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Written Question
Hybrid Warfare
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help improve the UK's (a) awareness of and (b) responses to hybrid threats.

Answered by James Heappey

State or hybrid threats prevent a real and evolving risk to the UK which can manifest in a wide range of forms. The activities of Ministry of Defence to counter state threats are fully integrated with HMG's overall approach, which is co-ordinated by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office. The Ministry of Defence is investing significant time, resources and personnel to improve our capacity and capability to respond. We are enhancing integration across Defence and wider Government, as well as with allies, partners, and industry to respond to these threats effectively. We will continue to improve our understanding of current and potential threats, learn and share lessons in combatting them, and identify areas for cooperation, deconfliction and burden-sharing.

Written Question
Africa: Armed Forces
Monday 1st March 2021

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2021 to Question 152536 on Africa: Armed Forces, which branches the personnel trained from (a) Nigeria and (b) Uganda came from in their respective armed forces.

Answered by James Heappey

We have trained military personnel from the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, and Nigerian Navy, and from the Ugandan Army, Ugandan Air Force, and Ugandan Marines.

Written Question
Armed Forces: Foreign Nationals
Monday 22nd February 2021

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Foreign and Commonwealth personnel are serving in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force, (c) Royal Navy, (d) Royal Marines, broken down by (i) regular and (ii) reserve status.

Answered by James Heappey

Data as at 1 October 2020 for the Regular trained strength and Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) are provided in the table below.

Royal Navy

Royal Marines

Army

Royal Air Force

Regular

FR20

Regular

FR20

Regular

FR20

Regular

FR20

Commonwealth

570

10

110

10

3,880

140

120

20

Nepalese

10

-

~

~

590

60

10

-

Irish

30

10

20

~

410

130

20

10

The Brigade of Gurkhas are not part of the Regular strength of the Army. However, as of 1 October 2020, their trained strength was 3,740.

Notes/Caveats

  1. Nationality is as recorded on the Joint Administration System (JPA).
  2. Nationality is defined by that currently recorded, however this may differ from their Nationality on entry. For example, some Foreign and Commonwealth entrants may have subsequently changed their Nationality to British and will therefore not be included in the above table.
  3. "~" denotes fewer than 5. "-" denotes zero
  4. Nepalese citizens are former Gurkhas who have either transferred out of the Brigade of Gurkhas to serve in the wider Armed Forces or have joined the Reserves on discharge.
Written Question
Kenya: Military Exercises
Monday 22nd February 2021

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which variant of covid-19 has been identified in the UK forces personnel that have tested positive for that disease at the BATIK training centre in Kenya.

Answered by James Heappey

Information on the variant of COVID-19 is not available.

Written Question
Africa: Armed Forces
Monday 22nd February 2021

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2021 to Question 149770 on Africa: Armed Forces, how many armed forces personnel the UK trained from those countries listed in that Answer in (a) their country of origin and (b) a third country other than the UK.

Answered by James Heappey

Since 2017/18 we have provided training places on UK-based courses to six military personnel from Ethiopia, 51 from Ghana, 14 from Mali, 244 from Nigeria, one from Somalia, 26 from South Africa, two from Tanzania, and 28 from Uganda. At this time we are unable to provide data on training delivered overseas because records are not centralised.

Written Question
Africa: Armed Forces
Monday 22nd February 2021

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2021 to Question 149770 on Africa: Armed Forces, if he publish the number of those training places provided by the country of origin of those armed forces personnel.

Answered by James Heappey

Since 2017/18 we have provided training places on UK-based courses to six military personnel from Ethiopia, 51 from Ghana, 14 from Mali, 244 from Nigeria, one from Somalia, 26 from South Africa, two from Tanzania, and 28 from Uganda. At this time we are unable to provide data on training delivered overseas because records are not centralised.

Written Question
Army: Foreign Nationals
Monday 22nd February 2021

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Foreign and Commonwealth personnel there are in the (a) Welsh Guards, (b) 1 and 3 Royal Welsh, (c) Queens Dragoon Guards and (d) 1 Rifles; and how many of those personnel in each of those categories have (i) regular and (ii) reserve status.

Answered by James Heappey

Trade Trained Regular and Trained FR20 Reserve Foreign and Commonwealth Personnel by Regiment/Battalion as at 1st October 2020

Regiment/Battalion (4)

TotalRegularFR20 Reserve
The Queen's Dragoon Guards2020-
1st Battalion Welsh Guards2525-
1st Battalion The Royal Welsh7070-
3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh~~~
1st Battallion The Rifles3030-


Notes/Caveats:

  1. The figures are for Trade Trained Regulars and Trained FR20 Reserves only.
  2. These figures represent only the requested Regiments/Battalions.
  3. This breakdown includes only those members of the Regiment/Battalion serving at Regimental Duty.
  4. These figures include any Attached Arms serving in the Regiment/Battalion including non-Combat personnel, eg Chaplains & clerks.
  5. Nationality is as recorded on the Joint Administration System (JPA).
  6. Nationality is defined by that currently recorded, however this may differ from their Nationality on entry. For example, some Foreign and Commonwealth entrants may have subsequently changed their Nationality to British and will therefore not be included in the above table.
  7. The cohort of Officers with a Paid Rank of Colonel and above are recorded as STAFF and have been excluded from these figures.
  8. The data have been rounded to the nearest 5 to limit disclosure and ensure confidentiality.
  9. "~" denotes fewer than 5. "-" denotes zero
Written Question
Africa: Armed Forces
Wednesday 10th February 2021

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel from (a) Ghana, (b) Uganda, (c) Ethiopia, (d) Tanzania, (e) Somalia, (f) Nigeria, (g) South Africa and (h) Mali trained at a defence establishment in the UK in each of the last three years, broken down by (i) institution and (jii) branch of service.

Answered by James Heappey

We are proud of the UK’s record of assisting African militaries to improve professional standards, fight terrorism, contribute to UN peacekeeping missions, and promote democratic accountability.

Since 2017-2018 we have provided a total of 372 training places to military personnel from Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Of these 372 training places, 271 were provided by the British Army, 25 by the Royal Air Force, and 76 by the Royal Navy. Of the 372 training places, 21 were provided by the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 24 by the Royal College of Defence Studies, 13 by RAF Cranwell, 68 by the Defence Academy, and 10 by the Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth.

Written Question
Conservative Party: Photographs and Video Recordings
Tuesday 1st October 2019

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times (a) photographers and (b) videos produced by the (i) Ministry of Defence, (ii) No.10, (iii) Government Communications Service, (iv) Armed Forces personnel and (v) an external agency contracted to one of those were provided to the Conservative Party for their use in the last six months; and what payments were made for that service.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

No Ministry of Defence photographs or videos are provided to any political party. A range of photographs and videos are free to download on the Defence Imagery Database at the following address:

http://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/fotoweb/

Information for No 10, Government Communications Service and external agencies are not held by the Department.

Written Question
Armed Forces: Proscribed Organisations and Radicalism
Thursday 29th November 2018

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the British armed forces have been (a) subject to service discipline at any level, (b) dismissed and (c) prosecuted for having links to far-right extremist groups or proscribed organisations.

Answered by Tobias Ellwood

Extremist ideology is completely at odds with the values and ethos of the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces have robust measures in place to ensure those exhibiting extremist views are neither tolerated nor permitted to serve. Service discipline/administrative action taken at any level against these actions is not held in the format requested.

Following a trial in Birmingham Crown Court a serving soldier was convicted of committing terrorism offences related to membership of a proscribed organisation and sentenced to eight years imprisonment. A second soldier was found not guilty.

Any Service person receiving a sentence of imprisonment can expect to be discharged. Those who have fallen short of the Armed Forces' high standards are dealt with administratively, which may include their discharge.