Jeffrey M. Donaldson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeffrey M. Donaldson on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the (a) criteria by which applicants are selected and (b) names of applicants who applied to host Armed Forces Day in 2017.

Mike Penning

Guidance on applying to host the Armed Forces Day National Event is available from the Ministry of Defence’s Ceremonial Events and Commemorations Team whose contact details are on the Armed Forces Day Website: www.armedforcesday.org.uk.

Applications typically take the form of a letter from the Local Authority Leader /Chief Executive, to the Defence Minister in the House of Lords (Earl Howe). This letter is assessed to gauge the strength of the applicant’s argument as to why they should be selected, and the quality of their proposals for the event. In addition, the following aspects are considered:

Proximity to previous national events – there would be an aspiration to stage the event in a different region of the country to previous events, in order to capture a fresh local audience.

Maturity of any existing annual event hosted by the applicant.

Availability of a suitable venue and infrastructure within the applicant’s jurisdiction.

Support of local populace for the Armed Forces.

The applicant’s capacity to administer an event of equivalent scale and significance.

Financial resource available, and plans to secure adequate sponsorship.

While it would be inappropriate to name the authorities that lost out to Liverpool City Council in the process of selecting the hosts for the National Armed Forces Day event in 2017, we can confirm that no formal bid was received from any local authority in Ulster.