Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to table 2.2a in the Annual Statistics Tables 2022: Service Complaints published by the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces, for what reason there was a 49 per cent increase in formal service complaints classified as other between 2021 and 2022.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The ‘other’ service complaints identified in table 2.2a of the Service Complaints Annual Statistics Tables 2022 has risen because there was a rise in the component categories that are classified as ‘other’ for statistical purposes. Further details of the 260 ‘other’ service complaints identified in table 2.2a of the Service Complaints Annual Statistics Tables 2022 is given in table 2.1 of the same data set.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to table 2.2a of the Annual Statistics Tables 2022 - Service Complaints published by the Service Complaints Ombudsman, if he will publish further details of the 260 other service complaints.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The ‘other’ service complaints identified in table 2.2a of the Service Complaints Annual Statistics Tables 2022 has risen because there was a rise in the component categories that are classified as ‘other’ for statistical purposes. Further details of the 260 ‘other’ service complaints identified in table 2.2a of the Service Complaints Annual Statistics Tables 2022 is given in table 2.1 of the same data set.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's planned timescale is for the independent review into the service and experience of LGBT veterans who served between 1967 to 2000.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs jointly commissioned the independent review to better understand the impacts and implications of the pre 2000 policy relating to homosexual people serving in HM Armed Forces. The review underlines Defence’s unwavering commitment to understanding how best to support its veteran and LGBT community.
LGBT veterans who served from 1967 to 2000 were invited to provide testimony of their experience. Testimony was also sought from those who witnessed the treatment of LGBT personnel; those involved in delivering the ban and friends and families of LGBT veterans no longer able to give evidence. The call seeking this testimony and views from individuals and organisations was made on 5 August 2022 and closed on 1 December 2022.
The report and recommendations are expected to be submitted for the Government’s consideration in May 2023. Defence will endeavour to publish the review as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many troops from participating Commonwealth countries will be involved in the coronation.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Around 5,000 Armed Forces personnel will accompany their Sovereign from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and back in two separate processions featuring sailors, soldiers and aviators from across the UK and the breadth of the Commonwealth.
The first, The King’s Procession, is the smaller in scale of the two and will feature just under 200 members, centred around The Sovereign’s Escort of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. They will travel down The Mall to Trafalgar Square where they will turn onto Whitehall before marching to Westminster Abbey. Flanking them will be over 1,000 Forces route liners from all three services drawn from multiple regiments. The second, The Coronation Procession, will follow the same route back to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey and feature nearly 4,000 personnel, again from all three services and drawn from multiple regiments. Nearly 400 Armed Forces personnel from at least 35 Commonwealth countries will also be on parade to mark the historic moment.
The Coronation Procession will represent the diversity and traditions of the UK and Commonwealth Armed Forces. A full-spectrum display of unique and historic uniforms whose designs are in some cases hundreds of years old, flags from across the Commonwealth and 20 different bands will demonstrate the very best of the Armed Forces. They will guide Their Majesties back to Buckingham Palace, before conducting a Royal Salute
Following the military procession there will be a six-minute flypast. Aircraft from all three services will be watched by members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as they fly in formation over the Mall.
Across the UK gun salutes will sound at the moment of The King’s Coronation to celebrate the historic moment, including at firing stations in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, featuring more than 400 personnel across 13 locations and deployed Royal Navy ships.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many members of the British armed forces will be involved in the King’s coronation; from which regiments they will come from; and what role the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force will have in the King's coronation.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Around 5,000 Armed Forces personnel will accompany their Sovereign from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and back in two separate processions featuring sailors, soldiers and aviators from across the UK and the breadth of the Commonwealth.
The first, The King’s Procession, is the smaller in scale of the two and will feature just under 200 members, centred around The Sovereign’s Escort of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. They will travel down The Mall to Trafalgar Square where they will turn onto Whitehall before marching to Westminster Abbey. Flanking them will be over 1,000 Forces route liners from all three services drawn from multiple regiments. The second, The Coronation Procession, will follow the same route back to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey and feature nearly 4,000 personnel, again from all three services and drawn from multiple regiments. Nearly 400 Armed Forces personnel from at least 35 Commonwealth countries will also be on parade to mark the historic moment.
The Coronation Procession will represent the diversity and traditions of the UK and Commonwealth Armed Forces. A full-spectrum display of unique and historic uniforms whose designs are in some cases hundreds of years old, flags from across the Commonwealth and 20 different bands will demonstrate the very best of the Armed Forces. They will guide Their Majesties back to Buckingham Palace, before conducting a Royal Salute
Following the military procession there will be a six-minute flypast. Aircraft from all three services will be watched by members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as they fly in formation over the Mall.
Across the UK gun salutes will sound at the moment of The King’s Coronation to celebrate the historic moment, including at firing stations in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, featuring more than 400 personnel across 13 locations and deployed Royal Navy ships.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether armed forces personnel from the Commonwealth Realms will be involved in the Coronation.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Around 5,000 Armed Forces personnel will accompany their Sovereign from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and back in two separate processions featuring sailors, soldiers and aviators from across the UK and the breadth of the Commonwealth.
The first, The King’s Procession, is the smaller in scale of the two and will feature just under 200 members, centred around The Sovereign’s Escort of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. They will travel down The Mall to Trafalgar Square where they will turn onto Whitehall before marching to Westminster Abbey. Flanking them will be over 1,000 Forces route liners from all three services drawn from multiple regiments. The second, The Coronation Procession, will follow the same route back to Buckingham Palace from Westminster Abbey and feature nearly 4,000 personnel, again from all three services and drawn from multiple regiments. Nearly 400 Armed Forces personnel from at least 35 Commonwealth countries will also be on parade to mark the historic moment.
The Coronation Procession will represent the diversity and traditions of the UK and Commonwealth Armed Forces. A full-spectrum display of unique and historic uniforms whose designs are in some cases hundreds of years old, flags from across the Commonwealth and 20 different bands will demonstrate the very best of the Armed Forces. They will guide Their Majesties back to Buckingham Palace, before conducting a Royal Salute
Following the military procession there will be a six-minute flypast. Aircraft from all three services will be watched by members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as they fly in formation over the Mall.
Across the UK gun salutes will sound at the moment of The King’s Coronation to celebrate the historic moment, including at firing stations in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, featuring more than 400 personnel across 13 locations and deployed Royal Navy ships.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many boilers there are in (a) Service Family Accommodation and (b) Single living accommodation; and how many of those boilers are over (i) 10 and (ii) 15 years old.
Answered by Alex Chalk
There are a total of 47,448 boilers in Service Family Accommodation (SFA). Of these, 1,366 have no boiler age recorded. The total number of boilers in SFA which are between 10 and 15 years old is 41,237.
Approximately 2,500 boilers are replaced annually within SFA.
Due to the format in which Single Living Accommodation data is recorded, the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2023 to Question 165250 on Ministry of Defence: Housing, if he will provide a breakdown of what the £73 million from the service family accommodation improvement budget spent by his Department for the financial year 2022-23 was spent on.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The table below shows how the £73 million Service Families Accommodation improvement budget for financial year (FY) 2022-23 was spent. Please note many projects span more than one FY, so figures also include expenditure attributed to a type of works which may have begun prior to the start of or after the end of FY 2022-23.
Type of Works | Costs |
Damp and Mould Remediation Works | £4.3 million |
Doors and Windows Replacement | £12.6 million |
External Wall Insulation (includes new doors and windows and roof replacement) | £43 million |
Heating replacements | £2.5 million |
Kitchen trials (updated kitchen specification trials) | £42,000 |
Playparks | £5 million |
SFA Refurbishment | £1.8 million |
Roof replacement | £8 million |
Streetlight replacement | £295,000 |
Structural repair (bringing void properties back online) | £500,000 |
Wire moves – to allow for handback of SFA to Annington Homes | £2.6 million |
Road Resurfacing | £1 million |
TOTAL | c£81 million |
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 146784 on Armed Forces: Housing, what the figures are for (a) February and (b) March 2023.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The table below shows the number of compensation payments made for issues relating to Service Family Accommodation and their total value for February and March 2023.
Number of compensation claims | Total Value of compensation payments | |
February 2023 | 996 | £208,438 |
March 2023 | 2976 | £267,648 |
The increase in March was due to Pinnacle’s efforts to reduce the backlog in processing compensation claims.
Compensation payments are administered and funded by the suppliers at no cost to the Ministry of Defence.
There are different levels of compensation, although there were more claims in March, there were more lower levels of compensation paid.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide a breakdown of the (a) Continuity of Education Allowance allocated to each school in financial year 2022-23 and (b) number of places funded at each school in that year.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) assists Service personnel to achieve continuity of education for their children that would otherwise be denied in the state-maintained day school sector due to the mobility of their family, because of consecutive assignments. CEA is available to all Service personnel, irrespective of rank, subject to them satisfying the qualifying criteria. Service personnel may select from a wide variety of schools across the UK from within the independent and state-maintained sectors that meet set criteria. Each claimant is required to contribute at least 10 per cent of the fees at independent schools.
As at 18 April 2023, the total spend on Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) in Financial Year 2022-23 was £84.59 million. A total of 4,210 children were covered by that funding. The attached table details the number of children supported and the amount spent at each school on Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) by the Ministry of Defence in the financial year 2022-23.
The below table details the number of Service Personnel that have received CEA in 2022-23 broken down by NATO Rank.
NATO Rank | Count of Service Personnel |
OF1 | ~ |
OF2 | 270 |
OF3 | 360 |
OF4 | 470 |
OF5 | 240 |
OF6 | 80 |
OF7 | 20 |
OF8 | ~ |
OF9 | ~ |
OR2 | 20 |
OR3 | 50 |
OR4 | 250 |
OR6 | 370 |
OR7 | 330 |
OR8 | 220 |
OR9 | 100 |
Grand Total | 2,800 |
Notes:
Rounded figures are to the nearest five, with numbers below five replaced by the tilde symbol ('~'). All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. Totals have been rounded separately and therefore may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.
Due to the possibility of rank changes in year between CEA claims, only the most senior rank for each individual has been retained in order to avoid counting the same individual twice.
An explanation of NATO rank equivalencies can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tri-service-pension-codes-april-2020/key-to-rank-codes-april-2020