17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedIf he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his timetable for reaching 2.5% GDP of expenditure on defence on the resources available to Defence Equipment and Support.
ReplyThe Government is fully committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence as soon as possible. The Government will set out a clear path to 2.5% at a future fiscal event. The Government will deliver a programme for defence which is affordable and provides the c...
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedIf he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his timetable for reaching 2.5% GDP of expenditure on defence on economic growth.
ReplyThe Government is fully committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence as soon as possible. The Government will set out a clear path to 2.5% at a future fiscal event. The Government will deliver a programme for defence which is affordable and provides the c...
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedIf he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his timetable for reaching 2.5% GDP of expenditure on defence on AUKUS.
ReplyThe Government is fully committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence as soon as possible. The Government will set out a clear path to 2.5% at a future fiscal event. As set out in the Terms of Reference for the Strategic Defence Review, the UK is committed...
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedIf he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his timetable for reaching 2.5% GDP of expenditure on defence on (a) infrastructure investment required to support and (b) other aspects of the Defence Nuc
ReplyThe Government remains committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence. This will be dealt with at a future fiscal event. Defence spending plans and consideration of their impact will be assessed as part of the Spending Review and the Strategic Defence Revie...
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedIf he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his timetable for reaching 2.5% GDP of expenditure on defence on the Astute Class submarine programme.
ReplyThe Government is totally committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence as soon as possible. The Government will set out a clear path to 2.5% at a future fiscal event. As set out in the Terms of Reference for the Strategic Defence Review, the UK is committ...
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedIf he will take steps to introduce new defence regional partnerships.
ReplyThe Strategic Defence Review, launched by the Prime Minister on 16 July 2024, will set out how Defence will be central to the security, economic growth and prosperity of the United Kingdom. We will also bring forward a Defence Industrial Strategy that will establish long-term partnerships between business and government, promote innovation, and improve resilience.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhether he intends to change delegated spending (a) levels and (b) controls for Front Line Commands.
ReplyThe Department keeps delegations and spending plans under review. This is as part of effective financial management and to ensure the Department lives within its allocated funding, as voted by Parliament.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhether he plans to have discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on retaining receipts from asset disposals.
ReplyThe disposal of assets results in income for the Ministry of Defence (MOD). In line with Managing Public Money, there are limits to how much income the MOD is allowed to retain from receipts. The MOD will routinely discuss with His Majesty's Treasury if there is a need to exceed these limits.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhether it is his Department's policy to maintain support for Operation Interflex.
ReplyYes, the UK remains committed to supporting Operation INTERFLEX. The next tranche of trainees have arrived in the UK and are undergoing training and we aim to train up to 10,000 personnel in this tranche, subject to Ukrainian demands. We continue to work with international partners to look at where we can work together to improve our training offer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow many recruits have been trained under Operation Interflex since its inception.
ReplyUnder Op INTERFLEX the UK has, with support from 12 partner nations, provided training to over 43,500 Ukrainian personnel since June 2022.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow many Ukrainian Armed Forces recruits have been trained by (a) UK armed forces and (b) international partners in the UK since 2014.
ReplyThis Government is proud of the role UK forces have played in training Ukrainian Armed Forces recruits.Since Putin's invasion of Crimea in 2014, the UK has trained over 70,000 Ukrainian personnel. This includes;· Op ORBITAL (2015-2022) - Over 22,000 Ukrainian personnel.· Op INTERFLEX (2022-ongoing) - Over 43,500 Ukrainian personnel.· Wider medical, specialist, air, and maritime training (2022-ongoing) - Over 5,000 Ukrainian personnel.This training has been provided in collaboration with twelve partner nations. We do not hold data for the total number of Ukrainian personnel trained by international partners since 2014.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhat plans he has to strengthen ties between the UK and Ukrainian defence industry.
ReplyThe UK Defence and Business Secretaries met with President Zelenskyy, Defence Minister Umerov and UK industry leaders on 18 July 2024, to discuss deeper cooperation and how to boost industrial production for Ukraine.During this visit, the Defence Secretary and Ukrainian Defence Minister Umerov signed the UK/Ukraine Defence Industrial Support Treaty, which will unlock export finance to enable Ukraine to procure UK-produced equipment and support. This Treaty goes beyond immediate assistance to a long-term partnership between the UK's and Ukraine's military and industrial resilience and is a further demonstration of this Government's unwavering support to Ukraine.It also builds on the three successful Trade Missions to Ukraine, and one inward mission to the UK, with more planned, and the annual £1.5 billion of goods and services trade between the UK and Ukraine.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhat his policy is on the use of Storm Shadow missiles by Ukrainian armed forces.
ReplyThere has been no change in the UK's position on Storm Shadow. I am sure that the hon. Member will understand that I will not go into further detail. We continue to provide military aid to support Ukraine's clear right of self-defence against Russia's illegal attacks in accordance with international humanitarian law. We are clear that equipment provided by the UK is intended for the defence of Ukraine.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhat is the expected delivery date for the Boxer programme.
ReplyThe delivery of Boxer is well underway. Initial prototypes were delivered in December 2023 and the first series production vehicles were delivered in June 2024. The Initial Operating Capability is planned for Quarter four 2025, however, wider global supply chain issues remain a delivery risk which are being closely managed.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow much his Department plans to spend on service family accommodation in each financial year of this Parliament.
ReplyFor Financial Year 2024-25, the funding allocated to the Department for Service Family Accommodation is circa £439 million. The funding allocation beyond Financial Year 2024-25 is not yet known.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow many artillery shells were procured by his Department for Ukraine (a) directly and (b) through international routes since the outbreak of that country's conflict with Russia.
ReplyThe Ministry of Defence has supplied 400,000 artillery shells to Ukraine since the outbreak of that country's conflict with Russia.On behalf of the International Fund for Ukraine, a substantial ammunition package was announced by the Prime Minister at the NATO summit on 11 July 2024. This package will provide up to 120,000 rounds of 152mm artillery ammunition. The ammunition will be newly manufactured by a European supplier, stimulating new industrial capacity to provide Ukraine with high priority ammunition.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow many small arms ammunition his Department has procured for Ukraine (a) directly and (b) via international routes since the outbreak of the conflict.
ReplyThe Ministry of Defence has supplied 6,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition to Ukraine since the outbreak of that country's conflict with Russia.We will continue to work with international Allies and partners to cohere and coordinate our support to Ukraine. This includes through the International Fund for Ukraine and through the international Capability Coalitions, as a demonstration of our collective enduring commitment to build a Ukrainian force capable of deterring Russian aggression for the long term.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow many air defence systems were procured by his Department for Ukraine (a) directly and (b) through international routes since the outbreak of that country's conflict with Russia.
ReplyThe Ministry of Defence has delivered over 2,100 air defence systems and over 5,000 sets of night vision devices since the outbreak of the conflict with Russia.On behalf of the International Fund for Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence has placed contracts for over 500 air defence systems.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedHow many anti-tank missiles were procured by his Department for Ukraine (a) directly and (b) through international routes since the outbreak of that country's conflict with Russia.
ReplyThe Ministry of Defence has supplied over 12,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine since the outbreak of that country's conflict with Russia.We will continue to work with international Allies and partners to cohere and coordinate our support to Ukraine. This includes through the International Fund for Ukraine and through international Capability Coalitions, as a demonstration of our collective enduring commitment to build a Ukrainian force capable of deterring Russian aggression for the long term.
17 Jul 2024·Ministry of Defence·Answered
AskedWhat his planned timetable is for delivering improved technology and data management in his Department’s maintenance regime.
ReplyThe Department seeks to continually improve our technology and data management. We have technology and data strategies which are driving improvements over a number of years and are associated with a large number of individual projects and changes. By its nature this leads to continual, incremental improvement. In the next 12 months we should have largely achieved a review of the condition of our estate and that, combined with new technology to monitor and capture data, and an improved ability to analyse and use data to make decisions, is significantly enhancing how we manage the estate and direct our investment in the most effective manner. A new decision support tool is planned to go live by the end of this year.