Asked by: Tom Pursglove (Conservative - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to encourage innovation in the defence industry.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
With an equipment plan worth £178 billion and a rising defence budget, there are great opportunities for innovative suppliers. We have launched the Defence and Security Accelerator and an £800 million innovation fund to pursue innovative solutions to meet defence requirements.
Asked by: Tom Pursglove (Conservative - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2016 to Question 37198, how many of the leaflets entitled Why the Government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK have been returned to his Department; and what the postage cost to the Government has been of such returns.
Answered by Michael Fallon
I refer the hon. Member to the response given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 25 May 2016 to Question 37198.
Asked by: Tom Pursglove (Conservative - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of UK military personnel have been deployed on (a) NATO, (b) UN and (c) EU-coordinated operations and training over the lpast 10 years.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Strategic Defence and Security Review reaffirmed the UK's commitment to providing contributions to NATO, UN, and EU operations and exercises. However, the MOD does not hold the information in the format requested and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tom Pursglove (Conservative - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will estimate how much the presence of the UK military in Cyprus contributes annually to the Cypriot economy.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The estimated economic benefit of British Forces Cyprus and the Sovereign Base Areas Administration to the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) economy was assessed in 2015 to be approximately 1% of RoC Gross Domestic Product.
Asked by: Tom Pursglove (Conservative - Corby)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants in his Department are members of trades unions; how much working hours facility time is claimed by each such civil servant; and what the cost of that facility time is to his Department.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) no longer holds data on employees who are members of Trades Unions (TUs), following the removal of automatic TU subscription-fee deductions from employees' salary in January 2015.
The MOD makes certain facilities available to civilian employees who are accredited representatives, but not paid officials of, TUs recognised by the Department. The amount of time off and the purposes for which it is allowed is in accordance with the ACAS Code of Practice Time off for Trade Union duties and activities. This is recorded as facility time (FT).
In FY 2014-15 some 9,865 staff days were spent on FT at a cost of £1.13 million, which is significantly lower than comparable figures for FY 2011-12 when an estimated 27,060 staff days were spent on FT at a cost of £3.65 million. The number of Departmental staff who were recorded as being 100% FT has also fallen from 53 in 2013 to zero in 2015.