Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the contribution made by the armed forces to humanitarian and international aid as an addition to the annual Official Development Assistance budget.
Answered by James Heappey
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) works closely with colleagues across Government to ensure humanitarian and international aid gets to the countries that need it.
The MOD supports the FCDO with its Official Development Assistance programme, facilitates the transportation of humanitarian aid to ODA-eligible countries and contributes to cross-government responses to humanitarian crises and natural disasters. This includes our response to natural disasters in the Caribbean region under Operation VENTUS, with a principle focus on support to UK Overseas Territories during the Caribbean Hurricane Season. Most recently in 2022, support has been provided in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the wake of Hurricane FIONA and in the Cayman Islands after Hurricane IAN.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 May 2021 to Question 327 on Armed Forces: Overseas Aid, what estimate has made of the total cost of the delivery of aid and relief efforts by the UK's armed forces in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.
Answered by James Heappey
Overseas aid provided through the Official Development Assistance (ODA) mechanism is reported in accordance with the calendar year rather than financial year, therefore, Defence had reported a spend of £6.08 million in 2019 and a provisional figure of £5.18 million has been reported in 2020. The expenditure for 2021 is still to be determined and will be published in 2022. The cost of Defence providing overseas relief in 2019-20 totalled £730,000 and £548,000 in 2020-21, however these figures do not include Defence's support to the COVID19 crisis overseas (Operation BROADSHARE), which to date is estimated to have cost £370,000. There may be other instances between 2019-2021 where Defence provided aid/relief, however these were not recorded centrally.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contribution the armed forces have made towards the delivery of humanitarian relief and other forms of overseas aid in the last three years.
Answered by James Heappey
Defence assets are regularly used to facilitate transport of UK emergency relief to countries impacted by natural disasters. The delivery of emergency aid to the Caribbean following Hurricanes Iota (2020) and Dorian (2019) and to Mozambique (2019) following Cyclone Idai are just few of many examples of the military's contribution to global disaster relief efforts.
In support to the FCDO's International aid programme, Official Development Assistance (ODA), Defence has also facilitated the transportation of humanitarian aid to ODA eligible countries, such as vital UK aid to refugees on the Turkey-Syria border in 2020.
British military overseas activity in response to COVID-19 falls under Operation Broadshare. Over the last year Defence has been vital in transporting vaccines and medical equipment to affected British overseas territories and UK overseas military bases. Defence continues to support the COVID response in other nations where appropriate.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has a single individual who is responsible for leading on his Department's application of the Family Test.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
The Ministry of Defence's (MOD) central Families' Policy branch monitors the development and implementation of policy to assess the impact on families, will oversee implementation of future strategy and continue to have overarching responsibility for MOD's application of the Family Test. Given the wide range of policies implemented across Defence each year, no single individual could be involved in each relevant submission or policy discussion. However, MOD does have a nominated Family Test lead who forms part of the cross-Government Family Test Network which is the central forum through which MOD has contributed to improvements to the existing guidance for officials in all Departments on Family Test implementation.
The Government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the policy decisions made by Ministers.
We recognise the vital role that Armed Forces' families play, and that operational capability relies on recognising the Service person as part of a wider family unit. This is why we launched the first ever UK Armed Forces Families' Strategy in 2016, which focuses and coordinates activity to support Service families. Priorities for this work include childcare, partner employment and accommodation, which have consistently remained areas of interest for both the Service Families' Federations and the Department.
A key component of the Families' Strategy is to ensure that Service families are considered in people policy development, supporting the principles outlined in the Family Test. This is achieved through consideration of the Service family as part of each relevant submission or policy discussion, and through regular engagement with the single Services and the three Families' Federations who represent the needs and views of Service families.
In acknowledgement of the unique circumstances of Service life and the challenges this can present modern families, in December 2018 former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson CBE MP commissioned Andrew Selous MP to conduct an independent review of the support provided to Service families. The independent review is expected to be published soon and will form the basis of the new Families Strategy for 2020 and beyond; as with the extant 2016 Strategy, the Government's Family Test will continue to be a critical tool for policy makers in applying the principles of the new strategy.