Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the role is of the five additional UK Royal Naval vessels situated in the Baltic.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Royal Navy routinely allocates vessels to NATO's Standing Maritime Groups and Standing Countermeasures Groups, which are multinational, integrated maritime forces permanently available to NATO to perform tasks ranging from participating in exercises to intervention missions.
This year the UK's contribution consists of: three Mine Countermeasures Vessels, on four month deployments in rotation; one Frigate for six months, which is the first to be deployed to this task since 2010; and a Destroyer, from October 2016.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the military threat to the UK posed by Russia.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
As noted in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, Russia is mid-way through a programme of major investment to modernise and upgrade its military, including its nuclear forces. Its behaviour will continue to be hard to predict, and, though highly unlikely, we cannot rule out the possibility that it may feel tempted to act aggressively against NATO Allies.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the government has initiated legal action against any law firms for abuse of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team inquiry.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into two firms - Leigh Day & Co, and Public Interest Lawyers - as a result of concerns about their conduct in the Al-Sweady Inquiry and associated litigation. Among other things, it is investigating how these firms obtain instructions from claimants in Iraq - a matter that is directly relevant to the unprecedented number of allegations with which the Iraq Historic Allegations Team is contending.
The Government welcomes the SRA's decision to refer Leigh Day & Co to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, and awaits its decision with regard to Public Interest Lawyers. We will decide what further action may be appropriate in the light of the results of this process.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations he has received in favour of Government involvement in any part of the running of departments or divisions of Rolls Royce connected to that company's production of the Nuclear Reactor Component of the Successor Programme.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Ministry of Defence has received no such representations.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of whether Rolls Royce will complete the Nuclear Reactor Component of the Successor Programme on schedule; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 20 January 2016 to Question 22344.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what contingency plans the Government has in place should Rolls Royce be unable to complete the Nuclear Reactor Component of the Successor Programme on schedule.
Answered by Philip Dunne
We work closely with all of our key suppliers to ensure they deliver the capability we need. Risks and associated mitigation action are continually reviewed for all defence programmes. It would not be appropriate for the Ministry of Defence to release commercially sensitive material on any defence programme, as to do so would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many days on average each class of Royal Naval officer and rating was at sea in each year between 2005 and 2014.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
Time spent at sea can vary depending on the tasking of the vessel.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Naval officers and ratings at each rank were employed by the Royal Navy on 31 July 2015.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The information requested for the Naval Service, as at 1 August 2015, is provided in the tables below. This is also available in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Monthly Personnel Situation Report for August 2015, published on the GOV.UK website at the following link:
Regular Royal Navy and Royal Marines Officer Strength by Paid Rank
Rear Admiral/Major General and Above | Commodore/ Brigadier | Captain RN/ Colonel | Commander/Lieutenant Colonel | Lieutenant Commander/Major | Lieutenant/ Captain RM | Sub- Lieutenant/ Lieutenant/ 2nd Lieutenant | Officer Designate |
40 | 80 | 290 | 1,060 | 2,000 | 2,510 | 750 | 170 |
Regular Royal Navy and Royal Marines Ratings Strength by Paid Rank
Warrant Officer 1 | Warrant Officer 2 | Chief Petty Officer/Colour Sergeant | Petty Officer/ Sergeant | Leading Rate/ Corporal | Lance Corporal | Able Rate/ Marine |
910 | 460 | 3,040 | 3,640 | 5,580 | 720 | 11,970 |
Note:
All totals are rounded in accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy; therefore totals may not equal the sum of their parts. All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10 with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid bias. Figures include Trained, Untrained and Full Time Reserves Service personnel.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total expenditure was on the Single Source Regulation Office in each quarter since its formation.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Total expenditure on the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO) in financial year (FY) 2014-15 was £2.184 million for setup costs. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) funds the SSRO on an ongoing basis via a Grant in Aid, which is £4.707 million for FY 2015-16. Further details of the expenditure can be found in the published accounts for the SSRO at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/ssros-first-annual-report-and-accounts or by contacting the SSRO directly. From 2017, the SSRO will be jointly funded by MOD and industry.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what role he expects the Single Source Regulation Office to have in the procurement of the Successor class submarine.
Answered by Philip Dunne
All contracts related to the Successor programme that meet the conditions set out in Section 2 of the Defence Reform Act will be Qualifying Defence Contracts (QDCs) as defined by the Act and so subject to reporting to the Single Source Regulation Office.