To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much meat from animals killed by the halal method
was purchased for the United Kingdom military whilst serving in the United Kingdom
in each of the last five years.
<p>Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel in the UK and permanent bases overseas are
served through a number of catering, retail, leisure and other multi-activity contracts.
Halal meat is purchased under these arrangements but information on the volume procured
is not held by the MOD.</p><p> </p><p>Armed Forces personnel serving on operations,
exercises and HM ships and submarines, are catered for under a single food supply
contract with Purple Foodservice Solutions Ltd (PFS). The PFS contract includes the
provision of Operational Ration Packs (ORPs). Individual 24 hour ORPs are available
in 60 different menus, of which 10 are halal.</p><p> </p><p>All food procured for
MOD personnel must comply with MOD food quality standards. These standards comply
with all UK and EU production standards, Farm Assurance or equivalent. This includes
the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which covers Halal slaughter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p>
<p>Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel in the UK and permanent bases overseas are
served through a number of catering, retail, leisure and other multi-activity contracts.
Halal meat is purchased under these arrangements but information on the volume procured
is not held by the MOD.</p><p> </p><p>Armed Forces personnel serving on operations,
exercises and HM ships and submarines, are catered for under a single food supply
contract with Purple Foodservice Solutions Ltd (PFS). The PFS contract includes the
provision of Operational Ration Packs (ORPs). Individual 24 hour ORPs are available
in 60 different menus, of which 10 are halal.</p><p> </p><p>All food procured for
MOD personnel must comply with MOD food quality standards. These standards comply
with all UK and EU production standards, Farm Assurance or equivalent. This includes
the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which covers Halal slaughter.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p>
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any provision comparable to
that made by the United States towards the creation and retention of a service dedicated
to cyber warfare technology; and whether there is a services' cyber commander in post.
<p>The United Kingdom’s approach to military cyber operations recognises that the
contemporary operating environment now requires commanders at every level to understand
cyberspace. The Ministry of Defence is therefore mainstreaming cyber throughout the
Department and the Armed Forces to ensure that every part of Defence sees cyberspace
as part of their responsibilities. For those elements of Defence that are cyber specialists,
the Chief of the Defence Staff has issued direction to the four star commander of
the Joint Forces Command appointing him as the Joint Commander for the planning and
conduct of Defence’s cyber operations. Responsibility is delegated through the Chief
of Defence Intelligence to the Joint Forces Cyber Group, who plan and direct the activities
of our Joint Cyber Units. The Senior Responsible Owner for the integration of Cyber
across Defence is the two star Director of Cyber Intelligence and Information Integration.</p><p>
</p>
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered naming two of the new
Type 26 global combat ships after the cities of Plymouth and Portsmouth.
<p>The Ships' Names and Badges Committee (SNBC) is responsible for considering and
assessing possible names for a new ship or class of ship. The Committee considers
all names that have been proposed, formally and informally, and presents its recommendations
to the Navy Board. The name(s) chosen by the Navy Board are forwarded to my right
hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence before being submitted to Her Majesty
the Queen for approval. A final decision with regards to this process in respect of
the Type 26 Global Combat Ship is not expected until the programme has completed its
Assessment Phase and any subsequent investment decisions are complete. The SNBC has
noted the proposal to use names HMS PLYMOUTH and HMS PORTSMOUTH.</p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made in
assessing the systems used by (a) his Department, (b) the Army, (c) the Navy and (d)
the RAF for recording service complaints; and if he will make a statement.
<p>Accurate data is clearly important for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness
of the complaints process. Service complaints data is captured by all three Services
on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. The system and the supporting
guidance for users have been refined following internal audits of JPA's effectiveness
and extent of its use in 2008 and 2012.</p><p>A third audit is being carried out to
review the adequacy and effectiveness of actions taken in response to the audit in
2012. The Service Complaints Commissioner is fully involved in the audit.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on encouraging
access to credit unions for members of the armed forces and their families; and if
he will make a statement.
<p>Further to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 6 October 2014, Question UIN 208271
refers, we continue to make progress on this issue. As stated previously, we fully
endorse existing, strong credit unions expanding their membership to the Armed Forces
community.</p><p> </p><p>I met Lord Kennedy on 15 October 2014 to discuss the matter
of credit unions for members of the Armed Forces. I confirmed that the facilitation
of payroll deduction for credit unions is technically possible and our payroll provider
is engaged with officials to scope and cost such deductions. Further work is under
way to determine the criteria for access to this facility, and to develop an education
campaign for our personnel to enable them to make informed financial choices.</p><p>
</p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many allegations of (a) sexual assault,
(b) exposure, (c) voyeurism, (d) sexual activity in a public lavatory, (e) rape and
(f) other forms of sexual misconduct have been recorded by the Crime Statistics and
Analysis Cell in each month since April 2014 relating to the (i) Army, (ii) Navy,
(iii) RAF and (iv) reservists; and if he will make a statement.
<p>The table shows the number of allegations of rape, sexual assault, exposure, voyeurism,
and other forms of sexual misconduct, recorded by the Service police in each month
since April 2014 up to 24 October 2014, broken down by Service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April 2014</p></td><td><p>May
2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August 2014</p></td><td><p>September
2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="8"><p><strong>Number
Of Rape Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British Army</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Navy</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Sexual Assault (By Penetration) Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Sexual Assault (No Penetration) Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Navy</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number of Exposure Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Voyeurism Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Royal
Air Force</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="8"><p><strong>Number Of Other Sexual Offences Under The Sexual Offences Act
2003 Allegations</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Month/Service</p></td><td><p>April
2014</p></td><td><p>May 2014</p></td><td><p>June 2014</p></td><td><p>July 2014</p></td><td><p>August
2014</p></td><td><p>September 2014</p></td><td><p>October 2014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British
Army</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:
The table only details investigations where the appropriate Service police have jurisdiction
and investigative lead.</p><p>The allegation recorded against each Service is that
of the victim.</p><p> </p><p>No such allegations have been reported to the Service
police in respect of sexual activity in public lavatory or from any of the Reserve
Forces for the period detailed in the above tables.</p><p> </p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many reports of allegations of (a)
sexual assault, (b) exposure, (c) voyeurism, (d) sexual activity in a public lavatory
and (e) other forms of sexual misconduct were made by commanding officers to each
of the service police forces in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014 to date; and if he will make
a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many single servicemen and servicewomen
based at or near Catterick, North Yorkshire, are currently accommodated in (a) single
living accommodation provided for his Department by a contractor and (b) other private
rented accommodation; and what the average cost per month per person is to his Department
for each such type of accommodation.
<p>No Single Living Accommodation at Catterick is provided by a contractor.</p><p>The
Ministry of Defence (MOD) has nearly 6,000 bedspaces at Catterick which the MOD owns.</p><p>Where
Single Living Accommodation is not available, the MOD may rent accommodation from
the local private market, known as Substitute Service Single Accommodation. This is
only ever used as a last resort where no other option is available.</p><p>There are
currently 25 Service personnel posted to Catterick living in 19 Substitute Service
Single Accommodation properties at an average monthly cost per person of £468.</p>
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications there have been to
the Armed Forces' Help to Buy scheme since it was launched in April 2014; and how
many applicants to that scheme have successfully secured mortgages through the scheme.
<p>We launched the £200 million Forces Help to Buy Scheme in April 2014 to encourage
and support those Service families that aspire to home ownership. I am pleased to
report that the scheme has proved very popular. As at 28 October 2014, it had received
close to 5,000 applications. It has already helped over 1,500 Service personnel get
on, or stay on, the property ladder.</p>