Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of Royal Navy training exercises abandoned in each year since 2019.
Answered by James Heappey
This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the practice of mindfulness among (a) serving armed forces staff, (b) reservists and (c) veterans.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2023 made a significant commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of all Defence Personnel. Its primary goal is to ensure that every member of the Defence community leads a healthy lifestyle in a supportive environment. Defence is dedicated to enhancing the overall health and wellbeing of our people. This includes promoting mental fitness and resilience and normalising time spent working on mental fitness, as with physical fitness, whilst embedding healthy habits.
Throughout their Service, members of the Armed Forces have access to a wide range of support to ensure their mental fitness and resilience is maximised and they are given opportunities to enhance their wellbeing. To support mindfulness, members of the Armed Forces, Regular and Reserve, and veterans have access to HeadFIT For Life, a mental fitness tool to support the whole force. HeadFIT is an externally accessible website that assists Defence personnel in developing a proactive approach to mental fitness. Its aim is to establish healthy habits that will help unlock potential, achieve personal goals, and reach optimal well-being.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts his Department's National Roadside Repair and Recovery Scheme received in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Financial Year (1 Apr – 31 Mar) | No of call-outs in UK | No of call-outs in Europe | No of call-outs in Morocco | TOTAL No of call-outs | TOTAL Cost (£) Ex VAT |
2015-16* | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | £687,578 |
2016-17 | 1828 | 38 | 0 | 1866 | £838,859 |
2017-18 | 1733 | 61 | 0 | 1794 | £664,748 |
2018-19 | 1695 | 54 | 1 | 1749 | £833,040 |
2019-20 | 1560 | 43 | 0 | 1603 | £783,401 |
2020-21 | 1195 | 5 | 0 | 1200 | £529,196 |
2021-22 | 1829 | 33 | 0 | 1862 | £1,053,663 |
2022-23 | 1506 | 62 | 0 | 1568 | £985,765 |
*Information on the number of call outs for Financial Year 2015-16 is not held.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the number of outstanding requests for records of deceased service personnel.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Across all three Services of the Armed Forces there is currently approximately a six month backlog of requests for Service records of deceased personnel. The administration work associated with officials providing these records, which are primarily in hardcopy, can only be undertaken if physically present in the office. This has been impacted by reduced staffing levels because of Government Covid-19 restrictions requiring social distancing, local Tier restrictions, and staff shielding. Additionally, there has been an increase in applications received during the lockdown periods in the last 12 months, which has further contributed to a backlog forming. It is anticipated that as soon as restrictions are lifted, in line with the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, the backlog should start to reduce.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to expedite requests for records of deceased service personnel during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Across all three Services of the Armed Forces there is currently approximately a six month backlog of requests for Service records of deceased personnel. The administration work associated with officials providing these records, which are primarily in hardcopy, can only be undertaken if physically present in the office. This has been impacted by reduced staffing levels because of Government Covid-19 restrictions requiring social distancing, local Tier restrictions, and staff shielding. Additionally, there has been an increase in applications received during the lockdown periods in the last 12 months, which has further contributed to a backlog forming. It is anticipated that as soon as restrictions are lifted, in line with the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, the backlog should start to reduce.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there is a backlog of requests for records of deceased service personnel.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Across all three Services of the Armed Forces there is currently approximately a six month backlog of requests for Service records of deceased personnel. The administration work associated with officials providing these records, which are primarily in hardcopy, can only be undertaken if physically present in the office. This has been impacted by reduced staffing levels because of Government Covid-19 restrictions requiring social distancing, local Tier restrictions, and staff shielding. Additionally, there has been an increase in applications received during the lockdown periods in the last 12 months, which has further contributed to a backlog forming. It is anticipated that as soon as restrictions are lifted, in line with the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, the backlog should start to reduce.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many active-duty military deaths there have been by suicide from 1990 to date.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Between 1990 and 2020 (latest data available), there have been 683 coroner confirmed suicides in the regular Armed Forces, the annual numbers have been presented in the Table.
Table: UK regular Armed Forces suicide and open verdict deaths by year, numbers
1990-2020
Year All Coroner confirmed suicides
All 683
1990 50
1991 48
1992 37
1993 43
1994 34
1995 43
1996 32
1997 26
1998 19
1999 30
2000 37
2001 16
2002 15
2003 25
2004 20
2005 22
2006 12
2007 10
2008 10
2009 15
2010 7
2011 15
2012 20
2013 9
2014 10
2015 8
2016 13
2017 16
2018 17
2019 15
2020 9
Source: Defence Statistics Health
1 Figures are for regular personnel and only those reservists who have died whilst on operational deployment. Figures include male and female personnel.
The latest statistics have been published on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-suicide-and-open-verdict-deaths-index
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 23 November 2020 to Question 116426 on Armed Forces: Charities, if he will correct his answer to that Question.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The correct response to the hon. Member's Question (116426) was submitted on 24 November 2020.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide additional financial support for armed forces charities during the (a) autumn 2020 and covid-19 lockdown and (b) regional covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government has been proactive in providing support to the charity sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) in the Cabinet Office have played a leading role in this effort by providing £6 million in funding for the Armed Forces community, through the COVID Impact Fund. The MOD and OVA work in partnership with Service charities to deliver support where needed and for the most vulnerable and have been working closely with them throughout the pandemic to ensure the important help and support they provide remains available to veterans.
The Government has pledged £750 million to ensure voluntary community and social enterprise organisations can continue their vital work supporting the country during the coronavirus outbreak including £200 million for the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, along with an additional £150 million from dormant bank and building society accounts. This fund also includes £60 million for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to support thousands of charities on the frontline helping people affected by COVID-19. Other pre-existing funding streams are available to Armed Forces charities, including through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund, to which the Government provides £10 million annually. The Trust runs frequent and regularly updated funding streams for the Armed Forces Community for projects across the UK.
Charities also have access to other support packages made available by HM Treasury, including the Business Loan Interruption scheme and the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme. An overview of Government financial support for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19.
The Government continues to monitor the financial health of charities and regularly meets with charities and their representative bodies to ensure that their views are heard and understood.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2020 to Question 114088, when he plans to publish Danuta Gray's review into progress implementing the recommendations of the Wigston Review.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Ministry of Defence intends to publish Danuta Gray's review and its response by the end of the year.