Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
What recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Ukrainian defence against Russian forces.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Ukrainian forces remain tenacious and have inflicted heavy losses in their defence against Russia’s illegal invasion. Its forces are better equipped, trained and have higher morale than their often tactically inept and incompetent enemy. Pressure by Ukrainian forces made Russia’s occupation of the west side of the Dnipro River untenable, whereas Russian forces have only made incremental and costly gains against Ukrainian defences in the Donbas.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Armed Forces Families Strategy.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Government recognises the critical role that families play in support of Service personnel. The new 10-year Strategy provides a framework for the Nations of the UK, service providers, and other sectors to improve outcomes for families, and strengthen operational effectiveness.
Progress is assessed quarterly against an Action Plan, published on GOV.UK. Formal reports are provided to the Defence Secretary biannually and updates are included in the Covenant Annual Report, providing an opportunity for external scrutiny.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces veterans in Clwyd South constituency are in receipt of funds from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme came into force on 6 April 2005 to pay compensation for injury, illness or death attributable to Service that occurred on or after that date. It replaced the previous compensation arrangements provided by the War Pensions Scheme and the attributable elements of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Pensions Scheme. Tax-free lump sum awards are paid to all Service personnel and veterans as compensation for pain and suffering for an injury or illness that is predominantly caused or made worse by Service. Where a lump sum award has been made at tariff levels 1-11 (reflecting a more serious injury/illness), the claimant will also be awarded a tax-free index-linked income stream known as a Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP). A GIP will be paid from service termination for life to recognise long-term loss of earnings.
The most recent statistics on the number of armed forces pension and compensation recipients by Parliamentary constituency is published on the Gov.uk website and can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/location-of-armed-forces-pension-and-compensation-recipients-2019
A further update will be published in August 2020.
Asked by: Simon Baynes (Conservative - Clwyd South)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to support Government procurement during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministry of Defence is utilising its considerable acquisition and commercial expertise to support the wider national effort against Covid-19 through providing a range of procurement, supply chain management and logistics advice across Government. The Department has also been closely liaising with its own suppliers.