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Air Brigades
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date 16 Air Assault Brigade will become operationally effective. [82342]
Mr. Doug Henderson [holding answer 27 April 1999]: 24 Airmobile Brigade is due to be re-named 16 Air Assault Brigade on 1 September 1999 when it will take over command of the very high readiness Airborne Battle Group from 5 Airborne Brigade. 16 Air Assault Brigade will remain operationally effective in the Airmobile role and the Airborne Battle Group will continue to be operationally effective throughout. 16 Air Assault Brigade will not be fully operationally effective in the Air Assault role until the new Westland Attack Helicopter is brought into service. The Brigade's Attack Helicopter Regiments should all be operationally effective by mid-2004.
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date 5 Airborne Brigade Headquarters will cease to be an airborne headquarters. [82341]
Mr. Doug Henderson [holding answer 27 April 1999]: It is currently planned that 5 Airborne Brigade Headquarters will cease to be an airborne headquarters on 1 September 1999 and it will be re-named Headquarters 12 Mechanised Brigade and start training in this new role.
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Paralogistic Battalion is due to disband; and what logistic unit will replace it. [82343]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 27 April 1999]: 5 Airborne Brigade's Paralogistic Battalion is due to disband on 1 September 1999. Some parachute trained personnel will transfer on this date to 16 Air Assault Brigade's Logistic Regiment and Field Workshop to support 16 Air Assault Brigade's very high readiness Airborne Battle Group. The remainder will form the nucleus of the new 12 Mechanised Brigade's Logistic Squadrons and Equipment Support Companies.
28 Apr 1999 : Column: 157
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the units of the armed forces deployed to the South-East Balkans are under strength; and by what means it is intended to bring these units up to full strength. [82049]
Mr. George Robertson:
None of the units of the armed forces deployed to the South-East Balkans is under strength.
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to draw on Territorial Army units to make up shortfalls in manning levels of the armed forces in the South-East Balkans. [82050]
Mr. George Robertson:
There are currently no plans to deploy formed Territorial Army (TA) units to the Balkans. Individual members of the TA are already serving in the Balkans with regular units on a volunteer basis, and this will continue for the foreseeable future.
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what units of the armed services have been deployed to the South-East Balkans. [82074]
Mr. George Robertson:
I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hereford (Mr. Keetch) on 26 April 1999, Official Report, columns 10-11.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Indonesian military officers are currently training in the UK. [82464]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
There are currently eight Indonesian military personnel attending training courses in the UK.
28 Apr 1999 : Column: 158
Mr. Brazier:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) proportion and (b) number of the Hercules fleet is currently airworthy. [82348]
Mr. Doug Henderson
[holding answer 27 April 1999]: The Royal Air Force operates a fleet of fifty-five Hercules aircraft. Currently, all aircraft in the fleet are airworthy.
Mr. Viggers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what advice he received concerning the efficacy of air strikes alone in achieving the objectives of the United Kingdom and its NATO allies in Serbia and Kosovo. [82165]
Mr. George Robertson:
NATO's military objectives, in support of the political aims of the international community, are to disrupt Milosevic's repressive operations and weaken his forces. A phased air campaign was chosen, on the basis of full and comprehensive military advice, as the best way of achieving those objectives.
Mr. Brady:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the NHS trust and health authority appointments which were not made by the due date and which remained outstanding on 1 April. [81391]
Mr. Denham
[holding answer 19 April 1999]: All health authority appointments due on 1 April 1999 were completed on time. A small number of appointments (18) to National Health Service trusts and health authorities which expired in 1998 remain vacant. These vacancies are listed in the table.
28 Apr 1999 : Column: 157
| Region | Body | Number of chairs | Number of Non-Executives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern | Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust | 0 | 1 |
| North West | Chester and Halton Community NHS Trust | 1 | 0 |
| Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| Manchester Health Authority | 0 | 1 | |
| Wirral Hospital NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| Northern and Yorkshire | Calderdale and Kirklees Health Authority | 0 | 1 |
| London | BHB Community Healthcare NHS Trust | 0 | 1 |
| City and Hackney Community Services NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| Croydon Community Health NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| Enfield Community Care NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| Trent | Central Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust | 0 | 1 |
| Grantham and District Hospital NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| South East | East Surrey Health Authority | 0 | 2 |
| South West | Gloucestershire Ambulance Service NHS Trust | 0 | 1 |
| Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| West Midlands | Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull (Teaching) Hospitals NHS Trust | 0 | 1 |
| Walsall Community Health NHS Trust | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 1 | 17 |
28 Apr 1999 : Column: 159
Eastbourne District General Hospital
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will initiate an urgent inquiry into the levels of nursing staff at the Eastbourne District General Hospital and their effect on standards of patient care; and if he will make a statement. [81657]
Mr. Hutton: The East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Health Authority has a duty to ensure that the quality of care for those living in Eastbourne is satisfactory. The health authority and Eastbourne Hospitals National Health Service Trust are conducting a joint analysis of current needs regarding nursing staff levels at the hospital, and expect to conclude this work by June for consideration by the local Primary Care Group.
We have also asked officials of the National Health Service Executive to discuss nursing levels at the trust with the Chief Executive and Director of Nursing of the NHS trust.
NHS Expenditure
Mr. Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cash increase represented by the expenditure of an additional 3 per cent. of GDP on the NHS in 1999-2000. [81985]
Mr. Denham: The latest available data on the Gross Domestic Product in cash terms are for the year 1997-98 and the amount is £811,849 million. Three per cent. of this is £24,355 million. Planned total expenditure for the National Health Service in England in 1999-2000 is £39,703 million.
Investing in Dentistry
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by health authority the numbers of successful applications under the Investing in Dentistry initiative. [82186]
Mr. Denham: The number of investing in dentistry applications which have been approved up to 26 April 1999 are shown by health authority in the table.
28 Apr 1999 : Column: 160
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