Lord West of Spithead

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 31 January (HL4999), whether "summer" is defined as (1) from the summer solstice to the September equinox, or (2) June to August.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the latest Ministry of Defence annual equipment plan has left the £5.8 billion contingency funding untouched.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the original planned date for acceptance into service of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tidespring; and what is now the planned date for acceptance into service.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 12 December 2016 (HL3602), what progress has been made by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to develop a plan for the disposition of plutonium; and whether the...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual Nuclear Decommissioning Authority budget, and what percentage is spent on plutonium management.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the basis for the £2.4bn estimated cost of the future plutonium management and disposition solution in the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline 2016; and how they will define (1) affordability, (2) valu...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 12 January (HL Deb, col 2159) concerning the future capability of the armed forces, whether HMS Queen Elizabeth will sail for sea trials in March, and enter Portsmouth for the first t...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the fall in the value of the pound sterling since the EU referendum, what assessment they have made of the extent to which the closure of the Redcar plant was caused by the value of the pound at that time; ...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the involvement of the governments of Germany and the Netherlands in decisions by steel manufacturers whether to invest in their respective countries, whether they intend to become involved in such decision...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with Tata Steel about the future of the Port Talbot plant following the end of the five-year commitment to keep two blast furnaces at the plant and avoid compulsory redundancies.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the strategic importance to the UK of having a domestic steel industry; and whether the National Security Committee has discussed this issue.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the reduction in the size of the UK steel industry, what steps they are taking to retain the skills of UK metallurgists, particularly in the area of steel innovation.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 12 January (HL Deb, col 2159), concerning the fleet of up to six offshore patrol vessels which will support UK destroyers and frigates, which one of the current four offshore patrol v...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the progress on ensuring natural justice for UK servicemen accused of alleged historic crimes in Iraq, whether similar measures are being taken in respect of Northern Ireland; how many investigations are un...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe regarding the A159 Wildcat Helicopter on 9 January (HL Deb, col 1728), whether they believe that there is a strategic requirement for the UK to design, develop and build (1) complex surfa...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, when ordering steel required for the manufacture of UK submarines, they have released to overseas steel manufacturers (1) the steel recipe, or (2) the method of manufacture.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the question asked by Lord West of Spithead in the debate on the future capability of the armed forces on 12 January (HL Deb, col 2128), whether there has been any consideration of reviewing the decision made by...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the cost of the steel required to manufacture the Astute class submarines which are due to be commissioned between 2018 and 2024; and how that compares to the projected cost prior to the EU referendum.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many F-35B Sea Lightnings the UK currently owns; and whether there has been any change to (1) the number to be purchased in the financial year 2017–18, or (2) the planned date for forming the operational conversion unit...

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to assess whether an 8th Astute class submarine could be built prior to the first successor submarine being named.