Every parliamentary written question tabled by James Cartlidge this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 2,521–2,540 of 2,778 · Ministry of Defence
What plans his Department has for procuring a replacement for the Hawk T2.
Ministers regularly discuss the future capability requirements of the Royal Air Force with the Chief of the Air Staff. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Huntingdon on 3 December 2024 to Question 15292.
Whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential impact of protest-related activity on university campuses on the ability of defence companies to participate in careers fairs.
This Government recognises the critical importance of attracting new entrants into the defence sector, in order to ensure we have the skilled workforce needed to sustain a vibrant, innovation and competitive UK defence industrial base. The Ministry of Defence is working closely with the Department for Education and Skills England to address the skills landscape in the defence sector. The Defence Industrial Strategy will further progress the Government’s commitment to ensuring the UK defence sector has the right people and skills to meet the challenges of the future.
What steps his Department is taking to help protect untrained military personnel from injury during training exercises.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to the health and safety of our people and we have robust policies and processes in place to safely manage our training activities. Defence activity can be inherently hazardous. This risk to our people is rendered as low as reasonably practicable and tolerable during training by ensuring that its design and delivery are subject to strict safety procedures, rigorous risk assessment and assurance. All Defence training is risk assessed and conducted within a Safe System of Training (SST), which sets the conditions under which training is delivered. Like a Safe System of Work, a SST puts in place control measures arising from a risk assessment, in order to manage identified hazards, which are broken down into four elements; safe person, safe equipment, safe place and safe practice. The SST also recognises that those undergoing training cannot be assumed to be competent until they have successfully completed their training and gained the necessary experience.
Whether the Defence Recycling and Disposals Team have commenced commercial negotiations with potential buyers for (a) HMS Bulwark and (b) HMS Albion.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 January 2025 to question 22653.
What his planned timetable is for publishing his Department's annual statistics on armed forces equipment.
The UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2024 publication has been delayed due to a data quality review and has a provisional release date of February 2025. This is stated in the Statistics release calendar: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2024 - Accredited official statistics announcement - GOV.UK
What discussion he has had with representatives of the United States administration on the cost to US armed forces of the leaseback of the Diego Garcia military base as part of the Chagos settlement.
The Defence Secretary is in regular contact with Secretary Austin on a range of issues, including the British Indian Ocean Territory / Chagos Archipelago. The Diego Garcia military base is a joint UK-US facility and is an essential part of the UK-US defence relationship.
What steps he is taking to help prevent the leaking of military secrets during online war games.
Unauthorised release of information endangers our national security and makes protecting the United Kingdom harder. As such it is contrary to the ethos and policies of the Ministry of Defence, and we take the unauthorised release of information very seriously. Our policy stresses that information should be handled and distributed based on need-to-know, where access to sensitive information is no wider than necessary for the efficient conduct of official work, and is limited to those with a business need and the appropriate personnel security clearance. This approach is reinforced in mandatory training and through our Cyber Security Awareness, Behaviour and Culture campaign, which reinforces the importance of managing online footprints and not sharing information inappropriately.
What steps his Department is taking to help mitigate injury rates among armed forces personnel during training exercises.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to the health and safety of our people and we have robust policies and processes in place to safely manage our training activities. Defence activity can be inherently hazardous. This risk to our people is rendered as low as reasonably practicable and tolerable during training by ensuring that its design and delivery are subject to strict safety procedures, rigorous risk assessment and assurance. All Defence training is risk assessed and conducted within a Safe System of Training (SST), which sets the conditions under which training is delivered. Like a Safe System of Work, a SST puts in place control measures arising from a risk assessment, in order to manage identified hazards, which are broken down into four elements; safe person, safe equipment, safe place and safe practice. The SST also recognises that those undergoing training cannot be assumed to be competent until they have successfully completed their training and gained the necessary experience.
What information his Department holds on the number of occasions classified military secrets have been leaked on the online war simulation entitled War Thunder.
It has been the long-standing policy of the current and previous Governments that we do not comment on operational security matters. The Ministry of Defence takes the security of our assets extremely seriously and we have robust measures in place to assure the integrity of these arrangements. When any type of security incident is raised, it is reviewed by security personnel and subjected to an initial security risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis.
For what reason have the annual armed forces equipment statistics not been published.
The UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formations 2024 publication has been delayed due to a data quality review and has a provisional release date of February 2025. This is stated in the Statistics release calendar: UK armed forces equipment and formations 2024 - Accredited official statistics announcement - GOV.UK
What steps his Department is taking to avoid underreporting of incidents relating to injuries of civilian and military personnel.
The Ministry of Defence is committed to the health and safety of our people. We recognise the importance of reporting all safety occurrences. We have specific safety occurrence reporting policy. This mandates the reporting of all safety occurrences relating to Defence personnel, visitors and contractors that are undertaking Defence activities, using Defence equipment or on the Defence estate. We regularly review our policies to ensure they remain in line with good practice. The continued development and rollout of the pan-Defence safety occurrence reporting system, MySafety, will further strengthen the capture of data by streamlining the reporting process for users. With MySafety, personnel will benefit from a standardised, more accessible, single safety occurrence reporting platform, and be able to raise timely occurrences from the occurrence location.
What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the MySafety (DURALS) system in recording incidents involving defence personnel.
MySafety is the new pan-Defence safety occurrence reporting system which is being rolled out across Defence. Once complete, the introduction of MySafety will provide a standardised, more accessible, single safety occurrence reporting platform to Defence personnel, that focuses heavily on the user experience and offers greater functionality than current reporting systems. With MySafety, personnel are able to raise timely occurrences from the occurrence location using mobile electronic devices. It also offers improved data exploitation and analysis, enabling Defence to build a greater understanding of safety occurrences and learn lessons more quickly, thus enhancing safety in Defence. MySafety has already rolled out to the Army, RAF and UK Strategic Command. The majority of Defence organisations are expected to transition to MySafety during 2025. Early indications suggest the system is likely increasing reporting rates, however, comparisons with data from previous years should be avoided due to varying levels of operational and training activity.
What proportion of the cost of leasing the Diego Garcia military base will be covered by the United States.
The Diego Garcia military base is a joint UK-US facility and is an essential part of the UK-US defence relationship. It is not normal practice for the UK to reveal the value of its payments for military bases anywhere across the globe.
With reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry of 6 January 2025, Official Report, column 586, what the disposal plan is for (a) HMS Albion and (b) HMS Bulwark.
HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark are currently laid up awaiting disposal. Both ships require costly and time-consuming refits, and as such, were not considered a cost-effective use of taxpayers' money. The Royal Navy is exploring options to sell both HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark in a government-to-government sale. These vessels had, in effect, been retired by the previous Government. Their sale will save £9M a year in maintenance costs in addition to the receipt from the sale, unlocking as much funding as possible to invest in modernisation, as well as reinforcing relationships with international partners.
Whether he has had discussions with the Chief of the Air Staff on procuring a replacement for the Hawk T2.
Ministers regularly discuss the future capability requirements of the Royal Air Force with the Chief of the Air Staff. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Huntingdon on 3 December 2024 to Question 15292.
Whether his Department has received enquiries from international partners on the potential sale of (a) HMS Bulwark and (b) HMS Albion.
The Royal Navy is exploring options to sell both HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark in a government-to-government sale. These vessels had, in effect, been retired by the previous Government. Their sale will save £9 million a year in maintenance costs in addition to the receipt from the sale, unlocking as much funding as possible to invest in modernisation, as well as reinforcing relationships with international partners.
Whether he plans to allow UK defence companies to participate in (a) careers fairs and (b) related events on university campuses.
The Ministry of Defence works closely with UK defence companies to highlight the significant benefits of a career in the defence sector. We recognise that attracting and retaining the right mix of skills is critical to sustaining a vibrant, innovative and competitive UK defence sector, and this is an important area of focus in the development of the Defence Industrial Strategy.Decisions relating to UK defence companies participating in careers fairs and related events on university campuses are for the companies themselves. Such events provide students valuable opportunities to learn about different career possibilities in the defence sector.
Pursuant to the Answer of 19 December to Question 19737 on Ukraine: Military Aid, how many of the rounds of artillery ammunition delivered to Ukraine were procured since 5 July 2024.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2024 to Questions 19737, 19738 and 19740. For operational security reasons he will understand that it is not possible to provide more detailed procurement and delivery schedules. This Government is steadfast in our commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. On 10 July 2024 the Prime Minister announced that the UK will provide Ukraine with £3 billion a year of military support for as long as needed.
Where the (a) final assembly and (b) systems integration of the Fleet Solid Support Ships being constructed by Navantia will take place.
The overall build strategy for the Fleet Solid Support ships remains unchanged. All three ships will be assembled from blocks manufactured in Harland & Wolff shipyards in the UK and Navantia's shipyards in Spain. Final assembly and systems integration of the ships is planned to take place in Belfast.
Pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 19738 on Ukraine: Military Aid, how many of the 15,000 anti-tank weapons were procured since 5 July 2024.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2024 to Questions 19737, 19738 and 19740. For operational security reasons he will understand that it is not possible to provide more detailed procurement and delivery schedules. This Government is steadfast in our commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. On 10 July 2024 the Prime Minister announced that the UK will provide Ukraine with £3 billion a year of military support for as long as needed.