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Strategic Defence Review (New Brigades)
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where units of the two new brigades announced in the Strategic Defence Review, and other units returned from Germany, are to be based. [74619]
Mr. Doug Henderson: The two brigades to be formed under the Strategic Defence Review are:
12 Mechanised Brigade, to be created by converting 5 Airborne Brigade at Aldershot; and the development of 24 Airmobile Brigade, based at Colchester, into a new high capability air manoeuvre formation--16 Air Assault Brigade.
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The Headquarters of 12 Mechanised Brigade will be at Aldershot, and that of 16 Air Assault Brigade in Colchester. I have today placed in the House of Commons Library details of provisional plans under which units of the new mechanised brigade would be based in Aldershot in Hampshire, Tidworth and Larkhill Garrisons in Wiltshire, Bovington in Dorset, Abingdon in Oxfordshire and Windsor in Berkshire, and units of 16 Air Assault Brigade would be located in Colchester in Essex, Woodbridge and Wattisham in Suffolk, Dishforth in Yorkshire, and Canterbury in Kent. These proposals will now be the subject of discussions with local authorities and assessments of environmental impact and value for money.
If confirmed, the changes would be phased over a number of years, as progress with the necessary barracks refurbishment projects proceeds; but we plan that the move of two parachute battalions from Aldershot to Colchester, where they will be closer to their parent formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade, will take place next year, as will the corresponding move of two infantry battalions to Aldershot from Colchester to form part of the new 12 Mechanised Infantry Brigade.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence Police Agency officers over civilians not employed by his Department. [73088]
Mr. Spellar:
In a variety of circumstances, constabulary powers may be conferred on MOD police officers in relation to civilians not employed by the MOD.
Under the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987, MOD police officers have the powers and privileges of constables:
Mr. Bennett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) campaigns since 1969 for which General Service medals have been issued and (b) campaigns since 1969 where requests for the issue of General Service medals were refused (i) by the Medals Committee and (ii) by his Department; and if he will give the number of casualties in each of the campaigns listed in answer to (b). [73543]
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Mr. Spellar:
Since the beginning of 1969 the General Service Medal 1962 has been issued with the following clasps:
I am not aware of any campaign since 1969 which has not been recognised by either one of these clasps or one of the other campaign medals available to British Service personnel such as the South Atlantic Medal, the Gulf Medal and medals issued by the United Nations, Western European Union and NATO.
Mr. Bennett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many representations he has received since June 1997 about awarding a General Service Medal to those who served in the Suez Canal Zone from 8 October 1951 to 19 October 1954. [73542]
Mr. Spellar:
Since June 1997, the Ministry of Defence has received four Parliamentary Questions on the subject of a medal for service in the Suez Canal Zone between 1951 and 1954, including this one and another tabled by my hon. Friend for answer today. We have also responded to 30 Parliamentary Inquiries from MPs and 256 letters from at least 239 members of the public have been actioned. This latter correspondence includes letters addressed to The Queen, the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Defence and other Defence Ministers as well as direct approaches to officials in those branches dealing with campaign medals. In addition, I was handed a petition containing some 20,000 names in support of a medal for service in the Suez Canal Zone during the early 1950s at a meeting in March 1998, where the case for a medal was discussed in detail.
Mr. Bennett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have applied for General Service Medal Africa (1902-56) in the last five years; and if service in the Suez Canal Zone counts for entitlement to that medal. [73541]
Mr. Spellar:
In the last five years 268 requests for the Africa General Service Medal 1902-56 have been received by my Department. Of these applications, 95 were successful and medals with the appropriate clasp(s) issued.
Service in the Suez Canal Zone during the qualifying period of the Africa General Service Medal 1902-56 does not count for entitlement to that medal. The medal is not issued alone, but with the appropriate clasp, which recognises specific periods of service in areas laid down in the appropriate Command Paper. No clasp to the Africa General Service Medal 1902-56 was instituted for service north of the Sahara.
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to conclude a draft agreement with other European countries to develop the Meteor missile. [72754]
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Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 25 February 1999]: Technical and commercial assessment of the bids to meet the MOD's requirement for a Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile, BVRAAM, continues. The Matra BAe Dynamics Meteor missile bid is in competition with Raytheon Systems Ltd. FMRAAM and ERAAM proposals to meet the BVRAAM requirement. A decision on the competition is expected later this year.
Discussions are continuing with potential partner nations, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, on a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration on the METEOR proposal provided by Matra BAe Dynamics. Progress is being made and it is hoped that the MOU negotiations will be concluded by the summer. If the METEOR bid is successful, it is expected that the agreed MOU would be signed shortly after a decision on the competition is announced.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria he used to choose between the relocation of the Defence Vetting Agency to Hartham or York; and if an investment appraisal was undertaken to assess savings from co-location of the Second Division and the Defence Vetting Agency. [72967]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 25 February 1999]: An investment appraisal into a number of collocation options demonstrated that collocation of the Defence Vetting Agency (DVA) from its existing four locations on to a single site would represent value for money. Subsequent studies showed that there was little, in financial terms, to choose between Hartham and York, as a location for the DVA.
Meanwhile, it became apparent that the Defence Communications Services Agency (DCSA) needed additional office accommodation near its headquarters at Corsham, and the Hartham site would meet this requirement. I therefore decided to accept collocation of the DVA at York as being in the best interests of my Department overall, as well as meeting the needs of the DVA.
The above was set out in a consultative document, which was put to the Trade Unions on 9 November 1998 and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
No investment appraisal was made of the impact of collocating the DVA alongside HQ 2 Division or indeed any other particular Defence organisation.
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to relocate staff in (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible to the regions of the United Kingdom with the highest levels of unemployment; and what plans he has further to decentralise the location of his Department and its agencies. [70468]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 15 February 1999]: When considering sites for relocation of MOD and agency establishments, the Department's primary concerns are operational requirements and efficiency. Other considerations include local employment levels, geographic location and environmental impact.
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(a) on defence land and property;
(b) on land and property used by ordnance companies and dockyard contractors for naval, military or air force purposes;
(c) on land in the vicinity of defence land and land used by ordnance companies and dockyard contractors provided a police constable of the local force has asked for assistance in the execution of his duties on that land;
(d) on land in respect of which the Secretary of State has agreed to provide the services of the Ministry of Defence Police under an agreement notice published in the London, Edinburgh or Belfast Gazette; and
(e) in any place--
(i) in relation to Crown property;
(ii) in relation to persons subject to the control of the Defence Council or employed under or for the purposes of the MOD or the Defence Council; and
(iii) in relation to matters connected with anything done under a contract entered into by the Secretary of State for Defence for the purposes of the MOD or the Defence Council.
Northern Ireland
Dhofar
Lebanon
Mine Clearance--Gulf of Suez
Gulf
Kuwait
Northern Iraq and Southern Turkey
Air Operations Iraq.
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