Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of pension inequality among armed forces veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Pension schemes develop over time in response to changing circumstances, but the Armed Forces Pension Schemes are designed to be generous, fair and equitable. It is a principle of public service pensions policy, upheld by successive Governments, that improvements to public service pension schemes should not be applied retrospectively.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the strength of (a) Pakistan's and (b) Israel's nuclear arsenal.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The hon. Member’s question is a matter for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether military equipment supplied by the UK has been used by Turkey in Syria.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The UK does not undertake end-use monitoring of controlled items that have been exported. Our current approach is to focus on a rigorous forward looking risk assessment before a licence is issued and to consider whether goods might be used in a way which is inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2022 to Question 100622 on Children: Maintenance, how many deduction of earning requests made by the Child Maintenance Service have been declined by Defence Business Services in the financial year 2020-21; and what the reasons for those requests being declined were.
Answered by Leo Docherty
In financial year 2020-21 a total of 554 deduction of earning requests were received from the Child Maintenance Service for Service personnel; of these, 142 could not be processed. The reasons for the rejections were:
No. of Rejections | Reason for Rejection |
118 | A deduction of earning order was issued, rather than a deduction of earning request |
15 | Service person had been discharged |
3 | Service person was a reservist |
1 | Service Person not in receipt of pay |
4 | Service person in Operational Zone |
1 | Request addressed to a Service person directly and not to Defence Business Services |
For Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian staff, the number of deductions of earning orders declined is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost, however, a deduction of earning order would only be rejected if an individual was no longer employed by the MOD or if they were in receipt of insufficient earnings to meet the request.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to replace real bearskins with faux fur in attire worn by service personnel.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided to Question 87697 answered on 14 December 2021.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many deduction of earning requests made by the Child Maintenance Service have been declined by Defence Business Services in the last five years; and what the reasons for those requests being declined were.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Since January 2017 to 12 January 2022 a total of 3,456 deduction of earning requests were received from the Child Maintenance Service for Service personnel; of these, 668 could not be processed. The reasons for the rejections were:
No. of Rejections | Reason for Rejection |
394 | A deduction of earning order was issued, rather than a deduction of earning request |
144 | Service person had been discharged |
88 | Service person was a reservist |
20 | No trace of individual |
10 | Service Person not in receipt of pay |
8 | Service person in Operational Zone |
4 | Request addressed to a Service person directly and not to Defence Business Services |
For MOD civilian staff, the number of deductions of earning orders declined is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost, however, a deduction of earning order would only be rejected if an individual was no longer employed by the MOD or if they were in receipt of insufficient earnings to meet the request.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the quality of the new faux bear fur that has been manufactured as an alternative to real bear fur to make the Queen’s Guard’s caps; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Our analysis of recent tests conducted on a fake fur fabric commissioned by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), showed it met one of the five requirements to be considered as a viable alternative for ceremonial caps. Whilst it met the basic standard for water absorption, it showed unacceptable rates of water shedding and performed poorly on the visual assessment. As the man-made fur sadly didn't meet the standards required for a ceremonial cap which is worn throughout the year and in all weathers, the Ministry of Defence has no plans to take this man-made fabric forward.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list all the Chiefs of the Defence staff that attended the Sultan's Privy Council in Oman while serving in the UK. UK.military.
Answered by James Heappey
I can confirm the following Chiefs of Defence Staff have attended the Oman Privy Council whilst serving in the UK military:
Gen Sir Charles Guthrie GCB LVO OBE ADC Gen
Gen Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB CBE ADC Gen
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach GBE KCB ADC Gen
Gen Sir Nick Carter GCB CBE DSO ADC Gen
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2021 to Question 134500, on Saudi Arabia: Training, if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) dates between which the training covered by these funds took place, (b) locations where that training took place and (c) names of each course provided to the (i) Royal Saudi Air Force, (ii) Royal Saudi Land Forces, (iii) Royal Saudi Naval Forces, (iv) Border Guard, (v) Saudi Arabia National Guard, (vi) Joint Incident Assessment, (vii) Security Forces and (viii) Joint Forces Command.
Answered by James Heappey
I am withholding the information as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another state.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Deposited Paper DEP2020-0835 committed on 9 December 2020, which Saudi bodies and/or units have benefited from training funded by the streams referred to in that paper during each financial year since 2016-17.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK Armed Forces provides training to security partners internationally and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one such partner. Pursuant to the funding streams mentioned in Deposited Paper DEP2020-0835 committed on 9 December 2020, we have provided training advice and assistance to the Royal Saudi Air Force, Royal Saudi Land Forces, Royal Saudi Naval Forces, Border Guard, Saudi Arabia National Guard, Joint Incident Assessment, Security Forces and Joint Forces Command. Unfortunately, we do not hold sufficient information to detail this by financial year.