18 Dec 14. Defence Committee. The Defence Committee published online its Tenth Special Report, Friday 19 December at 11.00 am:
*Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2014–15, HC 900. The Report will be on the Committee’s website, www.parliament.uk/defcom from 11 am and copies may be purchased from The Houses of Parliament Shop (12 Bridge Street, Westminster, London, SW1A 2JX, Tel: 020 7219 3890).
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Asked by Fabian Hamilton(Leeds North East)
Asked on: 09 December 2014
RAF Menwith Hill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has been informed of the building of another radome at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill; and what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart and others on this matter.
Answered by: Mr Mark Francois
Answered on: 16 December 2014
The US authorities did formally notify the Ministry of Defence of the proposal to construct a further radome at RAF Menwith Hill. This matter is being handled by officials from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation who recently submitted a planning application to the Local Authority for the new radome on behalf of the US.
Asked by Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East)
Asked on: 09 December 2014
USA
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has been informed of the plans for development of (a) USAF Croughton and (b) USAF Barford St John; and what discussions he has had with his US counterpart and others on this matter.
Answered by: Mr Mark Francois
Answered on: 16 December 2014
The Ministry of Defence is aware that the US is considering their future use of bases in the UK, including RAF Croughton and RAF Barford St John, as part of a European wide basing review. We expect the US to announce the outcomes of this review in the near future.
Asked by Lord West of Spithead
Asked on: 10 December 2014
Aircraft Carriers
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether new money has been provided from the contingency funds of HM Treasury or the Ministry of Defence to run the second aircraft carrier or whether the Royal Navy has been told to do so within present funding boundaries.
Answered by: Lord Astor of Hever
Answered on: 16 December 2014
The cost associated with the operation of a second aircraft carrier is the subject of future planning rounds.
Asked by Mrs Madeleine Moon(Bridgend)
Asked on: 10 December 2014
Contracts
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many contracts his Department has held with private military companies in each year since 2008; what the cost of those contracts was; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by: Mr Julian Brazier
Answered on: 16 December 2014
Holding answer received on 15 December 2014. This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In 2013-14, for example, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) paid more than 2,700 different contractors. We would need to examine the work of each one to establish whether it could be considered a ‘private military company’.
The MOD publishes a range of trade, industry and contract statistics, including a list of suppliers who the MOD paid more than £5 million in each financial year. The latest information covering 2013-14 is available on the gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/ statistics/mod-industry-trade-and-contracts-2014.
Asked by Vernon Coaker (Gedling)
Asked on: 10 December 2014
Bahrain
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which vessels will be based at the UK’s new naval base in Bahrain.
Answered by: Mr Mark Francois
Answered on: 16 December 2014
The improvement of the existing facilities will support the Ministry of Defence and other Government Department’s in the furtherance of British interests in the region. The facilities will be used by Royal Navy vessels specifically assigned to