Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on land combat vehicles in each financial year since 2019-20.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Land Combat Vehicle (LCV) delivery team total spend on equipment and support by financial year is as follows:
FY | LCV total spend(£million) |
2019-20 | £94.3 |
2020-21 | £208.5 |
2021-22 | £209.3 |
2022-23 | £189.2 |
The LCV total spend on operating costs by financial year is as follows:
FY | LCV total spend (£million) |
2019-20 | £12.5 |
2020-21 | £14 |
2021-22 | £12.5 |
2022-23 | £13.2 |
LCV is a specific project team in DE&S and the figures above represent the total spend of that team. The figures do not represent the total spend on all land combat vehicles across the Department which would not be held centrally and would not be answerable without a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 11369 on Armoured Fighting Vehicles and with reference to the letter from the Minister of State for Defence Procurement to the hon. Member for Halifax dated 14 March 2024, deposited paper reference DEP2024-0312, who the 18 scimitar combat reconnaissance vehicles were sold externally to.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2023 to Question UIN 6229 to the hon Member for Norwich South (Mr Clive Lewis).
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1034 on Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Procurement, if he will provide a cost breakdown of the £449.56 million in terms of (a) increasing the size of the fleet and (b) increasing the fleets capabilities.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to table one and corresponding note five of his Department's publication MOD trade industry and contracts data tables 2023, published on 28 September 2023, for what reason the forecast costs of the Mechanised Infantry Vehicles project rose by an additional £449.56 million on top of £93.44 million to deliver an additional 100 Boxer Vehicles compared to the previous year.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The additional £449.56 million forecast cost to the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme is a result of the increase in scope to enhance and uplift the fleet sizes and capabilities, as set out in the Defence Command Plan (2021).
This includes funding for the additional initial 100 vehicles which are now on contract, with further funding also provisioned for an additional tranche.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the Mechanised Infantry Vehicles project meets its in-service date.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence takes active measures to ensure that projects deliver on-time and meet their in-service date.
For the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle, the Army and Defence Equipment and Support engage frequently with industry and our OCCAR partners through which we procure the vehicle. Those engagements include a rigorous Holding to Account process at all levels. The programme deliberately selected Boxer as a proven Off-The-Shelf capability already in-service with allies to de-risk delivery. Training and support planning has started early through support of our international allies who have Boxer, and lessons from other programmes are being dynamically incorporated. Boxer currently remains on track to meet its IOC in 2025 within the full programme schedule, which included provision for risks and delays. We continue to keep progress against the schedule under review.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the (a) procurement and (b) whole life cost of the Protected Mobility Pipeline programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Protected Mobility Pipeline Programme is in its concept phase, and it would not be appropriate to present any forecasted procurement or whole life costs at this time.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to tender_339768/1162673 entitled Procurement of Mannequins for Vehicle Noise Characterisation and Safe System of Work, published on 4 January 2023, if he will provide further information on how his Department plans to use the mannequins purchased.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The mannequins will be used during trials of UK Armoured Fighting Vehicles to collect noise data, which will then be used to determine and optimise the performance of communications headsets.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason his Department has estimated that the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme has a total cost variation to completion of £543 million.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The total cost variation to completion of £543 million in the Mechanised Infantry programme reflects the Defence Command Plan intent to significantly increase the programme scope by enhancing and uplifting the fleet sizes by an initial 100 vehicles.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December to Question 99720 on Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Procurement and with reference to page 20 of the NAO report on the Equipment Plan 2022 to 2032, HC 907, published on 29 November, for what reason the figures for the number of Boxer vehicles differ.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
623 Boxer armoured vehicles have been ordered against a funded provision of 1,016. The 1,016 includes potential future variants which are being explored on a longer-term basis with allies and industry in line with the Land Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Boxer armoured vehicles his Department has ordered; and what proportion of those vehicles are fully funded.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
As of 1 December 2022, 623 Boxer armoured vehicles have been ordered, all of which are fully funded.