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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The rules governing the convening and conduct of boards of inquiry are contained in Queen's regulations for the three services. While it is not mandatory to convene a formal board of inquiry in every case, all deaths or serious accidents in service are subject to an internal investigation either by a formal service inquiry or by the service police. We have no plans to appoint a military ombudsman.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) in how many cases of death of service personnel during training in each of the past five years have (a) families requested a full report of the board of inquiry and (b) his Ministry have not complied with this request ;
(2) how many complaints have been received in the last five years from the families of service personnel, who died during training, about inadequate information concerning the deaths.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information is not available in the form requested.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will issue new policy guidelines to commanding officers requiring them to provide maximum information with the minimum of delay to families of service personnel who die during training exercises.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The services have detailed regulations, governing the action to be taken in the event of injury or death to service personnel.Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have (a) died and (b) been injured during training in each of the last five years.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The number of deaths and injuries attributable to training or exercises in the three services in each of the last five years is set out in the table.
|1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990
---------------------------------------------
Deaths |19 |14 |15 |22 |7
Injuries |1,219|1,131|1,140|896 |779
Notes:
1. The figures for injuries relate to
episodes of bedded sickness of 48 hours or
more.
2. The figures include sports injuries
sustained by personnel while specifically
training or on exercises.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what authority his Ministry declines to disclose to families details of the deaths of service personnel during peacetime training.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Ministry of Defence has always provided details of the deaths of service personnel killed during training in response to a request from the bereaved family. This information takes the form of a specially prepared statement giving an accurate and objective summary of the service investigation.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that families of service personnel who die on training exercises are provided on request with full medical records of a deceased person, including the autopsy report.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Requests for the release of medical records will be considered on their merits in accordance with the Access to Health Records Act 1990.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance is given to commanding officers regarding providing information to the families of service personnel who die in training exercises.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Procedures for the notification and assistance of next-of-kin on the death of service personnel are laid down in the regulations of each service.
Unoccupied Homes
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ministry of Defence homes are currently unoccupied ; and what percentage they are of the total stock.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : As at 30 September 1991, the latest date for which figures are available, 9,966 Ministry of Defence owned houses and flats were vacant. Of these 9,834 were service married quarters and 132 Ministry of Defence civilian houses, representing 13.4 per cent. and 9.5 per cent. of the stock respectively. Many of these properties were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or modernisation, some were already allotted to service families who were due to move in shortly and others were being considered for disposal.
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In addition, some 1,700 dwellings were in the process of being sold.Regiments
Mrs. Heal : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will detail the assessment he has made on the number of service and ancillary redundancies that will result from an amalgamation of the Staffordshire Regiment and the Cheshire Regiment.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Redundancies will be spread across the Army, and will not be concentrated in Regiments that are due to be amalgamated. Until the applications for redundancy have been assessed it is not possible to provide the detail requested.
Mrs. Heal : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why he decided not to consult or warn the colonel of the Staffordshire Regiment of the likelihood of amalgamation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : All regimental colonels were invited to express their views about how the reductions were to be achieved, but none were told of the Army Board's decisions before the day of the announcement.
Mrs. Heal : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will detail the assessment he has made of the extra burden on local authority housing provision in Staffordshire and the west midlands resulting from the service job losses created by an amalgamation of the Staffordshire Regiment and the Cheshire Regiment.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I am not able to make such an assessment. Redundancies will be spread across the Army and not confined to those units which are to be amalgamated or disbanded. It is not possible to state at this time how many members of the Staffordshire Regiment or the Cheshire Regiment will be made redundant. Nor do we have any information on the proportion of those made redundant who will wish to settle in Staffordshire and the west midlands and who will be seeking local authority housing. We believe that the majority will be in a position to make other arrangements for their housing.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the inquiry to be carried out into the safety and security of Britain's nuclear weapons led by his Department's chief scientific adviser will address issues identified by the Drell report to the United States Congress in December 1990.
Mr. Alan Clark : The terms of reference of the group are : "To review, in the light of any relevant aspects of the report of the Drell panel in the United States, the safety of the present and prospective UK nuclear armoury."
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether all transportation of United Kingdom nuclear weapons will be stopped pending the outcome of his Department's inquiry into the safety and security of British nuclear weapons in the light of the Drell report to the United States Congress in December 1990.
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Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the inquiry into the safety and security of British nuclear weapons will use the same computer modelling techniques as those employed on United States weapons for the Drell report to the United States Congress.Mr. Alan Clark : The working group is free to conduct the review as it sees fit.
Gulf War
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has on the total number of civilian deaths caused by bombing during the Gulf war in Iraq, Kuwait and Israel, respectively.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We have no authoritative information on civilian casualties sustained in Iraq or Kuwait during the coalition bombing campaign. In the middle of February, an Israeli Minister said that 13 people had died during Iraqi Scud missile attacks and 1,305 were injured.
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Greek Campaign (Commemorative Medal)
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last met his counterpart in the Greek Government to discuss the issue of a commemorative medal for participants in the Greek campaign.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Secretary of State maintains regular contact with his NATO colleagues on issues of mutual interest.
Defence Industry (Job Losses)
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on plans to promote alternative jobs to offset losses in the defence industry in the foreseeable future.
Mr. Alan Clark [holding answer 18 November 1991] : The promotion, creation and sustenance of jobs are matters for industry.
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