Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether HMS Queen Elizabeth remains on schedule to be handed over and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 2017.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The approved cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is £6.2 billion, as announced by the previous Defence Secretary on 6 November 2013 (Official Report, column 251). Whilst there are cost pressures, the Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with Industry to drive the programme to remain within the approved cost.
We expect the First of Class, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, to be accepted from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance in 2017 and, as reported in the NAO's Major Project Report 2015, the ship remains on schedule to enter service with the Royal Navy in February 2018. We remain on course to undertake Platform Sea Trials in 2017, commence Fixed Wing Flying Trials with the F35B Lightning II in 2018 and deliver Initial Operating Capability (Carrier Strike) in 2020.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the then Secretary of State for Defence of 6 November 2013, Official Report, column 291, whether the estimated build and commissioning costs of the two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers remains within the £6.2bn budget.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The approved cost of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is £6.2 billion, as announced by the previous Defence Secretary on 6 November 2013 (Official Report, column 251). Whilst there are cost pressures, the Ministry of Defence continues to work closely with Industry to drive the programme to remain within the approved cost.
We expect the First of Class, HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, to be accepted from the Aircraft Carrier Alliance in 2017 and, as reported in the NAO's Major Project Report 2015, the ship remains on schedule to enter service with the Royal Navy in February 2018. We remain on course to undertake Platform Sea Trials in 2017, commence Fixed Wing Flying Trials with the F35B Lightning II in 2018 and deliver Initial Operating Capability (Carrier Strike) in 2020.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK armed forces personnel are embedded in foreign armed forces; and with which forces such personnel are embedded.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement released by the Defence Secretary on 17 December 2015 (HCWS431) which details "UK service personnel embedded in another nations' armed forces, who are deployed on operations, together with those who work on operations in deployed coalition or single nation headquarters roles". It also explains that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) intends to publish details annually through the Department's Annual Report and Accounts (ARAC). The MOD will publish the latest version of its ARAC shortly which will include an update about embeds.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department has not provided substantive answers to written parliamentary questions by stating that disclosure of the information would likely prejudice the capability, effectiveness, or security of our Armed Forces or Allies in this parliamentary session.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Since the start of the 2015-16 session of Parliament to 17 March 2016, 47 written parliamentary questions (PQs) tabled to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) were not answered because disclosure would have been likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness, or security of our Armed Forces or Allies. This figure represents 2% of the total number of 2,318 PQs answered by the MOD during that period.
In 19 further PQs, only part of the answer was withheld so as to protect the capability, effectiveness, or security of our Armed Forces or Allies.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons his Department will not give a substantive answer to Parliamentary questions.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Ministers answer Parliamentary Questions in accordance with the Ministerial Code which states that:
"Ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament and the public, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with the relevant statutes and the Freedom of Information Act 2000".
In addition, Parliamentary Questions may not receive a substantive answer if the information requested is not held, if providing the answer to a written question would incur disproportionate cost, if the answer contains personal or confidential information which is not appropriate for publication or if it is not possible to respond in the time available before prorogation.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 10 March 2016, WS605, what impact assessment his Department carried out on its decision to disband air cadet gliding squadrons in Scotland before making that decision; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that decision on future RAF recruitment.
Answered by Julian Brazier
Across the UK, full consideration was given to the value of training opportunities, the revised geographic laydown and future volunteer opportunities for affected Volunteer Gliding Squadron (VGS) personnel.
Cadets from all Scottish cadet units will still have the opportunity to fly gliders, with an enlarged 661 VGS providing a regional hub. We also plan to increase Air Experience Flight fixed wing flying opportunities in Scotland in due course. The reorganisation of air cadet gliding will provide air cadets with a better overall opportunity, with the emphasis moving from air experience to flying training. It is anticipated that 661 VGS will remain at Kirknewton, although I cannot confirm this until the Ministry of Defence estate rationalisation concludes later in the year.
The reduced VGS footprint will allow resources to be focused on the remaining Squadrons. This will enable more suitable infrastructure to be built and maintained that supports the Air Cadet Organisation more fully. The key development across the estate over time will be to provide new overnight accommodation and training facilities that safely allows cadets and adult instructors over full residential weekends to carry out gliding alongside flying related ground training, improving access to both activities for those that are located further from VGS sites.
Volunteers at affected VGSs will be offered opportunities to fill other posts within the Air Cadet Organisation dependent upon their own transferable skills and their personal preferences.
The Air Cadet Organisation as a National Youth Organisation is not designed to be a recruiting institution for the RAF however it assists in aviation awareness and a proportion of military recruits are former air cadets. The resumption of gliding will support the regrowth of Air Cadet numbers and the reorganisation of the Flying Training offer will continue to provide an enhanced opportunity to our cadets. We therefore do not foresee any change in the proportion of RAF recruits that have enjoyed the opportunities that the Air Cadet Organisation offers.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions his Department has not provided substantive answers to written parliamentary questions on the grounds of national security since the start of the 2015-16 Session; and what proportion of such questions tabled to his Department that number represents.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Since the start of the 2015-16 session of Parliament to 9 March 2016, 17 written parliamentary questions (PQs) tabled to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) were not answered on the grounds of national security. This figure represents 0.7% of the total number of 2,273 PQs answered by the MOD during that period.
In seven further PQs, only part of the answer was withheld on national security grounds.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many incidents of loss of radar or command and control networks have been attributed to interference caused by electronic warfare devices in Syria since 1 December 2015.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I am withholding this information for reasons of operational security. The Coalition has appropriate air command and control (C2) and radar capabilities to allow RAF aircraft to operate in a safe and professional manner when conducting missions inside Syrian airspace.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many incidents there have been of the loss of radar or command and control networks since the inception of military action in Syria.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I am withholding this information for reasons of operational security. The Coalition has appropriate air command and control (C2) and radar capabilities to allow RAF aircraft to operate in a safe and professional manner when conducting missions inside Syrian airspace.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of integrating the Common Combat System onto Astute and Vanguard-class submarines.
Answered by Philip Dunne
I am withholding information on plans for fitting the Common Combat System (CCS) to Vanguard and Astute Class submarines for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
I am also witholding cost estimates for integrating the CCS onto the Astute and Vanguard-class submarines as to do so would prejudice commercial interests.