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Dr. David Clark (South Shields): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wansbeck (Mr. Murphy) on his eloquent, and sometimes moving, contribution. He clearly made a strong case regarding the tragic circumstances that affected his constituent. As I listened to my hon. Friend, I recalled that I might have met Christopher--I do not know whether I did. I spent some time with the Coldstream Guards and a detachment from the Light Dragoons in Bosnia during the period under discussion and I remember joking with the service men--who were full of life--about whether they supported Sunderland or Newcastle. Most of them were Newcastle supporters.
I am reminded of the rather delicate position in which the Army often finds itself. As my hon. Friend said, our armed forces comprise some of the finest young men and women in the world, who demonstrate their proficiency when we increasingly ask them to serve in places such as the Balkans. That puts great pressure on young people. At one level, they are very macho; at another, when they see the horrors of ethnic cleansing, it much affects them. That means that the Army must change and ensure that it has procedures to recognise cries for help of the sort that my hon. Friend the Member for Wansbeck showed that Christopher Young often made.
We must ensure that such events do not happen again. I am conscious of this because I have a similar case involving a young man from my constituency, Trooper Alex Jobling. He was from the same regiment, the Light Dragoons, and was at the same base, Hohne in Germany. Tragically, he committed suicide on 21 January 1997. I took the matter up with my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary and had a long and sympathetic reply. However, I am not completely satisfied with it. I return to the approach made to me by my constituents Mr. and Mrs. Jobling, who complained that they have been exasperated
The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Doug Henderson):
First, I tell my right hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) that I will ask the
In the short time available, however, I want to address the main question raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Wansbeck (Mr. Murphy). I am grateful to him for raising the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Trooper Christopher Young, which he did clearly and with great sympathy. I also take this opportunity to express my sincere condolences to his family on their sad loss. Mr. and Mrs. Haley have understandably thought much about the circumstances surrounding his death. It is right that they should receive detailed explanation of all the events relating to the situation. I will ensure that that happens in the most appropriate way.
Christopher Young was highly regarded by his superiors and well liked by his peers. He was a hard-working, efficient and capable young person who had been recommended for possible promotion to become a junior non-commissioned officer. He was a fit and active member of the troop and boxed for the squadron. I am advised that it was the view of the Army that he had a promising career ahead of him. Sadly, after three years of service, he decided to leave the Army and applied to be discharged. The discharge was to become effective on 2 August 1994. My hon. Friend the Member for Wansbeck told us of the sad events that took place between then and a year later.
The Army takes very seriously its responsibilities for duty of care. In the six months that I have been in this post, I have visited many regiments. On each occasion, I have been impressed by the seriousness with which the Army accepts that responsibility. That is recognised by all in the Army--by those who lead and by those who serve. Apart from anything else raised by my hon. Friend, that would be an important reason why I would feel that we
have a full obligation to investigate the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Christopher Young.
I do not accept that there has been a failure in this case on the part of the Army. I know that there would have been no intentional failure, but several specific points have been raised and it is right that I further examine the circumstances. My hon. Friend the Member for Wansbeck said that when Christopher Young was in detention, he approached Maggie Gibbons of the Women's Royal Voluntary Service and explained to her how he felt about his circumstances. She in turn had a discussion with Christopher's parents in which she expressed how she interpreted what he had told her. I undertake to revisit the issue and check with the commanding officer what advice, if any, was given him by Maggie Gibbons in respect of her assessment of Christopher's physical and mental state of health.
The Army's responsibilities in such cases were raised. The Army has a clear responsibility to retrieve documents, to settle possible outstanding wages and to ensure that proper procedures have been followed in any discharge. In emphasising that responsibility, I again undertake to examine some questions linked to it. I will check which address the military police initially contacted to try to locate Christopher Young in trying to meet the Army's responsibilities. I will check whether any other addresses were approached by the military police and, if so, what response was received. I will also check whether, after the initial attempt to locate Christopher Young, a "locate and trace" order was made by the military police; and if so, when it was issued and why the military police felt it was necessary. Finally, I will check what action the civil police took in the case and when they took it.
We have a duty to explain all the circumstances to the family of Christopher Young. I recognise that it is important in that explanation to make the most direct contact possible, and I undertake to do that.
Mr. Colin Breed (South-East Cornwall):
I am sure that the Minister shares the view that time seems to stand still for people who dial 999 and ask for the ambulance service. Every second seems to be a minute, and every minute an hour, until they hear the siren and see the blue flashing light--a heart-stopping moment in the rear-view mirror for most of us. For those who have picked up the telephone, the ambulance's arrival is a moment of comfort, security and help. The time between their telephone call and the ambulance's arrival is critical.
I shall describe three short scenarios. Let us think of a pregnant woman in north Cornwall who goes into labour early at 2 am. Very distressed, she phones for an ambulance to take her the 50 miles to hospital. Let us think of a young cyclist, who has been knocked off his bicycle in a road traffic accident in the middle of Somerset, and is lying unconscious in the road while somebody grabs a mobile phone to call an ambulance to take the boy to hospital. Or let us think of members of an ambulance team who are suddenly called to a major incident at the end of a long shift. They arrive at the scene, attend the victim and take him to hospital. The hospital, which has received enormous investment in recent times, has all the high-technology equipment and the most wonderful intensive care facilities, and trained staff are ready, willing and able, but the ambulance, which has done 300,000 miles, arrives five minutes too late. Those are not isolated incidents; such events happen.
The West Country Ambulance Services trust is one of the largest ambulance services in the country. It serves the counties of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, covering approximately 5,700 sq m of a predominantly rural area. Last year, it was one of only four trusts to fail to meet the national targets set by the Government. It managed to reach 90.4 per cent. of emergency calls within 19 minutes--well under the target of 95 per cent. It responded to 42.9 per cent. of calls within eight minutes--substantially under the expected 50 per cent.
In April last year, new standards were introduced for some ambulance services, moving away from the old Orcon standard, which specified the 95 per cent. and 50 per cent. targets, to a criteria-based dispatch. For the West Country Ambulance Services trust, that means that it must respond to 75 per cent. of immediately life-threatening illnesses within eight minutes, and 95 per cent. of all other cases within 19 minutes. Other emergency services can be used to respond to calls, although the cost of training and of ensuring that such response vehicles are properly equipped will inevitably cut into the ambulance service budget, and, therefore, not help it to try to achieve the targets.
Over the past four years, the performance of West Country Ambulance Services has become progressively worse. That is not a result of the trust's inefficiency. Nor does it indicate that the service is lacking dedicated, hard-working staff. It reflects the fact that the ambulance service does not have sufficient funding to meet the Government's targets.
Between 1993 and 1998, there was a 35 per cent. increase in emergency calls resulting in a response. That is higher than the national average of 31 per cent. Figures show that the West Country Ambulance Services trust's
performance standards are dropping. The ambulance service is being asked to cope with ever-increasing demand, while under constant pressure to find cost savings. The ambulance service is the front-line emergency service, and we simply cannot allow standards to drop any further.
One of the fundamental problems for all health services in the south-west is that the overall funding formula does not reflect the real cost differences associated with the sparsity of the area. The funding formula provides for an allowance of 0.5 per cent. of available funding to be allocated on the basis of population sparsity, but such weighting in no way reflects the actual cost of providing services.
"by trying to get to the truth surrounding the circumstances of our son's death."
This House and the Army must ensure that every effort is made to satisfy parents and relatives of people who die that at least they know all the circumstances. In this case, I do not think that all the circumstances are known. I have taken up the case because no action was taken even though a suicide note was found and reported to the corporal a few days before Trooper Jobling committed suicide. I do not blame the corporal; my point is that there must be clear instructions to the Army to ensure that the aide-memoire that has now been produced is adhered to and, crucially, gets through to non-commissioned officers. Our NCOs are the best in the world and the backbone of the British Army. They are the link between troopers and people who might be able to help them.
1 pm
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