30 Jan 15. Defence Committee – Decision-making in Defence Policy, Tuesday 3 February 2015. Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House.
Witnesses:
At 2.15pm
* Baroness Neville-Jones, former member of the National
Security Council
At 3.00pm
* Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, former Chief of the
Defence Staff
This is the fifth session for this inquiry. Discussion will focus on the National Security Council and its effectiveness in relation to decision-making in defence policy.
Wednesday 4 February 2015 – The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
. Witnesses from the Ministry of Defence:
At 9.30am
* Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, Secretary of State for Defence
* Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Vice Chief of Defence Staff
* Peter Watkins, Director General Security Policy
This is the sixth and final session for this inquiry. The Committee will consider topics relating to decision-making in defence policy including the role of the NSC, accountability, and decision-making structures within the Ministry of Defence.
27 Jan 15. Foreign Affairs Committee. Sir John Chilcot will give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee at 10.00 on Wednesday 4 February on the preparation of his report and on the obstacles which remain before he can submit it to the Prime Minister.
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Asked by Angus Robertson (Moray)
Asked on: 20 January 2015
Ministry of Defence
Tornado Aircraft
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2014 to Question 210783, what the issues were that required resolution; whether those issues they have been resolved; and if he will publish the revised TCAS embodiment programme for the Tornado GR4 fleet.
Answered by: Mr Philip Dunne
Answered on: 27 January 2015
Trials in the Tornado GR4 aircraft have revealed that modifications are required to existing aircraft hardware and software in order to ensure compatibility with the Honeywell Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System II (TCAS II). Work is continuing to resolve these issues and once further trials and testing has been completed we will be in a better position to determine when the full capability will be available. The Ministry of Defence is committed to obtaining early beneficial use of TCAS II and is embodying the system in as many Tornado GR4 aircraft as possible to operate, initially, in Traffic Advisory mode.
Asked by Paul Flynn (Newport West)
Asked on: 20 January 2015
Ministry of Defence
Trident
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the section on Barrow Infrastructure in the United Kingdom’s Future Nuclear Deterrent: 2014 Update to Parliament, how he calculated that £42 million would be saved by a different approach to financing the rebuild of new support facilities in the Central Yard at the Barrow shipyard; what the early implementation steel work to the New Assembly Shop consists of; and how the £55 million of planned expenditure for which no specific purpose is assigned will be used.
Answered by: Mr Philip Dunne
Answered on: 27 January 2015
The expected £42 million reduction in cost results from changes to the way the Department pays for the Barrow facility improvements. The payment changes reflect a move from overhead recovery from BAE Systems to direct funding by the Ministry of Defence, and an associated reduction in the company’s profit to reflect the reduced level of commercial risk.
Much of the plant and equipment within the new assembly shop will require upgrading and refurbishing from the existing stock to support the Successor submarine build programme. This includes presses, rotators and specialist welding equipment; the testing of this equipment will use steel from which test-pieces and prototypes will be manufactured.
The 2014 Update to Parliament explained that £261 million of funding has been re-profiled into the Assessment Phase. Of this, £206 million is to support Barrow infrastructure. The