Answer of 26 July. The UK, as with other Coalition nations, will investigate allegations of civilian casualties according to its national methodology.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-executive directors of his Department who were in post before May 2015 have since left the Department's board; what the names and length of tenure of such directors were; and how many and what non-executive director appointments he has made since May 2010.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
None of the non-executive directors in post prior to May 2015 have since left the Department's Defence Board.
Since May 2010 there has been one extension and four new appointments to the Defence Board by the Secretary of State for Defence:
Mrs Priscilla Vacassin - Defence Board Non-Executive Director (extended in post in 2010).
Sir Gerry Grimstone - Lead Non-Executive Director for the Ministry of Defence.
Mr Graham Williams - Defence Board Non-Executive Director.
Mr Paul Skinner - Defence Board Non-Executive Director.
Mrs Danuta Gray - Defence Board Non-Executive Director.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many recruitment and employment agencies his Department has used to source staff in each year since 2010-11.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The attached table lists the primary companies from which the Ministry of Defence obtains staff. These contractors will occasionally use second-tier suppliers, details of which are not held centrally by the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultants, (b) temporary staff and (c) contingent labour in each of the last five years; how many people have been so employed; what the length of contract of each such person was; and what equivalent civil service salary band each was on.
Answered by Anna Soubry
Ministry of Defence (MOD) expenditure on consultancy and non-permanent staff has been as follows:
Category | Expenditure 2009-10 (£ million) | 2010-11 (£ million) | 2011-12 (£ million) | 2012-13 (£ million) | 2013-14 (£ million) |
Advisory Consultancy | 64.8 | 23.5 | 18.3 | 44.5 | 87.9 |
Contingent Labour | 74.6 | 46.9 | 26.1 | 50.3 | 68.6 |
Fee Earners | 1.0 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
Casual Staff | 13.3 | 7.3 | 4.4 | 7.9 | 5.9 |
The numbers of non-permanent staff (headcount) engaged during any given financial year have been as follows:
Category | Numbers Engaged 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
Advisory Consultancy | Note (1) | Note (1) | Note (1) | Note (1) | Note (1) |
Contingent Labour Note (2) | 1,815 | 1,175 | 3,171 | 4,021 | 5,632 |
Fee Earners Note (3) | Note (3) | Note (3) | Note (3) | Note (3) | Note (3) |
Casual Staff Note (4) | 708 | 292 | 148 | 274 | 296 |
Notes:
(1) The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. We contract for consultancy work on the basis that the provider delivers a defined output at an agreed price rather than a specific individual or individuals whose remuneration is a matter for the service provider.
(2) Contingent Labour (also known as Manpower Substitution) is generally engaged on a temporary basis to fill vacant, funded posts until recruitment action is taken to appoint a salaried permanent member of staff. Included in this category are temporary admin and clerical workers, interim managers, and specialist contractors (in finance, HR, IT and other functions). We do not currently record numbers engaged for Contingent Labour sourced locally, so the statistics given are not directly comparable with the associated costs.
(3) The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. This information will, however, be recorded centrally from 2014-15. Fee earners are engaged for a temporary period to provide a particular service or specialist skill; they are paid an agreed fee for their work.
(4) Casual staff are engaged for a short-term period to undertake tasks that are one off or irregular and cannot be done by the permanent workforce or where the job requires expertise not readily available from within the permanent workforce.
Information on the average length of contracts and salary band equivalency could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
We seek to strike the best balance between what we resource internally and what we resource through external appointments; so, where we do contract for private-sector support, it must be fully justifiable and provide value for money to the taxpayer. It does not make economic sense for us to maintain all the specialist skills we need permanently in-house, and access to some level of private-sector expertise is consequently of enduring value to us. This is particularly the case at present, as we are going through a period of fundamental change in the way we do our business in response to the Levene reforms. As a result, we have needed in the short term to bring in specialist skills which cannot be found among the permanent workforce.
We are also keen to benefit from external expertise through skills-transfer to our own staff. This helps to make us more self-reliant and resilient in the longer term.
Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) fraud and (b) financial error in (i) his Department, (ii) its executive agencies and (iii) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Fallon
Before 2012-13 fraud data was published within the HM Treasury Fraud Report or estimated in the National Fraud Authority Annual Fraud Indicators. From 2012-13, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has reported figures on fraud to the Cabinet Office as part of the Quarterly Data Summary returns for Central Departments and all Arms Length Bodies who receive over £100 million public funding a year. The MOD reported the figures for detected fraud within the Department to be £13.2 million in 2012-13 and £4.1 million in 2013-14. In 2011 this Government established the Fraud, Error and Debt Taskforce to develop and coordinate the delivery of initiatives across Government as previously no systematic attempt had been made. It has achieved significant improvements, including the appointment, at Departmental board level, of an accountable individual with responsibility for identifying and reducing fraud and error losses in their Department. | |||||||