James Cartlidge MP: written questions
1779 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Ministry of Defence: BillingMinistry of DefenceTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28541More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department pays contracted defence companies on time.
Answer: The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring its suppliers of all sizes are paid what they are owed promptly. The department aims to pay 90% of undisputed and valid invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within five days. We are excee...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: ProcurementMinistry of DefenceTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28540More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of his Department's expenditure was with SMEs in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 financial years.
Answer: The proportion of the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) procurement expenditure that goes to Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises is published annually as part of the MOD Regional Expenditure Statistics MOD regional expenditure with industry: index - GOV.UK For F...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: Private EducationTreasuryTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28539More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November to Question 11947 on Armed Forces: Private Education, whether the decision to not offer any exemptions from the VAT policy for service families included an assessment of the exem
Answer: The Government greatly values the contribution of our serving military personnel. The Ministry of Defence has increased the funding allocated to the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to account for the impact of any private school fee increases on t...
Answered 10 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordNavy: Guided WeaponsMinistry of DefenceTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28538More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has had recent discussions with his French counterpart on the acquisition of additional Aster missiles for use by the Royal Navy.
Answer: Whilst the Secretary of State for Defence has not met recently with the French Defence Minister, negotiations to purchase Aster 30 have concluded and a Contract placement is expected imminently.
Answered 10 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordNavy: Guided WeaponsMinistry of DefenceTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28537More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on replenishing stocks of all types of Aster missile in use by the Royal Navy.
Answer: Negotiations to purchase Aster 30 have concluded and a Contract placement, via the multi-national procurement agency OCCAR, is expected imminently. The shorter-range Aster 15 munition is being phased out under the replacement programme Sea Viper CAMM.
Answered 10 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordChagos Islands: SovereigntyForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28536More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 25988 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty, how much has been spent on the Chagos Islands negotiations by his Depar
Answer: The costs to which I referred in the Answer to Question 25988 have not been centrally aggregated between Departments or within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The negotiations began in 2022, and to identify the costs would incur dispropo...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish Indian Ocean Territory: SovereigntyForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28535More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25988 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Sovereignty, how much and what proportion of spend to date on the Chagos Island
Answer: Costs, including those of staffing, legal counsel, travel and accommodation and other expenses arising from the negotiations have been incorporated into the budgets of those Departments involved in the negotiations. There has been no central aggregation o...
Answered 21 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces Compensation Scheme: Widowed PeopleMinistry of DefenceTabled 28 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26926More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department made a formal response to the Treasury's consultation on reforms to (a) inheritance tax and (b) the application of inheritance tax on Death in Service payments for armed forces personnel.
Answer: The Ministry of Defence has not made a formal response to HM Revenue and Customs’ technical consultation. The Ministry of Defence regularly engages with the Treasury on a range of matters, it is not practice to make a formal response to public consultatio...
Answered 7 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmy: TrainingMinistry of DefenceTabled 27 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26784More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) in-year savings measures and (b) stockpile depletion on the delivery of live fire training in the Army.
Answer: There have been no specific in-year financial constraints imposed on the consumption of ammunition and therefore no impact on the delivery of live fire training.As the hon. Member will understand from his time in the Ministry of Defence, for reasons of op...
Answered 4 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordTyphoon AircraftMinistry of DefenceTabled 24 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26309More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of extending the out-of-service date of the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 January 2024 to Question 25025 to the hon. Member for North Devon (Ian Roome).
Answered 3 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmy and Marines: TrainingMinistry of DefenceTabled 24 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26308More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made changes to Departmental expenditure on training for the (a) Royal Marines and (b) Army in the last 12 months.
Answer: In the last 12 months planned expenditure on Royal Marines training was reduced by 1.8% as part of wider Departmental action to manage pressure on in-year budgets, with limited impact on Royal Marines training outputs overall. Expenditure for the same per...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordUkraine: Military AidMinistry of DefenceTabled 24 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26307More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will improve the training estate to support Operation Interflex.
Answer: The Ministry of Defence works continuously to improve the Defence Training Estate on a capability and training needs basis. Work addressing areas of improvement highlighted by Operation Interflex, which stands to benefit the Defence Land Environment Train...
Answered 3 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordUkraine: Peacekeeping OperationsMinistry of DefenceTabled 24 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26306More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will hold discussions with the Prime Minister on sending British troops to Ukraine in peacekeeping roles.
Answer: The Defence Secretary has regular discussions with the Prime Minister about UK support to Ukraine. It would be inappropriate to comment further on speculation about the future. Our focus is on putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position in 2025 and...
Answered 7 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordArmed Forces: Dental HealthMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26054More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of medically unfit personnel are non-deployable for reasons of dental health in the (a) RAF, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Army.
Answer: This information is not held in the format requested.
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordBoxer Vehicles: ProcurementMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26053More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his formal target to procure RCH 155 within the 5-year limit for hardware platforms.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 December 2024 to Question 16467 to the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois). I explained that whilst the Mobile Fires Platform aims to achieve Minimum Deployable Capability (MDC) wit...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: Employers' ContributionsMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26052More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December to Question 20237 on Ministry of Defence: Employers’ Contributions, whether the additional money provided to cover the cost of increased employer National Insurance Contribut
Answer: HM Treasury has confirmed they will provide funding for the increased cost of National Insurance Contributions for the department. GDP percentage spent on defence will be calculated in the usual way.
Answered 4 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: Employers' ContributionsMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26051More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December to Question 20237 on Ministry of Defence: Employers’ Contributions, when his Department plans to publish the details of the funding set aside to cover the increased cost of N
Answer: The Government will be supporting Departments with the cost of additional employer national insurance contributions. This is in line with the Government's usual approach to supporting the public sector, as was the case with the previous Government's Healt...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordArmyMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26050More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December to Question 18985 on Army, whether the Departmental priority to double the lethality of the British Army by 2027 includes the acceleration beyond current plans of any current
Answer: The ambition set by the Chief of the General Staff to double the fighting power of the British Army by 2027 and treble it by 2030 exists within the Army as a principle to guide Army modernisation. It is not tied to specific programmes or procurements, but...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordArmyMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26049More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December to Question 18985 on Army, whether the Departmental priority to double the lethality of the British Army by 2027 includes the procurement of the precision strike missile syst
Answer: The ambition set by the Chief of the General Staff to double the fighting power of the British Army by 2027 and treble it by 2030 exists within the Army as a principle to guide Army modernisation. It is not tied to specific programmes or procurements, but...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordSovereignty: British Indian Ocean TerritoryTreasuryTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26048More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Office for Value for Money will assess the proposed Chagos settlement.
Answer: The Chagos agreement, as an international treaty, falls outside the remit of the OVfM, which is focused on removing inefficiency, scrutinising investment proposals and provide advice on system reforms.
Answered 30 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: Inheritance TaxDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26047More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an estimate of the number of farms affected by changes to (a) Inheritance Tax, (b) Agricultural Property Relief and (c) Business Property Relief in South Suffolk co
Answer: Assessing the impact of the new Inheritance Tax policy, which comes into force from 6 April 2026, relies on a number of factors such as ownership structure and debt levels. Without such information, which the Government does not hold at that level, area l...
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: South SuffolkTreasuryTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26046More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will estimate the revenue expected to be raised from applying business rates to independent schools in South Suffolk constituency in the next financial year.
Answer: At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government reconfirmed that it is removing private schools’ eligibility for charitable rate relief under business rates in England from April 2025. This intervention will raise around £140 million per year.Business rates retenti...
Answered 30 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPrivate Education: South SuffolkTreasuryTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26045More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the total revenue to be raised from applying VAT to independent schools in South Suffolk constituency in the next financial year.
Answer: The Government does not have an estimate of the revenue from this measure specifically from the South Suffolk constituency. At the Autumn Budget the Government published a detailed response to the consultation conducted between July and September. Annexed...
Answered 30 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordDiego Garcia: Military BasesMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26044More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has discussed the proposed payment to leaseback the military base on Diego Garcia with the Office for Value for Money.
Answer: We continue to work closely with HM Treasury on the agreement with Mauritius and will take this forward into the Spending Review. The Office for Value for Money has not been involved in these discussions to date.Details of the Treaty agreed between the UK...
Answered 28 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordChagos Islands: SovereigntyMinistry of DefenceTabled 23 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 26043More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had with US counterparts regarding the Chagos Islands since President Trump took office.
Answer: The Senate confirmation process is still ongoing for members of President Trump's Administration cabinet. The Government looks forward to working with US Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth following his confirmation by the Senate and the Administration in...
Answered 28 Jan 2025
Original Parliament record
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