Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria will be used to decide what material will be redacted from the Iraq Inquiry report during the national security checking process.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The following Departments will be involved in National Security checking: Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and the Intelligence Agencies.
National Security checking will ensure that the Government meets its obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights so that on publication the lives or safety of individuals are not put at risk. It will also ensure that publication of the report will not compromise national security.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is leading the team which will undertake the national security checking of the text of the Iraq Inquiry report.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The following Departments will be involved in National Security checking: Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and the Intelligence Agencies.
National Security checking will ensure that the Government meets its obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights so that on publication the lives or safety of individuals are not put at risk. It will also ensure that publication of the report will not compromise national security.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Departments are involved in the national security checking of the text of the Iraq Inquiry report.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The following Departments will be involved in National Security checking: Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and the Intelligence Agencies.
National Security checking will ensure that the Government meets its obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights so that on publication the lives or safety of individuals are not put at risk. It will also ensure that publication of the report will not compromise national security.
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 Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve children's dental health.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Department of Health is working with NHS England to test a contract focused on improving oral health, particularly in children. Public Health England has produced guidance to support local authorities in improving dental health, and to assist dental teams on preventing dental disease in young children. In last week’s budget we have announced the introduction of a sugar levy in 2018.
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 Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with social media firms on countering radicalisation.
Answered by John Hayes
Extremist and terrorist organisations, notably social media sites, are exploiting the internet to disseminate propaganda and recruit individuals to their groups or to support their aims. Some vulnerable individuals, including young people are being misled by this damaging propaganda.
We are working closely with responsible internet and social media companies to take robust action against terrorist and extremist material and safeguard users. Since 2010 over 140,000 pieces of terrorist-related material have been removed by industry from various online platforms at the request of the dedicated police Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Approximately 58,000 removals were made in 2015 alone.
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.