Every parliamentary written question tabled by Mark Francois this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 481–500 of 597 · this parliament
What the salary bands are for the (a) Chief Executive, (b) Chief Operating Officer, (c) Finance Director and (d) Medical Director at Mid & South Essex Hospitals NHS Trust.
Information on the renumeration of senior staff is published by hospital trusts as part of their annual report and accounts. This information for the Mid and South Essex Hospitals Trust is available at the following link:https://www.mse.nhs.uk/trust-publications-and-reports?smbfolder=150
How many (a) communications and (b) media staff are employed by Mid & South Essex Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Department does not hold the information requested.
How many equality, diversity and inclusion managers are employed by the Mid and South Essex Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Department does not hold the information requested.
What role Price Waterhouse Coopers have been assigned in assisting with the financial management of the Mid & South Essex NHS Hospitals Trust; how long this task has been assigned for; what the cost to the public purse is; and what outputs they are required to deliver.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) received a direct award to undertake a nationally mandated Investigation and Intervention programme at the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, to support it in delivering its financial plan.The programme lasted eight weeks, and the cost of phase one was £246,187, which the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and the integrated care board incurred. The output was a report recommending actions the system should take to recover its in-year plan.The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board decided to secure additional support from PwC for phase two from mid-July to the end of October 2024, which cost £1.07 million. This evolved into a programme of work supporting direct intervention within and across the foundation trust’s hospital sites.
What his planned timetable is for publishing his Department's annual statistics on armed forces equipment and formations.
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
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21267 on Defence: Procurement, when he plans full implementation of the NATO test across all his Department's procurement decisions.
Implementation work is ongoing and will conclude as soon as possible. The detail on metrics or evaluation remains under active consideration, but the work overall is being conducted under close oversight by the Permanent Secretary and Ministers, including through regular updates to the Defence Board. This will continue throughout, and after implementation, to ensure the process meets our objectives and remains effective.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 21267 on Defence: Procurement, what plans he has to review the effectiveness of the NATO test once implemented; and with what metrics.
Implementation work is ongoing and will conclude as soon as possible. The detail on metrics or evaluation remains under active consideration, but the work overall is being conducted under close oversight by the Permanent Secretary and Ministers, including through regular updates to the Defence Board. This will continue throughout, and after implementation, to ensure the process meets our objectives and remains effective.
For what reason the annual armed forces equipment and formations statistics was not published on 31 October 2024.
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
Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 20932 on Diego Garcia, what his planned timetable is to publish details of the Prime Minister’s meetings between July and December 2024.
Details of ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly on GOV.UK.
What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of alleged reports that Russia has used chemical weapons in Ukraine .
The Ministry of Defence continues to assess and monitor the evolving threat picture in Ukraine, including illegal Russian use of chemicals as a method of warfare. Russia has publicly admitted to the use of Riot Control Agents (RCAs) on the battlefield against Ukraine, and there are multiple reports of the use of the toxic choking agent chloropicrin. In December last year, a Technical Report confirming the use of Riot Control Agents in Ukraine was published by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The UK has been at the forefront of international support and assistance to Ukraine and has previously provided respirators and decontamination kits to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as other protective measures to enhance Ukraine’s protective capabilities against chemical weapons. In December 2024, following a direct request for UK Assistance by Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence announced a further assistance package including funding for the procurement of respirators and other equipment to protect Ukraine's forces. This is being procured jointly with international partners through the G7 led Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Our commitment to Ukraine is unwavering and we continue to work closely with our international partners, both bilaterally and in multilateral forums, to coordinate counter-CBRN support and assistance to Ukraine.
Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16769 on Veterans, whether his Department is taking steps to gather the data required to estimate the number of veterans who are (a) eligible for Pension Credit and (b) have an income of less than £12,500 a year.
The Ministry of Defence is already working across Government to improve data collection on veterans. At this time, we do not have data to enable us to make an estimate on the number of veterans who are eligible for pension credit and have an income of less than £12,500 but we will continue to keep this under review.
Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 16769 on Veterans, if he will review his Department's data collection processes to enable it to make an estimate of the number of veterans who are (a) eligible for Pension Credit and (b) have an income of less than £12,500 a year.
The Ministry of Defence is already working across Government to improve data collection on veterans. At this time, we do not have data to enable us to make an estimate on the number of veterans who are eligible for pension credit and have an income of less than £12,500 but we will continue to keep this under review.
Whether the in-service date for the fleet solid support ships has been impacted by the changes to the Harland and Wolff contract.
The Government has worked closely with Navantia UK (Prime Contractor) on the future of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme and agreed with them the minimum changes to the contract necessary - on commercial terms - to ensure its continued delivery. This includes minimising disruption to the current schedule as much as possible, including the impact on in-service dates which is still being assessed.We are unable to comment on the details of the contract due to commercial sensitivities. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, safeguards the delivery of the FSS programme and secures the future of all four Harland & Wolff (H&W) shipyards in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Devon.The overall build strategy for the FSS ships remains unchanged. All three ships will be assembled from blocks manufactured in H&W 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.
Whether any part of the final assembly of the Fleet Solid Support ships is planned to take place in Spain under the revised Harland and Wolff contract.
The Government has worked closely with Navantia UK (Prime Contractor) on the future of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme and agreed with them the minimum changes to the contract necessary - on commercial terms - to ensure its continued delivery. This includes minimising disruption to the current schedule as much as possible, including the impact on in-service dates which is still being assessed.We are unable to comment on the details of the contract due to commercial sensitivities. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, safeguards the delivery of the FSS programme and secures the future of all four Harland & Wolff (H&W) shipyards in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Devon.The overall build strategy for the FSS ships remains unchanged. All three ships will be assembled from blocks manufactured in H&W 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.
What plans he has to implement a NATO test for major defence projects procurement.
We conducted a NATO test in the first 100 days of this Government.As part of that work we are implementing a NATO test for major procurement decisions by mandating that NATO should be considered in all Ministry of Defence investment business cases. This is in the process of being implemented across the Department.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the content is of his response of 16 December 2024 to the Mauritian counterproposals to the UK/Mauritius draft agreement.
In a joint statement on 20 December, both the UK and Mauritius committed to finalising an agreement on the exercise of sovereignty over BIOT/Chagos as quickly as possible. It would not be appropriate to give a running commentary of ongoing engagement with Mauritius, however we will continue to work closely in good faith with the new Mauritian Government to conclude a deal that is in both sides' shared interests, including protecting the base on Diego Garcia. Both Houses of Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the details of the Treaty in the usual way when it comes to Parliament before ratification.
What the total figure is for the changes to the value of the contract with Harland and Wolff for the Fleet Solid Support ships.
The Government has worked closely with Navantia UK (Prime Contractor) on the future of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme and agreed with them the minimum changes to the contract necessary - on commercial terms - to ensure its continued delivery. This includes minimising disruption to the current schedule as much as possible, including the impact on in-service dates which is still being assessed.We are unable to comment on the details of the contract due to commercial sensitivities. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, safeguards the delivery of the FSS programme and secures the future of all four Harland & Wolff (H&W) shipyards in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Devon.The overall build strategy for the FSS ships remains unchanged. All three ships will be assembled from blocks manufactured in H&W 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.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Indian government on (a) British Sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory, (b) the operation of Indian bases on Mauritian territory and (c) the use of Diego Garcia or the rest of the archipelago by (i) the Indian Navy and (ii) other Indian forces.
The Foreign Secretary last spoke to Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on 25 November 2024 about a range of issues, including BIOT. UK officials also regularly engage with the Indian government about the agreement. Our primary goal in negotiations has been to protect the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. The agreement reached contains robust security arrangements, ensuring the base can continue to operate securely and effectively as it has done, well into the next century. It has been strongly supported by our closest allies and partners, including the US and India . We would not have signed off any agreement that compromised any of our security interests or those of our allies.
Whether the Prime Minister has had discussions with Philippe Sands KC on Diego Garcia since 4 July 2024.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk as part of the government’s transparency agenda.
With reference to his Department's press release entitled Government buys back 36,347 military homes to improve housing for forces families and save taxpayers billions, published on 17 December 2024, what his planned timetable is for the (a) construction and (b) refurbishment of service family homes.
It is too early to provide a timetable for the construction and refurbishment of Service Family Accommodation (SFA). The recent announcement comes as the Government kickstarts work on a new military housing strategy, to be published this year. Key principles of the strategy will include: a generational renewal of Armed Forces accommodation; new opportunities for forces homeownership; and better use of Ministry of Defence land to support the delivery of affordable homes for families across Britain. The first steps in the strategy will include the rapid development of an action plan to deliver on the “once in a generation” opportunities unlocked by today’s deal. This work will involve independent experts, forces families and cross-Government input.