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 3,181–3,200 of 3,710 · this parliament
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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 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 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 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 assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in borrowing costs on the Government's capacity to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP expenditure.
This government is fully committed to economic stability and sound public finances. That is why the Chancellor has made clear that meeting the fiscal rules is non-negotiable. Economic stability is one of the foundations that underpins the Prime Minister's Plan for Change, and the government has restored it with tough decisions, strict spending rules and robust institutions. The Spending Review will rewire government spending, to deliver the Plan for Change priorities, focusing on driving growth and reforming public services, whilst living within the spending envelope that has been set out. The first duty of government is to keep the country safe and protect our citizens. Under this government the Ministry of Defence’s budget is increasing by £2.9 billion from 2024-25 to 2025-26. It means the Defence budget will grow in line with the economy in 2025-26, ensuring the UK comfortably exceeds the NATO target of 2% of GDP. As the Chancellor set out at Budget, we will set a path to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence at a future fiscal event.
Food and Rural Affairs, when he has met representatives of farming businesses in South Suffolk constituency to discuss recent trends in farm incomes.
Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of farming stakeholders, including the National Farmers Union, the Country Land and Business Association, and the Tenant Farmers Association. We will continue to meet with stakeholders to ensure their views are heard.
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.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of recent trends in the level of farm incomes in South Suffolk constituency.
The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. We publish regular accredited official statistics on farm income in England and other data related to farm businesses. For example, on 14 November 2024, we published our Farm Business Income statistics (Farm business income - GOV.UK), which looked at how Farm Business Income has changed in 2023/24, including the contribution of Direct Payments and agri-environment payments to farm incomes and analysis by farm type. The Farm Business Survey is based on a sample of around 1,400 farm businesses across England. While it is possible to produce some sub national information, the sample size means it is not possible to produce statistically robust breakdowns at constituency level. In England, Farm Business Income has seen substantial year-on-year fluctuations over the past 15 years driven by a multitude of factors which include weather and market fluctuations. For most farm types, Farm Business Income in 2023/24 saw very large falls relative to the exceptional highs in 2022/23. At the all-farm level and a longer-term view, the average Farm Business Income of approximately £82,000 for the agricultural transition (2021/22-2023/24) remains above the pre-transition average of approximately £58,000 (2018/19-2020/21). The Secretary of State discussed the department’s approach to the problem of low farming income across Britain at the Oxford Farming Conference on 9 January, and his full remarks can be found here. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of adverse weather conditions on arable farm output in South Suffolk constituency in each of the last three years.
There are multiple factors that influence arable production, for example farmers will make business decisions in response to market signals such as input and output prices, so we are unable to attribute what degree of change between years is solely as a result of the weather. Unfortunately, we do not produce output statistics at a constituency level.
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 17 December to Question 19728 on National Security Adviser: Pay, whether the current NSA salary will be more than that paid to the previous NSA.
As a special adviser, the National Security Adviser’s salary is determined by the Special Adviser People Board, in line with the special adviser pay framework. Information on Special Adviser pay will be published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers a...
Pursuant to the Answer of 17 December to Question 19728 on National Security Adviser: Pay, whether if the pension package will differ to that offered to the previous NSA.
As are all special advisers, the National Security Adviser is entitled to membership of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.