Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of state, what recent progress has been made on the delivery of the Defence Equipment Plan 2020; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
An update on the Equipment Plan was published in January 2021 but did not reflect the impact of the Spending Review and a £24 billion cash increase in the Defence Budget over four years. An updated Equipment Plan reflecting this increase in funding and the Defence Command Paper will be published in due course.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the full complement of Ajax vehicles is expected to be delivered to the Army.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to HCWS260, the written statement I laid in this House on Monday 6 September which provided a comprehensive update on the Armoured Cavalry (Ajax) programme.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress his Department has made on the Ajax programme.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement HCWS260 laid before this House on Monday 6 September 2021.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel suffered injury or illness as a result of testing Ajax vehicles; and how many and what proportion of those personnel are receiving ongoing treatment.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I take the right hon. and Hon. Member’s questions as being in relation to the recent reports of noise and vibration identified in the ongoing Ajax demonstration phase. As such I would refer you to HCWS260, the comprehensive written statement I laid before this House on Monday 6 September.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether all variants of the Ajax vehicles will have the capability to travel at the intended maximum speed of 40mph when they enter service.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
All variants of the Ajax vehicles are expected to be able to travel at speeds greater than 40mph when they enter service.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost of the Ajax programme is as at 22 July 2021; and what recent estimate his Department has made of that programme’s full cost at the point of completion.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As published in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority Annual Report and Transparency data in July 2021; the forecast 10 year programme cost of the Armoured Cavalry programme including Ajax is £6,354 million.
The bulk of the anticipated expenditure (£5.5bn) related to the contract with General Dynamics UK for the demonstration, manufacture, and initial support of Ajax. This is a firm price contract.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence,what estimate he has made of total cost of UK steel and steel products as a proportion of all steel procured by his Department in 2019.
Answered by James Heappey
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 January 2020 to Question 4322 to the hon. Member for Newport East (Ms Morden).
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the hon. Member for Blenau Gwent's oral contribution of 8 July 2019, Official Report, column 11, when the full-time trained strength target for the Army will be reached.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
As I said to the hon. Member on 8 July, it is difficult to put an exact date on when the Army will reach its full trade trained strength. However, the Army have a series of initiatives in place aimed at improving both recruitment and retention. These are starting to yield benefits but ensuring the Army is at the appropriate size requires sustained effort and investment. However, most importantly the Army continues to meet all of its operational commitments that keep Britain safe.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2019 to Question 57728 on Ministry of Defence: Iron and Steel, what information his Department holds on the derivation of steel and steel products procured by his Department in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold a central record of the origin of all steel used in defence equipment projects. This is because steel for our major programmes is mainly sourced by our prime contractors and the supply chains are complex.
The MOD does, however, collate some information about the origin of steel for projects with the largest steel requirements. This information can be found within the 'compliance with the steel procurement guidance' document at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/steel-public-procurement
The data was first published in January 2019 on GOV.UK and will be published annually in future.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK steel and steel products procured by his Department in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Ministry of Defence does not hold a central record of the origin of all steel used in defence equipment projects. This is because steel for our major programmes is mainly sourced by our prime contractors and the supply chains are complex.
UK suppliers have, however, made a significant contribution to the supply of steel for some of our largest defence equipment projects, including 88% of the structural steel for the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers and 50% of the value of the steel required for the Batch 1 Type 26 ships. The specialist nature of some of our steel requirements means that UK steel producers do not always have the capability to supply our programmes.
This Government is committed to creating the right conditions in the UK for a competitive and sustainable steel industry. It publishes its future pipeline for steel requirements, together with data on how Departments are complying with steel procurement guidance on:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/steel-public-procurement.
This enables UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for Government contracts.