15 Jun 11. Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy. The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy is beginning a programme of oral evidence with evidence from Rt. Hon Baroness Neville-Jones (former Minister of State for Security at the Home Office, 2010-11) on Monday 4 July. The meeting will be held in public at 4.30pm in Committee Room 4A in the Palace of Westminster. The Committee plans to take oral evidence from the Government in the Autumn. The Committee would welcome written evidence on the National Security Strategy. This should be sent to the Commons Clerk of the Joint Committee by 30 September 2011. Submission of written evidence should: If possible, be provided electronically in MS Word or Rich Text format by e-mail to
*Begin with a one page summary if it is longer than six pages
*Have numbered paragraphs
*Avoid the use of colour or expensive-to-print material.
21 Jun 11. Defence Committee. Select Committee ORAL EVIDENCE:
Wednesday 22 June 2011
The Wilson Room, Portcullis House (room subject to change)
Witnesses:
At 2.30 pm
* Nick Harvey MP, Minister for the Armed Forces
* General Sir Nicholas Houghton, KCB, CBE, ADC Gen, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff
* Bernard Gray, Chief of Defence Materiel
* Lieutenant General Sir William Rollo, KCB, CBE, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel and Training), Ministry of Defence
House of Lords Written Answers for Friday 17 June 2011
Armed Forces: Libya
Asked by Lord Hoyle
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost or estimated cost of the intervention in Libya; and what has been the expenditure or estimated expenditure by each of the three armed services.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Astor of Hever): It is too early to give a robust estimate of the costs of the operations in Libya; however we expect they should be modest compared with some other operations, such as Afghanistan. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made clear, the additional costs of operations in Libya will be fully met from the reserve.
House of Commons Written Answers for Monday 20th June 2011
Aircraft Carriers
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers are designed to allow for the operation of fixed-wing carrier on-board delivery aircraft. [60223]
Peter Luff: The Queen Elizabeth (QE) class aircraft carriers are optimised around an air group consisting of the Joint Strike Fighter and Merlin helicopter, with a number of other aircraft designated as ‘secondary aircraft’ which could be operated from the carrier—but with varying degrees of operational limitation. Following the decision to convert at least one of the carriers to carry the more capable carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, the list of secondary aircraft is being updated to reflect the change in aircraft launch and recovery equipment. While some fixed-wing aircraft are included within this list, we have not yet made any decisions as to whether there is a requirement for a specific onboard delivery aircraft, and if so, which aircraft or helicopter would undertake such a role.
Departmental Procurement
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department has made in encouraging small businesses to bid for Government contracts.
Peter Luff: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the contribution made by small businesses who often bring the agility and innovation we need in responding to demanding and urgent military requirements. Fo