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1194780

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Mental Health
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What steps the Government is taking to improve mental health and well-being support for armed forces personnel and their families.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	Carla Lockhart
uin	902474
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2020 answer text <p>Our Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy launched in 2017 and it delivers education and training at appropriate points throughout Service life. Personnel and their families can access a 24hr helpline and Service Leavers are supported via the Veterans Gateway initiative. The incidence of mental health issues in Service Personnel and Veterans is comparable to the general population, a testament to the effectiveness of the support provided.</p> answering member constituency Plymouth, Moor View answering member printed Johnny Mercer question first answered 12/05/2020 13:43:12 answering member 4485 label Biography information for Johnny Mercer
tabling member	4857 label Biography information for Carla Lockhart

1194781

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Veterans: Health
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What assessment he has made of the effect on veteran welfare of closing the Veterans UK Helpline.
tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
uin	902481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/05/2020 answer text <p>The Veterans UK helpline has not been closed.</p><p> </p><p>The COVID-19 situation has necessitated the delivery of services differently and veterans can still submit written enquiries in the normal manner via email. Call backs and referral to the Veterans Welfare Service are provided where urgent or vulnerable callers are identified.</p> answering member constituency Plymouth, Moor View answering member printed Johnny Mercer question first answered 12/05/2020 13:43:35 answering member 4485 label Biography information for Johnny Mercer
tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma

1194957

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Reserve Forces
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has he made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of armed forces reservists.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Morgan
uin	46142
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2020 answer text <p>With regard to the operational capability of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has robust processes and measures in place to conduct capability assessment, compare data sets and metrics, and identify trends in order to inform decisions. These processes have been dynamically and routinely used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect and prioritise critical and essential outputs, such as our permanent tasks.</p><p>To aid in delivery of these, non-essential commitments and activity has been minimised, postponed or cancelled. The MOD continues to assess which essential commitments and activity have required to protect all priority outputs, adapting accordingly.</p><p>Recruitment, retention, and morale of Reserve Forces is the purview of the single Services and therefore there will be differences in approaches.</p><p>Armed Forces recruitment, including for Reserves, continues online while in-person interviews and assessments have been paused in order to comply with current health and safety guidelines. At this early stage of the pandemic we are unable to make any firm pronouncement on trends or conclusions. A fuller assessment will only be possible much later in the year.</p><p>At this stage there is no evidence of a significant downturn in the recruitment of Reserve Forces, with the operational capability of the UK Armed Forces being as robust as ever, bolstered by augmentation in the form of our committed and highly skilled Reservists.</p><p>Far from seeing a retention issue, we have seen the re-engagement of many Reservists whilst morale remains high, evidenced by significant numbers of Reserve personnel both currently mobilised and on stand-by for future requirements. COVID-19 has actually proved a galvanising factor in giving Reservists the opportunity to step forward to support the nation in a time of need.</p><p>The Maritime Reserves (MR) are still receiving applications, albeit at a reduced rate. Virtual interactions and assessment processes are being developed to accommodate the requirement for social distancing. These should be trialled soon and will be supported with specific marketing to reignite the attraction of high calibre candidates. MR have not experienced any voluntary outflow because of COVID-19, and at present no additional specific retention action has been necessary. A continuous assessment of people, morale and wellbeing has been undertaken within MR units, using virtual methods to engage with personnel. Effect on morale is judged minimal overall.</p><p>Morale amongst Army Reservists is reviewed formally through the Reserve Continuous Attitude Survey and evidenced more informally through the levels of participation in Defence's contribution to fighting the pandemic. 1750 Army Reserves are currently mobilised, with many more volunteering and hoping to be utilised. That their service was engaged quickly and efficiently, and at scale, is indication of good morale. Innovative use of virtual training and communications (such as Defence Connect) has enabled units to maintain contact with their Reserve Soldiers on a weekly basis during the lockdown. This commitment, initiative, and shared purpose has been critical in enabling the maintenance of the morale of the Army Reserve.</p><p>No comprehensive assessment has been made of the morale amongst Royal Air Force (RAF) Reservists, however they are proud of their contribution to Defence's response to pandemic. This is evidenced by the initial trawl for Reservist Personnel yielding over 800 volunteers, many of whom, with the consent of their employer, waived the 28-day notice period.</p> answering member constituency Wells answering member printed James Heappey grouped question UIN 46143 question first answered 18/05/2020 11:25:48 answering member 4528 label Biography information for James Heappey
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1194958

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Reserve Forces
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment has he made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on morale among armed forces reservists.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Morgan
uin	46143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2020 answer text <p>With regard to the operational capability of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has robust processes and measures in place to conduct capability assessment, compare data sets and metrics, and identify trends in order to inform decisions. These processes have been dynamically and routinely used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect and prioritise critical and essential outputs, such as our permanent tasks.</p><p>To aid in delivery of these, non-essential commitments and activity has been minimised, postponed or cancelled. The MOD continues to assess which essential commitments and activity have required to protect all priority outputs, adapting accordingly.</p><p>Recruitment, retention, and morale of Reserve Forces is the purview of the single Services and therefore there will be differences in approaches.</p><p>Armed Forces recruitment, including for Reserves, continues online while in-person interviews and assessments have been paused in order to comply with current health and safety guidelines. At this early stage of the pandemic we are unable to make any firm pronouncement on trends or conclusions. A fuller assessment will only be possible much later in the year.</p><p>At this stage there is no evidence of a significant downturn in the recruitment of Reserve Forces, with the operational capability of the UK Armed Forces being as robust as ever, bolstered by augmentation in the form of our committed and highly skilled Reservists.</p><p>Far from seeing a retention issue, we have seen the re-engagement of many Reservists whilst morale remains high, evidenced by significant numbers of Reserve personnel both currently mobilised and on stand-by for future requirements. COVID-19 has actually proved a galvanising factor in giving Reservists the opportunity to step forward to support the nation in a time of need.</p><p>The Maritime Reserves (MR) are still receiving applications, albeit at a reduced rate. Virtual interactions and assessment processes are being developed to accommodate the requirement for social distancing. These should be trialled soon and will be supported with specific marketing to reignite the attraction of high calibre candidates. MR have not experienced any voluntary outflow because of COVID-19, and at present no additional specific retention action has been necessary. A continuous assessment of people, morale and wellbeing has been undertaken within MR units, using virtual methods to engage with personnel. Effect on morale is judged minimal overall.</p><p>Morale amongst Army Reservists is reviewed formally through the Reserve Continuous Attitude Survey and evidenced more informally through the levels of participation in Defence's contribution to fighting the pandemic. 1750 Army Reserves are currently mobilised, with many more volunteering and hoping to be utilised. That their service was engaged quickly and efficiently, and at scale, is indication of good morale. Innovative use of virtual training and communications (such as Defence Connect) has enabled units to maintain contact with their Reserve Soldiers on a weekly basis during the lockdown. This commitment, initiative, and shared purpose has been critical in enabling the maintenance of the morale of the Army Reserve.</p><p>No comprehensive assessment has been made of the morale amongst Royal Air Force (RAF) Reservists, however they are proud of their contribution to Defence's response to pandemic. This is evidenced by the initial trawl for Reservist Personnel yielding over 800 volunteers, many of whom, with the consent of their employer, waived the 28-day notice period.</p> answering member constituency Wells answering member printed James Heappey grouped question UIN 46142 question first answered 18/05/2020 11:25:48 answering member 4528 label Biography information for James Heappey
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1194959

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Reserve Forces: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent comparative assessment has he made of trends in armed forces reserve recruitment and operational capability of the armed forces during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Morgan
uin	46144
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2020 answer text <p>With regard to the operational capability of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has robust processes and measures in place to conduct capability assessment, compare data sets and metrics, and identify trends in order to inform decisions. These processes have been dynamically and routinely used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect and prioritise critical and essential outputs, such as our permanent tasks.</p><p>To aid in delivery of these, non-essential commitments and activity has been minimised, postponed or cancelled. The MOD continues to assess which essential commitments and activity have required to protect all priority outputs, adapting accordingly.</p><p>Recruitment, retention, and morale of Reserve Forces is the purview of the single Services and therefore there will be differences in approaches.</p><p>Armed Forces recruitment, including for Reserves, continues online while in-person interviews and assessments have been paused in order to comply with current health and safety guidelines. At this early stage of the pandemic we are unable to make any firm pronouncement on trends or conclusions. A fuller assessment will only be possible much later in the year.</p><p>At this stage there is no evidence of a significant downturn in the recruitment of Reserve Forces, with the operational capability of the UK Armed Forces being as robust as ever, bolstered by augmentation in the form of our committed and highly skilled Reservists.</p><p>Far from seeing a retention issue, we have seen the re-engagement of many Reservists whilst morale remains high, evidenced by significant numbers of Reserve personnel both currently mobilised and on stand-by for future requirements. COVID-19 has actually proved a galvanising factor in giving Reservists the opportunity to step forward to support the nation in a time of need.</p><p>The Maritime Reserves (MR) are still receiving applications, albeit at a reduced rate. Virtual interactions and assessment processes are being developed to accommodate the requirement for social distancing. These should be trialled soon and will be supported with specific marketing to reignite the attraction of high calibre candidates. MR have not experienced any voluntary outflow because of COVID-19, and at present no additional specific retention action has been necessary. A continuous assessment of people, morale and wellbeing has been undertaken within MR units, using virtual methods to engage with personnel. Effect on morale is judged minimal overall.</p><p>Morale amongst Army Reservists is reviewed formally through the Reserve Continuous Attitude Survey and evidenced more informally through the levels of participation in Defence's contribution to fighting the pandemic. 1750 Army Reserves are currently mobilised, with many more volunteering and hoping to be utilised. That their service was engaged quickly and efficiently, and at scale, is indication of good morale. Innovative use of virtual training and communications (such as Defence Connect) has enabled units to maintain contact with their Reserve Soldiers on a weekly basis during the lockdown. This commitment, initiative, and shared purpose has been critical in enabling the maintenance of the morale of the Army Reserve.</p><p>No comprehensive assessment has been made of the morale amongst Royal Air Force (RAF) Reservists, however they are proud of their contribution to Defence's response to pandemic. This is evidenced by the initial trawl for Reservist Personnel yielding over 800 volunteers, many of whom, with the consent of their employer, waived the 28-day notice period.</p> answering member constituency Wells answering member printed James Heappey question first answered 18/05/2020 11:00:47 answering member 4528 label Biography information for James Heappey
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1194960

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions has he had with senior representatives of Capita on a strategy for reintroducing face to face recruitment for the armed forces after the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Portsmouth South
tabling member printed	Mr Stephen Morgan
uin	46145
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2020 answer text <p>As part of the Recruiting Partnering Project contract the Army has with Capita, plans to restart face to face recruitment are progressing, with Assessment Centres due to open again in June. Recruitment processes are being reviewed and improved to incorporate lessons learned from recent virtual operations including compliance with Public Health England guidance.</p><p>Until then, candidates applying to join the Army can continue to progress much of their application online, with virtual support provided by both military and Capita recruiters.</p><p>Encouragingly, the number of Regular soldier applications to join the Army were at their highest in six years for the month of March.</p> answering member constituency Wells answering member printed James Heappey question first answered 18/05/2020 11:28:21 answering member 4528 label Biography information for James Heappey
tabling member	4653 label Biography information for Stephen Morgan

1195002

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Army
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many regular, full-time serving members of the Army there were on the latest date for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Warley
tabling member printed	John Spellar
uin	45953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2020 answer text <p>There were 78,620 Regular Army personnel on strength as at 1 January 2020</p><p>Notes/Caveats:</p><p>These figures were provided by Defence Statistics (Army)</p><p>Figures are for Untrained and Trained Regular strengths and therefore exclude Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Gurkhas but include those individuals who have transferred out of the Gurkhas to the Regular Army.</p><p>Figures have been rounded to 10 for presentational purposes;</p> answering member constituency Wells answering member printed James Heappey question first answered 20/05/2020 15:52:21 answering member 4528 label Biography information for James Heappey
tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1195004

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Army Reserve
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Army Reserve personnel, excluding members of University Officer Training Corps, have served for a period of over one year.
tabling member constituency	Warley
tabling member printed	John Spellar
uin	45954
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2020 answer text <p>As at 1 January 2020, there were 25,610 Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Army personnel who had continuous Army Reserve service of one year or more.</p><p> </p><p>Notes/Caveats:</p><ol><li>Figures provided by Defence Statistics (Army).</li><li>FR20 personnel includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those Volunteer Reserves serving on Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Additional Duties Commitment (ADC). Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20.</li><li>The above figure is the number of FR20 personnel who were recorded on Strength both on 1 January 2020 and 1 January 2019 . This captures the number of personnel who have a year or more continuous service in Army Reserve, but will not include those who may have accumulated more than one year of service in other areas of the Armed Forces prior to joining the Army Reserves.</li><li>Figures have been rounded to 10 for presentational purposes.</li></ol><p> </p> answering member constituency Wells answering member printed James Heappey question first answered 20/05/2020 15:52:47 answering member 4528 label Biography information for James Heappey
tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1195151

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the preparedness of UK (a) nuclear and (b) conventional forces to deter and respond respectively to military threats and aggressive behaviour; and whether an increase in (i) disinformation campaigns and (ii) aggressive behaviour by (A) Russia, (B) China, (C) Iran and (D) North Korea has been observed since the onset of the pandemic.
tabling member constituency	New Forest East
tabling member printed	Dr Julian Lewis
uin	45949
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2020 answer text <p>It is taking longer than expected to respond to the hon. Member's question, therefore I will write to him shortly.</p> answering member constituency Wells answering member printed James Heappey question first answered 18/05/2020 16:48:00 answering member 4528 label Biography information for James Heappey
tabling member	54 label Biography information for Sir Julian Lewis

1195152

registered interest
date	12/05/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Tankers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library his Department's report on the Tide-force vessels contract.
tabling member constituency	Warley
tabling member printed	John Spellar
uin	45955
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2020 answer text <p>Careful consideration has been given as to whether the MARS (Tide Class) Tanker Lessons Learnt report can be made public at this time. It has been concluded that it cannot as its disclosure would be prejudicial to the formulation of Government policy and commercial interests.</p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Jeremy Quin question first answered 18/05/2020 16:13:20 answering member 4507 label Biography information for Sir Jeremy Quin
tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar