Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people (a) joined and (b) left the Ministry of Defence Police in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
MDP Officer joiners and leavers in each financial year, to 31 March, are as follows:
Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Joiners | 275 | 404 | 322 | 248 | 253 | 125 |
Leavers | 286.5 | 266.53 | 190.79 | 311.05 | 353.98 | 308 |
MDP Non-uniformed Civil Servant joiners and leavers in each financial year, to 31 March, are as follows:
Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Joiners | 38.9 | 40.5 | 26.5 | 39.6 | 40 | 25.2 |
Leavers | 20.5 | 26.6 | 19.4 | 44.8 | 48.8 | 38.5 |
Figures are based on Full Time Equivalents.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on the use of soldiers from the Military Provost Guard Service.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) provides professional soldiers to meet armed security requirements at Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and other Ministry of Defence bases in Great Britain.
The use of MPGS soldiers is determined by the relevant chain of command which will either be Army for those at Army establishments or, for other MOD sites, the Front Line Command holder.
The organisation and management of the MPGS is outlined within an appropriate Army Administrative Instruction.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officers are employed by the Ministry of Defence Police; and whether he has made an estimate of the number officers that will be required in financial year 2025-26.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As at 31 March 2024, MDP employed 2,407 police officers. This figure is based on Full Time Equivalents.
The officer requirement for 2025-26 is dependent on a number of factors including operational need and changes in Defence priorities. Recruitment is kept under constant review and is driven by Defence requirements and takes account of the number of leavers and joiners at any given time.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials in his Department attended (a) domestic and (b) overseas trade shows in each year since 2019.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
This information is not held in the format requested.
Ministry of Defence officials attend domestic and overseas trade shows including Defence and Security Equipment International, Farnborough International Airshow, Royal International Air Tattoo, World Defence Show (Riyadh), DIMDEX (Doha), and the Paris Air Show in support of international collaboration, UK industry, and exports but details of numbers of personnel are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many tanks are in service with the Army as of 19 April 2024.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I am withholding this information as it is held by the Ministry of Defence with a view to its publication, at an undetermined future date. This information will be published in the form of the UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2024, which will be accessible here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-equipment-and-formations.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to improve the (a) accommodation and (b) infrastructure for the Ministry of Defence Police at Devonport.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Navy Command, in conjunction with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, has maintained all Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) buildings at His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport appropriately in accordance with policy.
An Establishment Management Plan has been conducted at HMNB Devonport and will be used in conjunction with the MDP Operational Policing Model review, once complete, to determine where further investment is required to support the long-term future of the MDP at HMNB Devonport.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of (a) the SSN-AUKUS programme, (b) supporting the in-service (i) submarine and (ii) SSN fleet, (c) maintenance programmes on SSN submarines and (d) HM Naval Base Clyde in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The SSN-AUKUS programme is currently in its design phase. A cost estimate will be substantiated once Class size requirements have been agreed and the programme enters its next phase, ready for manufacture.
I can confirm that in financial year (FY) 2022-23, the cost of in-service support and maintenance programmes for submarines was £594 million. Due to commercial sensitivities and consolidated management information, it is not possible to break out the cost of maintenance programmes from the cost of total in service support.
In FY 2022-23, the cost of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde was £278 million, including all infrastructure costs.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise for the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The definition of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) and scope of the associated nuclear ringfenced budget was agreed during financial year 2023-24. Prior to the estimated cost for 2023-24 being reported in supplementary estimates in February 2024, total DNE costs (within this definition) had never been reported, as activities are spread across different budgetary areas of the Department.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of Trident renewal in the period between 2023 and 2050; and what proportion this would be of total Government spending in that period.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As the replacement warhead programme is in its preliminary phases, it is too early to provide cost estimates for the programme. In the absence of these estimates, it is not possible to express deterrent renewal spend as a proportion of overall Government spending.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department paid General Dynamics UK in 2023-24 for the Ajax programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 the Ministry of Defence paid General Dynamics UK £437 million for the AJAX programme. All payments have been made in accordance with performance against the payment schedule and milestone plan within the extant fixed price contract. I am unable to publish the details of the milestones and payment schedule as this may prejudice the Department’s commercial interests.