Every parliamentary written question tabled by David Reed this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 121–140 of 151 · this parliament
What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the capability of RFA Argus to fulfil the UK's amphibious operational requirements in the absence of HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark until the introduc
The retirement of HMS Albion and Bulwark will not impact the operational programme of the Royal Marines, who continue to deploy globally. Both are currently held at lower readiness having not been to sea since 2023 and 2017 respectively. This Government i...
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of retiring HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark on the ability of the Armed Forces to conduct amphibious operations; and how amphibious troops will undertake
The retirement of HMS Albion and Bulwark will not impact the operational programme of the Royal Marines, who continue to deploy globally. Both are currently held at lower readiness having not been to sea since 2023 and 2017 respectively. This Government i...
Whether the timeline for the introduction of the Multi-Role Support Ships remains on track to meet operational requirements.
The Multi-Role Strike Ship (MRSS) programme will recapitalise the Royal Navy (RN)’s amphibious fleet, which consists of the three Bay class landing ships (RFA Lyme Bay, Mounts Bay and Cardigan Bay) and RFA Argus, which provides medical and aviation suppor...
What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the UK's ability to form a fully operational Carrier Strike Group; and how often that Group could be deployed globally.
The UK remains robust in its ability to form a fully operational Carrier Strike Group (CSG). This has been evidenced in 2024 by the UK CSG involvement in Exercise STRIKE WARRIOR and participation in the NATO Exercise STEADFAST DEFENDER. This will be furth...
What the expected timeline is for the Type 32 frigate programme to move from the concept phase to design and procurement.
The Type 32 frigate programme remains in the concept phrase and has not yet reached the level of maturity to allow publication of a specific timetable for design and procurement. This is consistent with a programme of this size and complexity at this earl...
How many new Type (a) 45, (b) 26, (c) 31 and (d) 32 will enter service by 2030.
The Type 45 is already in service with no new vessels to be built.The Type 26 is forecast to achieve Initial Operating Capability in 2028 with ships expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035.HMS Venturer will be the first in Class of the Type 31 and...
What discussions his Department has had with NATO allies on the potential impact of the retirement of naval assets on the UK's ability to contribute to NATO operations.
NATO remains the cornerstone of UK Defence. As such, the Royal Navy continues to make and fulfil a leading contribution to NATO. The retirement of naval assets announced by the Secretary of State on 20 November has no impact on current commitments. The St...
What the status is of each of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers.
As of 2 December, two Type 45 destroyers are immediately available. The remaining four are in various stages of refit and are therefore not available for operations. The normal operating cycle of every ship involves them entering different readiness level...
With reference to his oral evidence of 21 November 2024 to the Defence Select Committee, HC 345, what steps he is taking to ensure the planned deployments of (a) HMS Queen Elizabeth and (b) HMS Prince of Wales ta
The Ministry of Defence remains committed to deploying HMS Prince of Wales as part of the Carrier Strike Group deployment to the Indo-Pacific in 2025. It would be inappropriate to discuss other planned deployments as to do so could compromise operational ...
Whether frontier technologies such as (a) machine learning and (b) artificial intelligence are being used within (i) the Armed Forces and (ii) his Department to help improve workforce efficiencies.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is actively leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness across both the Armed Forces and the Department. In the business space, MOD is exploring use of info...
What discussions his Department has had with the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on the (i) development and (ii) procurement of digital capabilities for national secur
The Ministry of Defence routinely works with colleagues in the National Security community, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Cabinet Office on the development and procurement of digital capabilities for National Security. All of w...
What steps his Department is taking to help train military personnel cyber warfare skills.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has invested significantly in developing its specialist cyber workforce by training cyber operators and planners at the Defence Cyber Academy augmented by single-Service environmentally specific training, to undertake cyber o...
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of retiring (a) RFA Wave Knight and (b) RFA Wave Ruler on the Royal Navy's ability to support concurrent operations involving multiple carrier strike grou
RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler were placed into extended readiness by the previous Government, and have not been available for operations since 2022 and 2017 respectively. As such, the retirements will have no impact on available capabilities. The Roy...
What estimate he has made of the (a) cost of repairing and (b) savings from the early decommissioning of HMS Northumberland.
The cost of potential repairs for HMS Northumberland was estimated to be at least £120 million. The decision taken by the Secretary of State to decommission the ship early has avoided most of this cost, saving the taxpayer in the region of £105 million.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the decision to retire (a) HMS Albion, (b) HMS Bulwark, (c) HMS Northumberland, (d) RFA Wave Knight and (e) RFA Wave Ruler on the (i) training an
The retirement of HMS Albion and Bulwark will not impact the operational programme of the Royal Marines, who continue to deploy globally. Both are currently held at lower readiness having not been to sea since 2023 and 2017 respectively. This Government i...
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of reallocating funds from the decommissioning of HMS (a) Albion and (b) Bulwark to accelerate delivery of Multi-Role Support Ships.
The Multi-Role Support Ship programme is in the Concept Phase. It is funded from the Defence budget to enable the Royal Navy and Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) to conduct detailed preparatory work to deliver first of class by 2033.
What the projected annual operational cost savings are from the decommissioning of (a) RFA Wave Knight and (b) RFA Wave Ruler.
The Ministry of Defence currently forecasts a combined total of £4.5 million per annum for the “Base Maintenance” of RFA Wave Ruler and RFA Wave Knight.
What steps he is taking to (a) strengthen the UK's role within NATO and (b) ensure that the UK leads in (i) European and (ii) transatlantic security.
NATO is the cornerstone of UK and Euro-Atlantic security. Our commitment to NATO is unshakeable. This Government is pursuing a ‘NATO First’ defence strategy. In response to growing threats, the Prime Minister has underlined the UK’s cast-iron commitment t...
What steps he is taking to ensure that the technological capabilities of combat brigades are effectively improved.
The Army is currently undergoing a combined programme of work to ensure that our manoeuvre forces will have the lethality, protection and mobility to fight and win against any adversary. Whilst the Army’s modernisation will continue over the next decade w...
What estimate her Department has made of the number of farmers affected by the withdrawal of Agricultural Property Relief in (a) East Devon and (b) Exmouth and Exeter East constituency.
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms, and further explanatory informatio...