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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

Armed Forces (Balkans)

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.

Indonesia

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

Hercules Fleet

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.

Kosovo

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.

HEALTH

NHS Appointments

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

List of health authority and national health service trust appointments which expired in 1998 and for which no appointment had been
made by 1 April 1999

Region BodyNumber of chairsNumber of Non-Executives
EasternEssex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust01
North WestChester and Halton Community NHS Trust10
Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Trust01
Manchester Health Authority01
Wirral Hospital NHS Trust01
Northern and YorkshireCalderdale and Kirklees Health Authority01
LondonBHB Community Healthcare NHS Trust01
City and Hackney Community Services NHS Trust01
Croydon Community Health NHS Trust01
Enfield Community Care NHS Trust01
TrentCentral Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust01
Grantham and District Hospital NHS Trust01
South EastEast Surrey Health Authority02
South WestGloucestershire Ambulance Service NHS Trust01
Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust01
West MidlandsBirmingham Heartlands and Solihull (Teaching) Hospitals NHS Trust01
Walsall Community Health NHS Trust01
Total117

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.

Investing in dentistry requests approved by health authority as at 26 April 1999

Health authorityNumber of applications approved
Avon5
Barnsley4
Bedfordshire2
Berkshire6
Birmingham1
Bradford1
Cambridge and Huntingdon4
Camden and Islington1
City and East London5
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly10
County Durham3
Doncaster2
Dorset3
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow6
East Kent3
East Lancashire3
East Norfolk3
East Riding6
Gloucestershire11
Herefordshire2
Isle of Wight3
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham4
Leicestershire2
Lincolnshire2
Liverpool2
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth2
Morecambe Bay7
Newcastle and North Tyneside2
Northamptonshire4
North Cheshire1
North Cumbria6
North Derbyshire1
North and East Devon8
North Essex2
North and Mid Hampshire7
North Staffordshire8
North West Lancashire5
North Yorkshire8
North West Anglia2
Nottingham2
Oxfordshire6
Portsmouth and South East Hampshire8
Redbridge and Waltham Forest4
Rotherham6
Salford and Trafford2
Sefton1
St. Helens and Knowsley3
Shropshire8
Somerset6
Southern Derbyshire1
South Cheshire10
South Essex1
South Humber2
South Lancashire2
South Staffordshire2
South West Devon8
Southampton and South West Hampshire12
Suffolk6
Tees1
West Hertfordshire1
West Kent3
West Surrey5
West Sussex5
Wigan and Bolton1
Wiltshire14
Wolverhampton1
Worcestershire3

28 Apr 1999 : Column: 160


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