Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to send the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier to the South China Sea; and if so, (1) when the decision was made, and (2) what will be the objective.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
No decision has yet been made. Cross Government consultation is in progress and we expect to finalise the details of the deployment soon. The UK has enduring interests in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and the Royal Navy has maintained a near persistent presence there for a number of years, conducting numerous activities promoting security and defence relationships with our partners and upholding the Rules Based International System. Building on this, the Royal Navy intends to continue to operate across the region, including in the South China Sea.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the first aid, (2) the trauma and triage, and (3) the security and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defence, capabilities of the Army Reserve; and what plans they have, if any, to deploy the Army Reserve to help address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
Defence has a number of existing contingency plans in place to provide support to civil authorities, including to the NHS. Our personnel are already providing assistance in a number of capacities and this includes those with specialist medical training. Considering the likely additional call on military assistance to mitigate COVID-19 related staff absences in civil authorities, and the increasing volume of patients requiring treatment by the NHS, Defence is consistently monitoring and enhancing its plans, training and readiness in order to support additional requests.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to recruit Junior Soldiers to cyber apprenticeships.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Junior soldiers are signed up for an apprenticeship when they join, which will be specific to the trade they wish to specialise in. The Army does not currently offer a 'Cyber' apprenticeship but does offer other apprenticeships relevant to those who work in this area.
Cyber security is vital to defence and training our personnel is of paramount importance to us. The Defence Cyber School, which celebrated its first-year anniversary in March, is a centre of excellence for cyber training established to meet the needs of defence and its partners, addressing all aspects of cyber training and education.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to disband (1) Headquarters 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales, (2) 31st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland, or (3) HQ Northern Ireland; and if so why.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
There are no plans to disband Headquarters 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales, Headquarters 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland, or Headquarters 38th (Irish) Infantry Brigade. There is currently no 31st Infantry Brigade.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether sufficient resources are available to (1) pre-empt, and (2) address, a hybrid threat; whether those resources include mobilisation of the armed forces; and what other resources have been made available.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Government Departments prioritise within their existing departmental budgets to adequately manage and mitigate all risks (including hazards, counter-terrorism and hostile state activity). The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 will continue to be implemented including specialist Army brigades focused on hybrid warfare and notably the £1.9 billion National Cyber Security Strategy to ensure the country keeps pace with the threat, including through the National Cyber Security Centre.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have a definition of “hybrid threat”; if so, what is that definition; and which Government department is responsible for managing and coordinating the responses to such threats.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Hybrid threats should be considered as Hostile State Activity and the Prime Minister set out in the 2018 National Security Capability Review that "we will harden our defences against all forms of Hostile State Activity". To achieve this we will "use a new national security doctrine, the Fusion Doctrine, to improve our collective approach to national security, building on the creation of the National Security Council eight years ago so that we use our security, economic and influence capabilities to maximum effect to protect, promote and project our national security, economic and influence goals." As highlighted in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 we will continue to work with NATO and allies to tackle current threats and adapt to combat future threats, focusing on cyber and countering hybrid threats.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to proactively engage and collaborate further with the private sector in the prevention of, and action against, hybrid threats, to combat critical skill shortages and bring in further expertise; and if so, how.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
It is the responsibility of individual Government Departments to collaborate with their own sectors to ensure that the private sector is aware of the need to protect against hostile state activity, as part of their contribution to national resilience. For example, the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review made significant commitments on Cyber and the National Cyber Security Strategy and in 2016 launched the National Cyber Security Centre.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what coordination exists between NATO partners and those Eastern European nations most vulnerable to cyber-attacks and hybrid threats.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
At its 2016 Summit in Warsaw, NATO made a Cyber Defence Pledge to strengthen both individual and collective capability. The Alliance now engages regularly with its European partners to discuss Cyber and Hybrid threats at both the strategic and operational level. The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (based in Tallinn) and the European Centre of Excellence for countering Hybrid Threats (based in Helsinki) provide expertise and encourage cooperation and information-sharing among NATO Allies, EU Member States, and their partners. The UK is a leading participant in both Centres.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to train and use reservists in both the public and private sectors to deal with hybrid threats.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The need to respond to hybrid threats was recognised in the Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2015 which established, as part of Joint Force 2025, two innovative brigades comprising a mix of Regulars and specialist capabilities from the Reserves able to contribute to our strategic communications, tackle hybrid warfare and deliver better battlefield intelligence.