Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a comparative assessment of the provision of free accommodation to (a) British and (b) non-British nationals employed at Rosyth Naval Yard.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Rosyth Naval Yard was sold by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to Babcock International in 1997. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the MOD to comment on the provision of accommodation at this location as the current use of the site is a matter for Babcock International.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, what steps the Government is taking to assist Afghans who have themselves, or their family members, provided service to UK armed forces and who remain the country and face violence from the Taliban.
Answered by James Heappey
We owe a debt of gratitude to interpreters and other locally employed staff who risked their lives working alongside UK forces in Afghanistan and the Government has already supported more than 1,380 former Afghan staff and their families to create new lives in the UK.
The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) launched on 1 April 2021. It acknowledges and reflects the fact that the situation in Afghanistan has changed, and with it the potential risk to current and former locally employed staff who worked for the UK Government over the past twenty years.
Under the new policy, any current or former locally employed staff who are assessed to be under serious threat to life are offered priority relocation to the UK regardless of their employment status, rank or role, or length of time served. Locally Employed Staff who have worked in roles which could have exposed their identities and placed them at risk of reprisals as a result of their work for the UK Government are relocated to the UK by default at their request.
We are significantly accelerating the pace of relocations in parallel with the military withdrawal, but our commitment to those who are eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP), and the process to deliver it, is not time-limited and will endure.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what measurements he has made of the UK armed forces' carbon emissions for (a) 2015 and (b) any previous years for which data is held; and what plans the Government has to reduce UK military carbon emissions in response to the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Information on the UK Armed Forces' carbon emissions from 2009-10 to 2014-15 can be found in pages 11 and 12 of the Sustainable Ministry of Defence (MOD) Annual Report, using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447951/20150723-Sustainable_MOD_Annual_Report-internet-ver.pdf
The MOD continues to reduce carbon emissions as part of the Government's Greening Government commitments and the new targets are being developed for 2016-2020.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what amount was spent on the Trident nuclear weapons system as a proportion of UK GDP (a) across the lifetime of that system and (b) in each year of the Trident programme for which estimates for that spending have been made.
Answered by Michael Fallon
In line with the December 2006 White Paper, 'the Future of the UK's Nuclear Deterrent' (Cm 6994), we estimate the in-service costs of the deterrent are around 6% of the annual Defence budget.
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken in response to Recommendation 44 of the Gage Report into the death in custody of Baha Mousa.
Answered by Mark Francois
I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the Written Ministerial Statement of 27 March 2014, (Office Report,column 32WS),in which I explained that the Ministry of Defence have considered Sir William Gage’s recommendation but have not felt it necessary to modify further the existing inspection regime which already possesses the required levels of independence:
"As envisaged in recommendation 44 of the Inquiry’s report, the Department has given careful consideration to the possibility of an independent inspection of the UK’s Afghan detention facilities by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons. However, UK detention facilities in Afghanistan continue to be inspected by the Provost Marshal (Army) every six months, and annually by the Army Inspector; they are also visited regularly by the International Committee of the Red Cross to ensure compliance with International Humanitarian Law. On balance, we believe that this triple inspection regime is already fit for purpose and does not require further amendment."
Asked by: Nicholas Brown (Independent - Newcastle upon Tyne East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which organisations collect subscriptions through the employers' payroll service in his Department and its agencies.
Answered by Julian Brazier
The table details organisations that currently receive voluntary subscriptions via the Armed Forces and Ministry of Defence Civilian payrolls.
MOD CIVILIAN PAYROLL | ARMED FORCES PAYROLL |
AEA Recreational Society | 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards |
Alpha Healthclub | 9th/12th Royal Lancers |
AXA Sun Life Assurance Soc Ltd | ADAT (73,88 &Gurkha) |
Beneden Healthcare Soc | Adjutant General’s Corps |
Birmingham Hos Sat FD BHCA | Army Air Corps Fund |
Boscombe Down Death Ben Fund | Army Dependants Trust |
BUPA Mercia Health Benefits | Army Physical Training Corps Association |
Civil Service Benevolent Fund | Army Sports Lottery |
Civil Service Club | Coldstream Guards |
Civil Service Sports Council | Corps of Army Music |
Civil Service Sports Fund (NE) | Corps of Royal Electrical &Mechanical Engineers |
Clyde Sub Base Dependant Fund | Corps of Royal Engineers |
Combined Benefit Services | Forces Safeguard and Spouse |
CPAX Family | Give As You Earn |
CPAX Individual | Grenadier Guards |
DSRA Lottery | Gurkha Welfare Trust |
Forester Health BHCA | Intelligence Corps Association |
Give As You Earn | Irish Guards |
Health Scheme Hull | Military Provost Staff Corps Association |
Health Shield Hos Fnd BHCA | N-Trust |
Health sure Portfolio BHCA | PAX |
Hospital Saturday Fund | Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps |
HSA Health Insurance | RAF Benevolent Fund |
Leeds Hospital BHCA | RAF Dependants Fund |
Merseyside Health Ben BHCA | RAF DINCOME (Pre 90 & Post 90) |
Midland Society for the Blind | RAF Sports Lottery |
MOD Liverpool Rec Society | RM Corps OT CUI CSM Funds |
MOD Police Lottery | RN Charities |
PAT Aid Wolverhampton BHCA | RN Sports Lottery |
Police Mutual Society | Royal Army Chaplains Department |
Premier Health Benefits BHCA | Royal Army Dental Corps |
Prov Hos Serv Bedford BHCA | Royal Army Medical Corps |
Simply Health | Royal Army Veterinary Corps |
Sovereign Accident Plan | Royal Corps of Signals |
Sovereign Health Plan | Royal Military Police |
Stafford Civil Ben Fund | Royal Regiment of Artillery |
The Army Dependant’s Trust | Royal Tank Regiment |
TSB Portsmouth | Scots Guards |
TU Soc Dependant Fund Rosyth | Scottish Widows (Stakeholder’s Pension Scheme) |
UK CS Benefit Society | Small Arms School Corps Comrades Association |
Welsh Hosp Health Srv Assoc | Sodexho Childcare Vouchers |
West Prov Health Ser BHCA | Sterling Life Insurance |
Westfield Cont Health Schm | The Blues and Royals |
| The Cheshire Regiment |
Deductions to Trade Unions | The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment |
Defence Police Federation | The King’s Royal Hussars |
General Municipal Boilermakers and Allied Trades Trade Union | The Life Guards Association |
National Union of RMT workers | The Light Dragoons |
Public and Commercial Services Trade Union | The Mercian Regiment |
PROSPECT | The Parachute Regiment |
UNITE | The Princess of Wales’ Royal Regt |
Union of Construction and Allied trades and technicians | The Queen’s Royal Hussars |
| The Queen’s Royal Lancers |
| The Rifles |
| The Royal Anglian Regiment |
| The Royal Dragoon Guards |
| The Royal Irish Regiment |
| The Royal Logistic Corps |
| The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers |
| The Royal Regt of Scotland Regimental Assn |
| The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards |
| The Royal Welsh |
| The Staffordshire Regiment |
| The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters |
| The Yorkshire Regiment |
| Voluntary Sports Subscriptions |
| Welsh Guards |
Note: MOD Civilian Payroll subscriptions listed may not include all subscriptions made via all Agency and Trading Fund payrolls.