Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of climate change on the counter-sonar capabilities of the continuous at sea deterrent.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy continuously monitors the potential impacts of climate related risks to ensure its equipment remains suitable for future operating parameters.
Whilst for security reasons I cannot go into detail regarding operational capabilities, I can confirm that Defence is committed to making preparations for the more extreme conditions that climate change may bring, in order to maintain operational advantage.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of climate change on anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy continuously monitors the potential impacts of climate related risks to ensure its equipment remains suitable for future operating parameters.
Whilst for security reasons I cannot go into detail regarding operational capabilities, I can confirm that Defence is committed to making preparations for the more extreme conditions that climate change may bring, in order to maintain operational advantage.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK has adequate ground-based surface-to-air defence capabilities to defend itself from potential medium- and long-range missile attacks.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
To complement the Air Defence already provided by the RAF’s Typhoon Force, Defence has committed funds in year to significantly enhance its Counter-Uncrewed Air Systems capabilities. The British Army, through its Land Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) Programme, plans to spend more than £3 billion over the next ten years modernising its GBAD, with substantial investment in scaling, extending, and integrating its Air Defence capability. Similarly, the Secretary of State has recently announced a £405 million upgrade to the Royal Navy’s Sea Viper Air Defence System that will enable it to defeat ballistic missile threats. Further detail on Defence’s plan for protecting the United Kingdom against attack from the skies can be found in the Defence Command Paper Refresh which was published on 18 July 2023.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on stationing non-UK nuclear weapons at UK military sites.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It remains longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at any given location.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will visit (a) RAF Cosford and (b) the RBSL Challenger 3 manufacturing facilities in (i) the Borough of Telford and Wrekin and (ii) Shropshire in 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I visited RBSL in Telford, Shropshire on 13 February 2024 to see both Boxer and Challenger 3 manufacturing facilities.
I understand that the Defence Secretary has responded to the hon. Member separately on his written invitation to visit both of these sites.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce the length of time between the (a) date that armed services personnel are informed by a medical board that they are unfit for service and (b) date of discharge.
Answered by James Heappey
The date that a Service person is due to be discharged is calculated on an individual basis, taking into consideration a number of factors, including entitlements to any remaining individual leave allowance, Resettlement Leave, Invaliding leave and Terminal Leave. If there are additional considerations, such as an extension to attend a recovery course, then a decision will be taken on a case-by-case basis.
There are no current plans to reduce the time between the date that a Service person is informed by a medical board that they are unfit for service, and the date of their discharge.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to increase the number of hours of training for armed forces personnel on the security risks of using private social media.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence does not have any plans to update military law regarding the use of social media by Armed Forces personnel.
Policy and guidance on the use of social media is set out in the MOD’s Acceptable Use Policy (JSP 740), which is available to all armed forces personnel. The MOD recognises the importance of educating personnel on the security risks of social media and runs both security awareness campaigns and online learning programs. The MOD has recently introduced new cyber security training for all personnel that includes a module on social media and will continue to use different communication means to reinforce the message.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he will take steps to update military law to ensure the secure use of social media by armed forces personnel.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence does not have any plans to update military law regarding the use of social media by Armed Forces personnel.
Policy and guidance on the use of social media is set out in the MOD’s Acceptable Use Policy (JSP 740), which is available to all armed forces personnel. The MOD recognises the importance of educating personnel on the security risks of social media and runs both security awareness campaigns and online learning programs. The MOD has recently introduced new cyber security training for all personnel that includes a module on social media and will continue to use different communication means to reinforce the message.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on implementing phase 2 of the roll-out of veterans' identity cards.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr Doogan) to Question 193995 on 18 July 2023.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to counter the potential threat from surveillance balloons over (a) the UK and (b) UK military bases.
Answered by James Heappey
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Deane to Questions 140020 and 140021 on 14 February 2023.