20 May 1997 : Column: 23
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 20 May 1997
DEFENCE
Gulf War Syndrome
Rev. W. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the health needs of those with Gulf War Syndrome. [608]
Dr. Reid: The Government are committed to discharging their responsibilities to those who served their country in the Gulf and are now suffering ill health. They are, accordingly, determined to make a fresh start in ensuring that the health needs of Gulf veterans are met. In order better to understand their concerns, I have invited Gulf veteran's representatives into the Ministry of Defence for a meeting on 29 May.
In the meantime, I have already announced a range of measures to improve my Department's response to their concerns. I have directed that additional resources be made available to clear the backlog of patients waiting to be seen by my Department's Medical Assessment Programme. This aims to provide all those who believe that they are ill as a result of their service in the Gulf with a clinical diagnosis of their medical condition so that appropriate treatment can be recommended to their doctor. This will ensure that my Department more urgently responds to the health needs of Gulf veterans.
In addition, I have announced that research will be undertaken into the possible interaction between the vaccinations and Nerve Agent Pre-Treatment Sets given to our troops to protect against the very real threat of biological or chemical attack. This, together with the two epidemiological studies into the prevalence of ill health amongst Gulf veterans which my Department is already funding, will allow us better to understand the health needs of Gulf veterans.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants at each grade within his Department were of Asian origin on 5 May. [237]
Mr. Spellar:
The number of permanent civilian staff in my Department and its agencies who have recorded their ethnicity as being of Asian origin in the MOD's ethnic origin survey is shown in the table:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Grade 1 to 5 | 6 |
| Grade 6 | 4 |
| Grade 7 | 41 |
| SEO | 73 |
| HEO | 101 |
| EO | 118 |
| AO | 165 |
| AA | 142 |
| Industrial | 90 |
| Total | 740 |
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Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals he has to increase the number of employees from ethnic minorities within his Department.[238]
Mr. Spellar: As part of its overall commitment to equal opportunities my Department has in place a substantial range of measures aimed at increasing the proportion of civilian staff employed from ethnic minorities. These include: outreach work by recruitment staffs among the ethnic communities; contact with them through careers fairs and schools; targeted job advertising; the inclusion of welcoming statements in job adverts; ethnicity monitoring and numerical targets in the Departmental Management Plan. In addition, my Department has sponsored a number of Windsor Fellows in recent years and is a member of the "Race for Opportunity" campaign. Future proposals for action in respect of civilian employees will emerge from work currently being undertaken to take forward the implementation of the recommendations of a recent study into MOD's ethnic minority employment initiatives.
National Service Memorial
Mr. John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to erect a memorial to Britain's post-1945 National Servicemen. [174]
Mr. Spellar: The Ministry of Defence has no plans to erect a memorial to Britain's post-war National Servicemen.
It has been a long-standing policy of successive Governments that the cost of memorials is usually met not from public funds but from private donations or public subscription.
In the event that such funding were to be found, my Department would be happy to assist in identifying a suitable site and to provide representation at any dedication ceremony.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy on the limited use of nuclear weapons to warn an aggressor. [257]
Dr. Reid:
The Government fully support NATO policy on the continuing requirement for a sub-strategic capability as a crucial element of credible deterrence. In extreme circumstances of self-defence such a capability would allow the limited use of nuclear weapons to send an aggressor a political message of the Alliance's resolve to defend itself.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department or its agents or
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consultants have had with Tilshead Parish Council on the (a) choice of route, (b) construction and (c) management of the southern range road in Salisbury Plain Training Area. [92]
Mr. Spellar:
All Parish Councils affected by the Southern Range Road, including Tilshead, were informed about the proposals and the consultation process in April 1996. Following this, the Works Project Sponsor and his consultant visited representatives of Tilshead Parish Council on 13 May 1996 to discuss route selection and answer queries on other aspects of the proposal. The Project Sponsor and his consultant visited representatives of Tilshead Parish Council again on 18 December 1996, the date on which my Department submitted a Notice of Planned Development to the three District Councils involved, to inform them of the chosen route and to answer any further queries.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the authorities, agencies, organisations, companies and individuals who have had (a) correspondence and (b) meetings with his officials or agents to discuss the future use of the Chilmark section of the former RAF Chilmark. [93]
Mr. Spellar:
The following authorities have all been involved in discussions over the future of the Chilmark section of RAF Chilmark: Wiltshire County Council, Chilmark Parish Council, Dinton Parish Council, Sutton Mandeville Parish Council, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, the Rural Development Commission, English Nature, English Heritage and the Environment Agency. I am withholding information on the companies and individuals who have expressed an interest in the site for reasons of commercial confidentiality under exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure the fullest possible consultation with elected representatives and other authorities prior to any decisions being taken on the future of the Broughton Moor former RNAD dump. [586]
Mr. Spellar:
A decision on the method of disposal is not anticipated for some time. Full consultations with elected representatives and other authorities will be undertaken on the future of the former RNAD Broughton Moor before any decision is taken.
Mr. Rhodri Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the principal steps taken by his Department to clarify responsibility for registering the death of Rudolf Hess and for providing proper certification of it. [759]
Dr. Reid:
Following an approach by the Hess family in 1995, it was found that the record of Rudolf Hess's death had been incorrectly passed to the General Register Office under a statute which was not applicable. The registration, which had not previously been questioned, was therefore cancelled by the Registrar General after consulting my Department and the Foreign and
20 May 1997 : Column: 26
Commonwealth Office. This decision does not, however, affect the validity of the death certificate, which was issued as the result of an autopsy conducted under arrangements agreed by the Four Powers.
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements were in force under the relevant quadripartite agreements to carry out (a) an autopsy and (b) certification of cause of death as regards deaths of prisoners in Spandau prison at the time of the death of Rudolf Hess. [761]
Dr. Reid:
Under arrangements agreed in 1983, by which time Hess was the only remaining prisoner in Spandau prison, an autopsy was conducted by a British pathologist at the British Military Hospital in Berlin in the presence of observers representing the Four Powers. Responsibility for certifying the cause of death lay with the pathologist.
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the quadripartite agreement of 20 March 1952 governing deaths of prisoners in Spandau prison (HCOM/P(152)17) was still in force at the time of the death of Rudolf Hess. [760]
Dr. Reid:
We are aware of a document with the reference HICOM/P(52)17. This was not a quadripartite agreement but a discussion paper drawn up by the Law Committee of the Allied High Commission Germany. As such, it was not in force at any time.
Broughton Moor
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