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Written question asked by Lord Harrison (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 April 2016. It was answered by Earl Howe (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 April 2016 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.


Armed Forces: Languages

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure there are sufficient linguistic skills in languages such as Russian and Mandarin across the armed forces.

Answer

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) regularly reviews its requirements for linguists to ensure that all operational demands for linguists are met in full, and trains its personnel accordingly. For languages with little or no immediate operational requirement, the MOD ensures that there is a baseline of linguists that can be called on for contingency tasks and Defence Engagement.

Long and short-term language priorities are agreed at a strategic level and provide the basis for the statement of training requirement against which defence language training is delivered.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL7319
Session
2015-16
Subjects
Armed forces Languages
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk