§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how often(a) submariners and (b) other Royal Naval personnel are able to contact their families when on operations; and under what circumstances contact is restricted. [128118]
§ Mr. CaplinAll personnel deployed outside UK waters or Northern Europe on a Permanent Joint Headquarters "named" operation for seven days, or a Fleet operation or exercise for two months, are eligible to the benefits of the Operational Welfare Package, free of charge. This comprises 20 minutes of telephone time per week; one e-mail per week (which may be increased if operational circumstances permit); and unlimited postal aerogrammes.
Telephone calls and e-mails are sent using satellite communications, which may be restricted from time to time at the discretion of the local commander for reasons of operational security. Also, satellite communications cannot be used by submerged submarines, so use of these facilities is restricted to time on the surface or in port. Aerogrammes can only be delivered or sent when the ship or submarine receives a mail delivery/collection.
In the case of Vanguard Class ballistic missile submarines, which spend the whole of their deployed time submerged, none of the above methods can be used, but personnel on board are able to receive "familygrams" sent via Flotilla HQ at Faslane. These are restricted to 40 words per week at the moment, although we are currently considering increasing this limit.