Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number of supply chain jobs supported by the work of Team Hersa.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since the creation of Team Hersa and the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Directed Energy Weapons Demonstrator Programme in 2020, the MOD estimate is that 249 supply chain jobs have been supported.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has written to defence contractors to seek efficiency savings.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Senior officials continue to engage with our strategic suppliers on how we can drive efficiency into our contracts and ensure we deliver the Defence programme affordably.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number of jobs created by Team Hersa.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Since the creation of Team Hersa and Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Directed Energy Weapons Demonstrator Programme in 2020, the MOD estimate is that 49 jobs have been created.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had discussions with his US counterpart on the decision to suspend certain licenses for arms exports to Israel.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Secretary regularly speaks with his US counterpart on a wide range of matters of mutual interest.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the annual increase for furniture charges was in Single Living Accommodation in each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There is no separate charge for furniture in Single Living Accommodation.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK-based jobs are (a) directly and (b) indirectly linked to the Global Combat Air Programme.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
There are over 3,500 personnel working directly on Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) in the UK across Ministry of Defence and our industry partners; BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo UK and MBDA UK.
These partners are supported by hundreds of organisations, including SMEs and academic institutions, spread across the UK. Major combat air industrial hubs in the north-west and south-west of England, and Edinburgh are supporting the development of the advanced skills base and industrial technologies right across the country.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much he plans to spend on defence research and development in (a) this financial year and (b) the next four financial years.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Chancellor has confirmed a challenging in year deficit across all Departments. A spending review process is underway. Departmental spending plans will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) welders and (b) electricians required to complete surface warship construction.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has regular engagement across all aspects of surface warship construction, including the skills required to support it.
This Government recognises the vital role Defence, and its skilled workforce, play not only in our national security but also to the economic prosperity and growth of the United Kingdom.
The Strategic Defence Review will look at the approach to recruiting, educating, training and retaining the people needed across the whole of Defence, including industry.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with international partners on the sale of Type 31 frigates.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence is actively supporting live and prospective export campaigns based on the Type 31 (with the export variant known as the Arrowhead 140) capability with support from the Department of Business and Trade. For example, the Secretary of State for Defence recently met his Polish counterpart where they discussed the Miecznik programme and its progress.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will estimate the cost to the defence industry of lost output resulting from disruption linked to political protest in the last 12 months.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence regularly monitors risks and issues facing our suppliers as part of our supply chain resilience work. We have not made a specific estimate of financial costs over the past 12 months.