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 spent on weapons engineering in each financial year since 2019-20.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information requested can be found below:
| 2019-20 £million | 2020-21 £million | 2021-22 £million | 2022-23 £million |
Complex Weapons Delivery Equipment Plan spend | 644.741 | 632.719 | 832.632 | 954.508 |
Complex Weapons Delivery Operating Costs | 18.521 | 27.495 | 27.826 | 25.478 |
Notes:
· The costs provided in this response represent Equipment Plan spend and Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Operating Costs. Expenditure on Raw Materials and Consumable is excluded. Financial Year 2023-24 spend is not included as costs have not yet been finalised.
· Complex Weapons is a delivery team within the Weapons Operating Centre in DE&S. It manages a portfolio of Complex Weapons delivering key capabilities across all three services. Costs provided are for Equipment Plan spend in development, procurement, and support of Complex Weapons.
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 spent on complex weapons delivery in each financial year since 2019-20.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information requested can be found below:
| 2019-20 £million | 2020-21 £million | 2021-22 £million | 2022-23 £million |
Complex Weapons Delivery Equipment Plan spend | 644.741 | 632.719 | 832.632 | 954.508 |
Complex Weapons Delivery Operating Costs | 18.521 | 27.495 | 27.826 | 25.478 |
Notes:
· The costs provided in this response represent Equipment Plan spend and Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Operating Costs. Expenditure on Raw Materials and Consumable is excluded. Financial Year 2023-24 spend is not included as costs have not yet been finalised.
· Complex Weapons is a delivery team within the Weapons Operating Centre in DE&S. It manages a portfolio of Complex Weapons delivering key capabilities across all three services. Costs provided are for Equipment Plan spend in development, procurement, and support of Complex Weapons.
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 weapons support in each financial year since 2019-20.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The information requested can be found below:
| 2019-20 £million | 2020-21 £million | 2021-22 £million | 2022-23 £million |
Complex Weapons Delivery Equipment Plan spend | 644.741 | 632.719 | 832.632 | 954.508 |
Complex Weapons Delivery Operating Costs | 18.521 | 27.495 | 27.826 | 25.478 |
Notes:
· The costs provided in this response represent Equipment Plan spend and Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Operating Costs. Expenditure on Raw Materials and Consumable is excluded. Financial Year 2023-24 spend is not included as costs have not yet been finalised.
· Complex Weapons is a delivery team within the Weapons Operating Centre in DE&S. It manages a portfolio of Complex Weapons delivering key capabilities across all three services. Costs provided are for Equipment Plan spend in development, procurement, and support of Complex Weapons.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of spending on submarines in each financial year since 2019.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The table below shows the values for the procurement of equipment for submarines, as well as equipment support costs for submarines in each complete financial year since 2019.
FINANCIAL YEAR (FY) | SUBMARINES £million | SUPPORT COSTS FOR BOTH SURFACE AND SUBMARINE FLEETS - £million | TOTAL - £million |
FY2019-20 | 520 | 23 | 543 |
FY2020-21 | 552 | 32 | 584 |
FY2021-22 | 588 | 36 | 624 |
FY2022-23 | 594 | 47 | 641 |
GRAND TOTAL | 2,255 | 138 | 2,393 |
In addition to the £2.2 billion spend specific to submarines (as shown in column two), the third column in the table shows expenditure on common contracts that support both the surface and submarine fleets.
These figures do not include the cost of operating the platforms, propulsion costs, missiles and capabilities in support of ships and submarines.
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 his Department's press release entitled DE&S and Team Resolute sign Fleet Solid Support ships contract, published on 18 January 2023, what steps he is taking to promote skills and technology transfer when building the Fleet Solid Support ships.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement (Alex Chalk) to the right hon. Member for North Durham (Kevan Jones) on 29 November 2022 to Question 94716.
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 the press release entitled New Amphibious Transport Ships better suited for war conditions, published by the Dutch Ministry of Defence on 6 March 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to end the joint procurement of a littoral strike platform with the UK on the Royal Navy’s plans to acquire this capability through the Multi-Role Support Ship programme.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Multi-Role Support Ship Programme is currently in its pre-concept phase, which has included the exploration of opportunities to collaborate with the Netherlands on common design options, interoperability, and equipment commonality. The focus is on determining the requirement and on setting the programme up for success, with work ongoing to ensure affordability.
The UK continues to have a strong and enduring relationship with the amphibious forces of the Netherlands, and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Netherlands last year reaffirmed that commitment. The intent will be collaborate and co-operate across the amphibious and littoral domains, both in developing equipment capability, interoperability and exploiting training opportunities to mutual benefit.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what social value considerations are included in the procurement of the New Medium Helicopter.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The New Medium Helicopter competition includes a 10% weighting for social value in line with the Cabinet Office Social Value Model and guidance. The competition also includes an additional 15% weighting for UK industrial capability which includes essential industrial considerations, spanning design, production, manufacture and importantly, export potential. This is intended to ensure that the New Medium Helicopter contract will secure the vital operational independence we require, as well as investing in UK skills for the long-term and demonstrates the UK Government’s commitment to the Defence & Security Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to cover the cost of (a) removing and (b) replacing the Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi & System Boiler Range (2401-0138) products in service family accommodation.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The affected Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi and System Boiler Range (2401-0138) were installed in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties from August 2022 to early January 2024.
It is not known when Ideal first discovered this issue. Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) officials were made aware of potential fire safety issues relating to these boilers on 31 January 2024 and have interpreted Ideal’s risk assessment of the boiler fault occurring as very low. There was no requirement to inform Ministers, as this is routine Departmental business, however the Minister for Defence Procurement received a submission on this on 12 March 2024.
DIO has communicated the recall via MOD stakeholders for cascade to Service personnel, through DIO’s Families First newsletter and via gov.uk; this week, a letter will be/has been issued to all Service Families living in SFA.
Ideal will cover all costs of repairs and installations, therefore there will be no cost to the Department.
DIO has identified 1,626 SFA which have the Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi and System Boilers (2401-0138) installed.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service families accommodation properties are affected by the product recall of Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi & System Boiler Range (2401-0138) products.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The affected Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi and System Boiler Range (2401-0138) were installed in Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties from August 2022 to early January 2024.
It is not known when Ideal first discovered this issue. Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) officials were made aware of potential fire safety issues relating to these boilers on 31 January 2024 and have interpreted Ideal’s risk assessment of the boiler fault occurring as very low. There was no requirement to inform Ministers, as this is routine Departmental business, however the Minister for Defence Procurement received a submission on this on 12 March 2024.
DIO has communicated the recall via MOD stakeholders for cascade to Service personnel, through DIO’s Families First newsletter and via gov.uk; this week, a letter will be/has been issued to all Service Families living in SFA.
Ideal will cover all costs of repairs and installations, therefore there will be no cost to the Department.
DIO has identified 1,626 SFA which have the Ideal Heating Logic 2 Combi and System Boilers (2401-0138) installed.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of successors to the Hawk T2 aircraft.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The RAF has already started its standard Capability Investigation process into the future of combat aircrew training; this comprehensive review will include the approach to the procurement of the replacement of the current Advanced Jet Trainer capability. The investigation will consider options for aircraft, simulators and associated combined live / virtual training, such that we can continue to deliver a world-class training capability for the UK Armed Forces.
The Capability Investigation's findings are expected later this year and will provide evidence on likely costs and timing of the replacement training solution to the Hawk T2.