Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were employed in the weapons engineering team at Defence Equipment and Support in each year since 2019.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employed within the complex weapons delivery, complex weapons portfolio, weapons engineering and weapons support future enterprise teams in each Financial Year (FY) since 2019 as at 31 March, is detailed in the table below. The figures include civilian and military employees and workforce substitutes.
Figures for 2023-24 will not be available until the end of the FY.
Financial Year | Complex Weapons Delivery | Complex Weapons Portfolio | Weapons Engineering | Future Enterprise |
2018-19 | Team did not exist | 21.33 | 115.46 | Team did not exist |
2019-20 | 4.00 | 21.22 | 126.94 | Team did not exist |
2020-21 | 5.00 | 12.00 | 119.68 | 12.11 |
2021-22 | 5.00 | 14.81 | 132.25 | 24.03 |
2022-23 | 18.65 | 12.65 | 130.25 | 30.89 |
Note: The numbers employed in the Weapons Support team is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the age demographic on the workforce for (a) medical physics and (b) clinical engineering.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out future National Health Service workforce requirements and includes healthcare science figures, though this is not broken down into Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering workforce targets. The plan assesses that education and training places for healthcare scientists need to increase by 20 to 34%, reaching 930 to 1,039 places by 2033/34. The ambition set out in this plan is to increase training places for healthcare scientists by 32%, to over 1,000 places by 2031/32. We will work towards achieving this ambition by increasing training places by 13%, to over 850 places by 2028/29.
The workforce plan also sets out the ambition to retain up to 130,000 more staff across the NHS over the next 15 years, through measures to improve staff’s experience of working in the NHS. This applies to all NHS staff groups, including medical physicists and clinical engineers.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the modernising scientific careers framework for (a) medical physicists, (b) clinical engineers and (c) clinical scientists.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The curriculum underpinning the Modernising Scientific Careers framework has been recently reviewed. Undergraduate level training, known as the Practitioner Training Programme, now has the Practitioner Training Programme Principles. This means there is now far more flexibility when Higher Education Institutes design new, or develop existing, courses. The postgraduate level training for clinical scientists, known as the Scientist Training Programme, has been substantially reviewed. The professions had considerable input into the rewriting of the curricula. The first cohort of trainees started the new curriculum in September 2022. This includes all Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering specialisms.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to commission research into new models of (a) assessment and (b) support for people with autism.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Gateway to Research lists 50 active Medical Research Council (MRC) projects looking at autism and/or neurodevelopment. There are a further 27 projects funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK. These cover a range of research questions from using AI based diagnostics for autism spectrum disorders to optimising technology used on recruitment platforms to meet the needs of neurodiverse applicants.
Autistica, a UK based charity engaged in funding and campaigning for research on autism and related conditions, is receiving £378k through Government support for Early Career Researcher fund.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2024 to Question 17194 on Artificial Intelligence: Migrant Workers, when the new dedicated visa scheme will be operational.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The new Future Technology Research & Innovation (Government Authorised Exchange) visa scheme is expected to go live on 4 April 2024, which the Home Office announced in their Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules laid in Parliament on 14 March. This visa scheme will allow sponsored researchers and interns to come to the UK to work in eligible organisation in the areas of the Government’s five critical technologies (AI, engineering biology, future telecommunications, semiconductors, and quantum technologies).
Asked by: Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to their Government Cyber Security Strategy: 2022–2030, published on 25 January 2022, what assessment they have made of the UK Cyber Security Council’s progress in developing consistent taxonomies, standards and pathways for the cyber security profession across the UK.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Cyber Security Council was established to develop professional standards so that cyber security can be appropriately recognised as a profession, similar fields such as accounting and engineering. In October 2023, the Council announced that over 100 cyber security practitioners had been awarded professional titles (including chartered status) and this number is increasing. The Council has used its standards to outline pathways into and through the cyber security profession by creating a Cyber Careers Framework. The Council continues to work with stakeholders in government, industry, and academia to ensure that the standards it sets are relevant, accessible, and demand consistent high quality from cyber security practitioners throughout the UK.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budget for the weapons engineering team at Defence Equipment and Support is in the (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The figures below represent the projected annual operating expenditure budget and forecast costs for the weapons engineering delivery team at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S).
The weapons engineering delivery team budget and forecast costs on equipment costs by financial year is as follows:
Financial Year | Contract Spend £million |
FY2023-24 | 225.50 |
FY2024-25 | 320.61 |
FY2025-26 | 259.79 |
The weapons engineering delivery team budget and forecast costs on operating costs by financial year is as follows:
Financial year | Total spend £million |
FY2023-24 | 27.97 |
Notes:
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure stakeholders in (a) Wales and (b) the South West receive communications on the potential impact of Old Oak Common station construction work on (i) rail journey times and (ii) service disruption.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Similar to last year, public communications regarding the works are due to ramp up ahead of this year’s Christmas engineering works, in line with usual passenger communications timing. Network Rail is leading the development of a passenger communications strategy working closely with train operators and other industry partners, including Transport for London (TfL). My Department is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, TfL and the train operating companies to minimise the impacts of disruption. The most extensive possessions will be in 2026 and 2028 and stakeholders and the public will be informed well in advance.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to minimise disruption to South West rail passengers in the context of the construction of the new High Speed 2 station at Old Oak Common.
Answered by Huw Merriman - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department is working with Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, Transport for London and train operating companies to minimise disruption to South West rail passengers. Diversions of services to other London terminals, such as Euston, is under active consideration. This could provide Great Western Railway passengers access to a central London terminal with numerous onward travel connections. Passengers could alternatively use Ealing Broadway station, as they did successfully during the December 2023 engineering works.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to resolve the engine fault on the RAF Hawk T2 advanced jet trainers; how many Hawk T2 jets are currently unavailable for fast-jet pilot training; what delays to fast-jet pilot training have been caused by that engine fault; and what is the additional cost of training pilots overseas as a result.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Defence Equipment & Support is closely engaged with industry to increase the number of serviceable engines through the delivery of the required new component parts and engine upgrade work to address the current limitations.
As at 11 March 2024, 16 Hawk T2 aircraft were currently unavailable for fast jet pilot training.
There have been minimal delays to Fast Jet pilot training as a result of the Hawk T2 engine issue. Despite the seriousness of the engineering issue, the implementation of mitigation measures such as the international outsourcing of Fast Jet training have reduced the impact to a minimal level. Those trainees on course at the time of the engine issue being discovered were delayed by up to 2-months maximum; no other trainees in the Fast Jet pipeline were adversely impacted or delayed. There has been no impact to the number of ab-initio Fast Jet pilots delivered to the Front Line as a result of the Hawk T2 engine issue and the forecast Fast Jet training requirement for the Front Line will continue to be met.
The cost per trainee of contracts with NATO allies are already a matter of public record. The Department is unable to disclose the full value of all contracts, as doing so would prejudice international relations and compromise our friendship with partners and allies.