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1126585

registered interest
date	14/05/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Deployment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what her Department's policy is on the deployment of armed personnel to countries where UK citizens have been assessed as at risk.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	254172
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2019 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence takes its responsibility for mitigation of the risks to Armed Forces personnel deployed overseas very seriously. We take a risk-based approach to deployments and consider each on a case by case basis; identified risks are factored into decision making and appropriate action is taken to ensure the safety and security of our Armed forces personnel overseas.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 20/05/2019 13:15:36 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1050399

registered interest
date	29/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	EU Defence Policy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with NATO on the UK’s role in EU defence programmes after the UK leaves the EU.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	214017
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>I regularly discuss the UK's leading role in European security with NATO counterparts. As NATO's leading European ally, the UK is clear that NATO forms the cornerstone of European defence and security. The Government intends to co-operate closely with the EU on defence and security as part of an ambitious security partnership; both on a case-by-case basis and when it is in our mutual interest. The UK has consistently called for any EU defence programmes and initiatives to be open to third parties and complementary with NATO.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 05/02/2019 16:32:31 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1050191

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost is to the public purse on outsourcing recruitment services in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	213308
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>The requested figures, by complete Financial Year (FY), are provided in the following table.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>FY2013-14</p></td><td><p>FY2014-15</p></td><td><p>FY2015-16</p></td><td><p>FY2016-17</p></td><td><p>FY2017-18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£80,218,050</p></td><td><p>£108,736,300</p></td><td><p>£79,618,300</p></td><td><p>£70,272,400</p></td><td><p>£72,990,150</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong>:</p><p>All figures are for actual expenditure and are rounded. Figures for the Naval Service component of this expenditure are available only from FY2015-16.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 05/02/2019 17:47:01 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1050192

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Army: Officers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many female officers are there in the British Army.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	213309
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2019 answer text <p>As at 1 October 2018 there were 1,560 female officers in the British Army. A detailed breakdown of the Armed Forces by gender can be found in Table 1 of the UK Armed Forces Biannual Diversity Statistics at the following link:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2018</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 04/02/2019 16:34:29 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1050194

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Army: Deployment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many countries the British Army has deployed troops on operations.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	213310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2019 answer text <p>In the month of January 2019 British Army personnel were deployed on, or in support of, operations in 31 countries.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 04/02/2019 17:12:20 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1050195

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Armed Forces: Doctors
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage young doctors to join the armed forces.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	213311
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/02/2019 answer text <p>The recruitment of doctors into the Armed Forces comes from two main streams. The first is those joining as students, in University or at a later point whilst they are still under training and are unaccredited. Recruiting at an early stage affords an opportunity to embed an understanding of the different service environments.</p><p>Armed Forces recruitment organisations are focused on attracting medical personnel. For doctors this includes briefings at all of the UK's Medical Schools and regular publicity in professional journals. Financial support to medical students in their final three years at University, via a salary or bursary scheme, provides a significant financial incentive, and guarantees a minimum period of service after graduation.</p><p>The second stream is direct entrants who join the Armed Forces as accredited General Practitioners (GPs) or Consultants. A 'golden hello' of £50,000 is available to incentivise recruitment in shortfall specialties, filling capability gaps that would otherwise take many years to fill, due to the long training pathway.</p><p>The recruitment of doctors into the Reserves is focussed at those who are already accredited or are specialty trainees, but junior doctors are also encouraged to join. The Ministry of Defence works closely with the National Health Service at national and trust level to ensure a positive environment for Reserve recruitment.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 04/02/2019 16:35:48 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1050196

registered interest
date	28/01/2019
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Army: Recruitment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the pass rate was for each cohort of recruits to the army in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	213312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/02/2019 answer text <p>The pass rate for recruits into the Army’s trained strength for the last five years is set out in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>The definition of trained personnel was changed in October 2016 to reflect the ability for personnel who have completed basic training to be utilised in response to crises within the UK. Prior to this information was only held centrally by the Department in relation to recruits completing trade training.</p><p> </p><p>2017-18 figures will include a significant number of personnel still progressing through either basic or trade training and therefore pass rates will continue to increase. In earlier years some individuals can take longer to proceed through the pipeline due to differing lengths of trade training and personal/medical reasons and are therefore shown as still in training.</p><p> </p><p>The Army also has an intake of recruits every year who have already passed elements of training during previous Service; as such, the below intake does not fully reflect the total intake into the Army each year.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1: Pass Rates for Regular Officers, FY 2013-14 to 2017-18</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Year of Intake</strong></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Untrained Intake</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Completed Officer Cadet Training (Sandhurst)</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Completed Young Officer Training</strong></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Still in Training</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Passes</p></td><td><p>Rate</p></td><td><p>Passes</p></td><td><p>Rate</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>510</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>480</p></td><td><p><strong>94%</strong></p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014-15</strong></p></td><td><p>470</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>420</p></td><td><p><strong>90%</strong></p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015-16</strong></p></td><td><p>520</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>470</p></td><td><p><strong>90%</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p>590</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>470</p></td><td><p><strong>79%</strong></p></td><td><p>60</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017-18 (to date)</strong></p></td><td><p>580</p></td><td><p>340</p></td><td><p><strong>58%</strong></p></td><td><p>90</p></td><td><p><strong>16%</strong></p></td><td><p>210 (2017-18 figure refers to Officer Cadet Training).</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Table 2: Pass Rates for Other Ranks, FY 2013-14 to 2017-18</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Year of Intake</strong></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Untrained Intake</strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Completed Basic Training </strong></p></td><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Completed Trade Training</strong></p></td><td rowspan="2"><p><strong>Still in Training</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Passes</p></td><td><p>Rate</p></td><td><p>Passes</p></td><td><p>Rate</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013-14</strong></p></td><td><p>6,250</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4,710</p></td><td><p><strong>75%</strong></p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014-15</strong></p></td><td><p>7,350</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>5,290</p></td><td><p><strong>72%</strong></p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015-16</strong></p></td><td><p>7,550</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>5,450</p></td><td><p><strong>72%</strong></p></td><td><p>50</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016-17</strong></p></td><td><p>6,980</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>4,960</p></td><td><p><strong>71%</strong></p></td><td><p>360</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017-18 (to date)</strong></p></td><td><p>5,990</p></td><td><p>4,450</p></td><td><p><strong>74%</strong></p></td><td><p>2,160</p></td><td><p><strong>36%</strong></p></td><td><p>530 (2017-18 figure Refers to Basic training).</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: Defence Statistics(Army)</p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p> </p><p>The figures are for the Regular Army only and therefore exclude Gurkhas and Army Reserves. Professionally Qualified Officers have been excluded. Officer figures are those new to the Regular Army, and exclude Soldiers transfers.</p><p> </p><p>Personnel who have not yet passed training, but are still in the Army are included in the Still Untrained column. For 2017-18, Still Untrained refers to personnel who are still in Basic Training.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 05/02/2019 16:22:29 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1023891

registered interest
date	12/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Cybersecurity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to protect the UK from cyber-attack from hostile states.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	201591
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2018 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence places a high priority on assuring its systems and dedicates considerable resources to assessing cyber threats; and we continue to apply all necessary mitigations to combat these threats. We work hard to protect our Armed Forces and the Nation from hostile activity 24/7, 365 Days year from our world-class Global Operations and Security Control Centre. We work hand in hand with the National Cyber Security Centre, operating alongside and within its structures constantly.</p><p>A 21st Century military has to operate as effectively in cyberspace as it does by sea and land, in the air and in space. We are developing a range of cyber capabilities which can be used at a time and place of our choosing, in accordance with international law.</p><p>Our vision is that the UK is secure and resilient to cyber threats, prosperous and confident in the digital world.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 20/12/2018 15:06:25 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1022970

registered interest
date	10/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Defence: Cybersecurity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the security of the technology used for military systems.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	200621
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2018 answer text <p>Defence uses a number of information assurance and cyber security activities to ensure the technology used for military systems are appropriately protected. However, for the purpose of safeguarding national security, the Ministry of Defence does not comment publicly on the specifics of these activities and arrangements.</p> answering member constituency Pudsey answering member printed Stuart Andrew question first answered 18/12/2018 14:30:29 answering member 4032 label Biography information for Stuart Andrew
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1022971

registered interest
date	10/12/2018
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Russia: Armed Forces
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 in trends in the number of aggressive tactics by Russian by (a) sea and (b) air in relation to (i) Royal Navy and (ii) Royal Air Force operations in the last two years.
tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
tabling member printed	David Simpson
uin	200622
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2018 answer text <p>Russia has developed a more assertive military posture towards the West. Many Russian military activities are routine while some are more provocative. Russian interaction with UK aircraft and ships are generally safe and professional.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 18/12/2018 12:22:12 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson