House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Q
Asked by Jim Shannon
(Strangford)
Asked on: 14 December 2015
Ministry of Defence
Armed Forces: Muslims
20100
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage British Muslims to join the armed forces to tackle ISIL.
A
Answered by: Penny Mordaunt
Answered on: 22 December 2015
The Ministry of Defence is working up plans to meet the Government’s commitment to increase the number of black, Asian, ethnic minority (BAME) recruits into the Armed Forces to 10% by 2020, and have allocated additional resources for this purpose.
Diversity and inclusion is a Defence Board priority and we recognise that there are challenges we need to address and we are engaging with all communities that are under-represented in the Armed Forces to consider ways and means of doing so.
Some examples of actions we have taken that are aimed at increasing BAME, including Muslim, recruitment are:
Highlighting the benefits of a career in the Armed Forces including the ability to develop a trade or gain professional skills; as well as being a force for good, for example through conducting humanitarian operations.
Trying to build mutual understanding between the Armed Forces and local communities including highlighting the role that Muslims have played in operations from World War One to the present day.
Tackling the perception that there are no role models for Muslims in the Armed Forces.
The Armed Forces have recently (October 2015) won two of the seven awards being presented at the Race for Opportunity Awards. The Armed Forces Muslim Association, of which the Chief of Defence Staff is patron, won the Public Sector Employee Network Award and the Royal Air Force won the Future Workforce Award for their STEM/Employability Skills programme.
Q
Asked by Maria Eagle
(Garston and Halewood)
Asked on: 14 December 2015
Ministry of Defence
Germany: Defence
19814
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of (a) armed forces personnel, (b) civilian staff, (c) equipment and (d) other military assets have been withdrawn from Germany since 2014.
A
Answered by: Mark Lancaster
Answered on: 22 December 2015
We remain on track to meet the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 commitment to withdraw our forces from Germany by 2020. The proportion of Armed Forces Regular personnel and civilian staff who have been withdrawn from Germany between the period 1 January 2014 and 1 December 2015 is 40% and 43% respectively. So far 74% of Service personnel based in Germany have relocated to the UK, which exceeds our 2010 SDSR target to relocate 50% of Service personnel by 2015.
Units are responsible for returning their equipment and other assets to the UK as required. Some equipment, for example left-hand drive vehicles and Main Battle Tanks, has remained in Germany and is managed on a fleet basis. Other equipments have been moved from the UK to Germany to be held in existing UK climate controlled facilities as part of our high readiness posture. As a result the overall proportions withdrawn from Germany are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Q
Asked by John Mann
(Bassetlaw)
Asked on: 14 December 2015
Ministry of Defence
Military Aid: Counter-terrorism
19976
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance he is providing to help defeat (a) Boko Haram in West and Central Africa, (b) al Shabab in Somalia and East Africa and (c) al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen.
A
Answered by: Mark Lancaster
Answered on: 22 December 2015
The UK is increasing support to the Nigerian Forces in tackling the Boko Haram threat. We have a resident British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) that has grown in size since the government announced last year that the UK would increase its support to Nigeria to combat Boko Haram. UK military personnel are working with US, French and Nigerian experts