Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the origin of (a) munitions and (b) hardware used by the Israel Defence Force in the drone strikes that killed World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza on 1 April 2024.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Government is carefully reviewing Israel’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM)’s initial findings of their investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. The findings of the investigation must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
We continue to monitor the situation in Israel and Gaza closely but are not commenting on specific licences.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether armed forces personnel have been deployed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty
No UK Armed Forces personnel have been on the ground in Gaza in any capacity since 7 October 2023.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the purpose of UK military flights travelling to Israel since 7 October 2023 has been.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Royal Air Force operated planes travelling to Israel since 7 October 2023 have been used by Ministers, officials and UK Armed Forces personnel conducting diplomatic and defence engagement, and to transport life-saving medical supplies.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Air Force flights have travelled to Israel (a) since October 7 2023 and (b) between October 2022 and October 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty
There have been 59 Royal Air Force aircraft that have travelled to Israel from 7 October 2023 to 9 May 2024. There were 15 Royal Air Force flights to Israel from October 2022 to October 2023.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government has sold arms to Israel since 1 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The UK government has not sold arms to Israel since 1 April 2024.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many gas safety certificates in Service Accommodation have (a) been approved and (b) remain unapproved as of 28 June 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
As at 28 June 2023 44,089 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) homes which have a mains gas supply (98.6%) have a valid gas safety certificate and 642 do not, of which 311 are occupied SFA properties.
The statutory requirement to conduct a Landlord’s Gas Safety Inspection and to provide a certificate only applies where a home is occupied.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much fuel is consumed in an average half-hour flight in a Typhoon; and how much that fuel costs.
Answered by Alex Chalk
Fuel usage and costs are not recorded on a per hour or per flight basis. Actual fuel usage is dependent upon a wide range of variables including aircraft weight, sortie type and length, weather and power use. Fuel costs also vary greatly dependent on the source of the fuel and more than one method of fuelling can be used for any given flight hour. For example, baseline fuels costs will vastly differ between Ministry of Defence (MOD) bulk fuel contracts, or commercial rates with fuel suppliers when visiting non-MOD aerodromes, or receiving Air-to-Air Refuelling support from RAF tanker aircraft and those of Partner Nations.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the value of the (a) non-military and (b) non-lethal aid provided by the Government to the Ukrainian government.
Answered by James Heappey
The UK has committed £220 million of non-military humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and the region. A review of humanitarian spend will be published in late 2023.
The government has committed £2.3 billion in military aid to support Ukraine and wider operational activity in the region. This includes £1.9 billion of rapid procurement which is a combination of both lethal and non-lethal aid. It would not be appropriate to provide a breakdown of spending for live operational activity at this time.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ajax vehicles are unusable because they are awaiting the outcome of testing.
Answered by Alex Chalk
General Dynamics Land Systems (UK) completed 41 vehicle production runs in 2022. This included a mix of newly produced vehicles (19) and an uplift of earlier build standard vehicles (22). Some of these vehicles will support Reliability Growth Trials and ongoing Verification and Validation testing of the integrated vehicle.
The use of vehicles held by the Ministry of Defence is limited to specific activities, for example for maintenance purposes, in accordance with strict safety restrictions. The exception is for those vehicles being used under specific safety controls for trials and Verification and Validation testing and that have had the noise and vibration modifications incorporated.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ajax vehicles have been manufactured and completed in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Chalk
General Dynamics Land Systems (UK) completed 41 vehicle production runs in 2022. This included a mix of newly produced vehicles (19) and an uplift of earlier build standard vehicles (22). Some of these vehicles will support Reliability Growth Trials and ongoing Verification and Validation testing of the integrated vehicle.
The use of vehicles held by the Ministry of Defence is limited to specific activities, for example for maintenance purposes, in accordance with strict safety restrictions. The exception is for those vehicles being used under specific safety controls for trials and Verification and Validation testing and that have had the noise and vibration modifications incorporated.