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1137765

	registered interest
	date	09/07/2019
	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 recent assessment she has made of the merits of UK participation in EU defence structures after the UK has left the EU.
	tabling member constituency	East Devon
	tabling member printed	Sir Hugo Swire
	uin	275127
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>As we leave the EU, we remain committed to playing a leading role on Euro-Atlantic security. NATO remains the cornerstone of our defence. Nonetheless, the UK and the EU will continue to face common threats, which are evolving and growing in complexity, and we share the same values. That is why we have agreed the outline terms, through the Political Declaration, of a flexible and scalable future UK-EU security partnership to cooperate as a sovereign third country with EU partners on a case-by-case basis where there is a clear shared interest.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 15/07/2019 13:44:13 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire

1137822

	registered interest
	date	09/07/2019
	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, by what criteria or process her Department chose 82,000 as the optimum number of personnel for the army.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	275137
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The proposal for a regular Army of 82,000 emerged from work that followed the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 15/07/2019 13:43:46 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1138125

	registered interest
	date	10/07/2019
	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 assessment he has made of the potential effect on parliamentary accountability of the EU defence structures that the UK has joined since the EU referendum in 2016.
	tabling member constituency	East Devon
	tabling member printed	Sir Hugo Swire
	uin	275696
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2019 answer text <p>The Government continues to ensure that parliamentary accountability for UK-EU defence cooperation is maintained. In addition to the public speeches made by the Prime Minister and the white paper of last July, the Government provided further clarification in September, in its response to the House of Commons Defence Committee report, on its proposals for a future security partnership with the EU. The Government has also participated in parliamentary debates or hearings on Permanent Structured Cooperation last April, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Operation Sophia last June, the European Defence Industrial Development Programme last November and on CSDP missions and operations in May this year. The Government will continue to provide regular updates to both European Scrutiny Committees in Parliament.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 15/07/2019 13:42:00 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire

1137603

	registered interest
	date	08/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	EU Common Foreign and Security Policy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if she will place a copy of the most recent UK National Implementation Plan under the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy in the Library; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	East Devon
	tabling member printed	Sir Hugo Swire
	uin	274456
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/07/2019 answer text <p>National Implementation Plans under the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) may refer to either Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) or civilian CSDP. As the UK is not a PESCO participating Member State and is not subject to the PESCO binding commitments, we have not developed a National Implementation Plan for PESCO. We are considering whether a National Implementation Plan for civilian CSDP is required before the UK leaves the EU.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 11/07/2019 15:08:06 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire

1135839

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Armed Forces: Germany
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made in establishing a joint bridging unit in Germany.
	tabling member constituency	Warley
	tabling member printed	John Spellar
	uin	271371
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>In October 2018, a Joint Vision Statement was signed, reaffirming the continuing importance of close defence co-operation with Germany. This committed the UK to a combined river crossing capability with shared facilities in Minden. Elements of an Engineer Squadron are already operating at Minden, alongside our German partners. We continue to grow the UK elements of this capability and anticipate that the wider battalion will be fully operational within the first half of the next decade.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 09/07/2019 15:16:23 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1136259

	registered interest
	date	02/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Brexit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what preparations his Department is making for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement; and how much funding has been allocated to those preparations.
	tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
	tabling member printed	Tom Brake
	uin	272111
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>As a responsible Government, we've been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of a no deal for nearly three years. We are putting in place a range of mitigations, these include a central team who deal exclusively with Defence issues relating to the UK's decision to leave the EU, including preparations for a no deal scenario. This team draws on subject matter experts from across the department and works with colleagues in other government departments on cross-cutting issues.</p><p>The Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as £412 million over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, the Department for International Trade and the Foreign &amp; Commonwealth Office (Autumn Statement 2016); £286 million of additional funding for 2017-18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 2017-18); over £1.5 billion for 2018-19 (Supplementary Estimates 2018-19); and over £2 billion for 2019-20 (Main Estimates 2019-20).</p><p>This funding is to cover all exit scenarios and is in addition to departmental efforts to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK's departure from the EU. Work on no-deal exit preparations cannot be readily separated from other EU exit work, given the significant overlap in plans in many cases.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 09/07/2019 15:25:22 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake

1136536

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2019
	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 recent assessment she has made of the UK’s ability to defend itself against cyber-attacks.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	272888
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Cyber is a tier 1 threat and remains a national priority. The National Cyber Security Strategy, published on 1 November 2016, sets out ambitious policies to protect the UK in cyber space, supported by a £1.9 billion transformational investment. Our vision for 2021 is that the UK is secure and resilient to cyber threats, prosperous and confident in the digital world.</p><p>To operate and defend our networks and provide worldwide assured communications for defence, our Global Operations and Security Control Centre at Ministry of Defence (MOD) Corsham is operational 24/7, equipped with sophisticated cyber defence capabilities. We take the cyber threat very seriously. We are enhancing our cyber defence capabilities with recently announced plans to invest over £40 million in developing a new Cyber Security Operations Capability (CSOC). The CSOC will enhance our ability to secure Defence networks and systems against cyber threats and bring together our defensive cyber activity, enabling us to continue to operate safely and securely.</p><p>We are also investing £265 million in a pioneering approach to root out cyber vulnerabilities within our military platforms and wider cyber dependent systems. The new Cyber Vulnerability Investigations programme enables the MOD to better understand cyber risks, and thereby ensure its ability to defend itself against cyber attacks.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 09/07/2019 15:17:55 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

1136570

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	USA: Military Alliances
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps she is taking to improve the interoperability of UK and US armed forces.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	272779
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>The US remains the UK's primary defence and security ally and our forces are designed to operate seamlessly alongside the US either bilaterally, in a NATO or other coalition construct. The Department is committed to improving interoperability with the US and conducts a programme of regular exercises to maintain momentum. The UK and US have embedded personnel across each other's militaries in order to ensure the highest levels of interoperability exist.</p><p>US-UK cooperation on our aircraft carrier, the F35 Lightning and P-8 programmes will extend our ability to operate together seamlessly. We will look for further such opportunities to maximise the value of our mutual investments to ensure interoperability with the US on the capability, force structures and policies required to meet the challenge of great power competition.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 09/07/2019 15:12:31 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1136705

	registered interest
	date	03/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Arctic: Navy
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department is taking to increase UK maritime capabilities in the Arctic and the High North.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	272789
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>The Royal Navy has the capability to project force using a variety of assets in the High North and Arctic, dependent on the location, season and threat, including amphibious assets focused around 3 Commando Brigade and Commando Helicopter Force who have well-established expertise in cold weather warfare. It has one purpose-built Ice Patrol Ship (HMS Protector) and the UK will maintain an ability to operate under the Arctic ice. Given the changing nature of the Arctic, and in support of the UK Government Arctic Policy Framework, we are seeking to develop sustainable, modernised and proportionate Defence capability for the region, including investment in appropriate Defence research and commercial technology. All Royal Air Force operational aircraft are capable of performing in cold weather with appropriate preparation and maintenance. The Royal Air Force's fleet of nine P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft, as well as F35 Lightning II operating from HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will further contribute to the UK's capabilities in the region. In the longer-term, the Ministry of Defence will explore opportunities offered by space and autonomous systems to meet future Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance requirements.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 09/07/2019 15:06:53 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

1136044

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Brexit
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on her Department's preparations for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement.
	tabling member constituency	Newport West
	tabling member printed	Ruth Jones
	uin	271627
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>Defence Ministers have not had any discussions so far with the Welsh Government on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without an agreement. However, Defence personnel, including Military resilience liaison officers based in Wales, engage regularly with the Welsh Government and other stakeholders on a range of matters including resilience and No Deal planning.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 08/07/2019 16:34:56 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	4716 label Biography information for Ruth Jones