Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 9 February 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire regarding violence against women and girls, reference ZA58879.
Answered by Leo Docherty
My response was sent to the hon. Member on 26 April 2022. I apologise for the delay in responding. This was due to an administrative error.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on using the procurement for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s Fleet Solid Support Ships to support regional economic growth.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) frequently holds discussions with Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) including on using Defence spending to support the Government's Levelling-up Agenda.
This Government is acutely aware of the significant contribution to the economy by the shipbuilding enterprise. The National Shipbuilding Strategy recognises the economic value that naval shipbuilding brings to the UK through design, build, and the supply chain. Economic assessments are made on all major MOD procurements, including the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Fleet Solid Support Ship, in line with HMT's guidelines on value for money.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
If she will make an assessment of the sustainability of the UK defence aerospace sector.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The UK is at the forefront of the defence aerospace industry. The Ministry of Defence is continuing to invest in capability development of aerospace platforms, which will protect highly skilled jobs for many years to come.
The UK’s Combat Air Strategy, launched at the 2018 Farnborough International Air Show, sets out a clear way forward for preserving national advantage and choice in how our future Combat Air capability is delivered.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the quality of service provided by contracts outsourced by his Department.
Answered by Guto Bebb
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 23 April 2018 to Question 136457.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance of contractors for contracts outsourced by his Department.
Answered by Guto Bebb
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) regularly monitors the performance of all its contractors. This is carried out through robust monitoring of contract performance indicators and taking action as appropriate where standards are not met.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of the Institute of Naval Medicine developing a bespoke fitness assessment for the Ministry of Defence Police.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Institute of Naval Medicine determined options for a Ministry of Defence Police occupational fitness standard following a study undertaken during 2014. There are no current plans to commission any further work from the Institute of Naval Medicine on this matter.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the relevance of College of Policing fitness standards for Ministry of Defence Police officers.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence Police is committed to adopting national policing standards as set by the College of Policing in order to fulfil the Ministry of Defence requirement and to meet its agreed commitments to the national Strategic Armed Policing Reserve and Operation Temperer.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what due diligence his Department plans to undertake under the new General Service Respirator In Service Support contract before making a final decision on the preferred bidder.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The General Service Respirator competition, including tender assessment and contract negotiations, is being conducted in line with Departmental standards and policy.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to ensure that the General Service Respirator In Service Support contract stipulates that costs over those specified in the contract which are incurred by the company as a result of work to meet contractual obligations fall on that company and not on the public purse.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 4 December 2017 to Question 116351.
Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to ensure that the preferred bidder for the general service respirator provides assurance of the quality of the (a) acquisition of tooling for that product, (b) building and testing of assembly lines and production runs for that product, (c) testing of that product at Porton Down and (d) testing of that product by service personnel so that those personnel have confidence in those products.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Ministry of Defence will undertake full testing of the preferred bidder's proposal for General Service Respirators to ensure that manufacture, testing, supply, performance and quality standards match those of the current in-service equipment. This will include a range of measures to test all hybrid combinations to ensure that Armed Forces personnel are provided with the best equipment that is fit for purpose.