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Young Service People
14. Fiona Mactaggart (Slough): How many serving members of the armed forces are aged under 18 years; and if he will make a statement on their deployment. [109413]
The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. John Spellar): As at January 2000, 6,238 personnel under 18 were serving in the armed forces. The vast majority of personnel under 18 are situated in the UK. Of those overseas, there are 114 in Germany; 23 in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia; 15 in Cyprus; 12 in the Falkland islands; and seven on ships in the Gulf. I stress that they are all volunteers and have parental consent to join the armed forces.
Fiona Mactaggart: Have any of the 17-year-olds who are allowed to be deployed on active service in the armed forces in Britain been victims in armed conflict? Have any of them been killed or injured in conflict during the past 20 years?
Mr. Spellar: I fear that I should have required notice of my hon. Friend's question to reply to it today. I shall write to her.
Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West): Will the Minister confirm that many of those recruited at 16 are among the Army's most successful recruits? What discussions has he held with the German Foreign Minister on the matter?
Mr. Spellar: I must confess that I have had no discussions with the German Foreign Minister on that matter or any other--and who is he at the moment? [Interruption.] I know.
More to the point, the hon. Gentleman's question was relevant. Many of those recruited at 16 go on to have successful careers in the armed forces. We continue to recruit at 16 because we want to recruit among the best of our young people so that we can sustain our justified reputation for having the best armed forces in the world.
Manpower Requirements
15. Sir Sydney Chapman (Chipping Barnet): What plans he has to update the strategic defence review with regard to numbers of personnel [109414]
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): There are no plans to change the manpower requirements for each of the three services identified during the strategic defence review.
Sir Sydney Chapman: Following the Ministry's recent recruiting initiatives, does the right hon. Gentleman agree that retention remains an increasingly serious problem? Will he confirm that a net figure of about 100 people a month leave the Army? How can he say that the Government are addressing and eliminating overstretch? Even at this late stage, will he not review the decision to cut the Territorial Army by 18,000, the reversal of which would be one of the most cost-effective measures he could take?
Mr. Hoon: It is no longer true that there is a net outflow from the Army. It was the case, but the situation
has been turned around, and there is now a net inflow of about 30 people a month. The Government's policy has been successful. Recruiting has reached record levels lately. For example, Royal Marines officer posts are over-subscribed and we cannot satisfy all those who wish to join. In addition, the general services in the Royal Marines are expected to meet their target for the first time since 1994. We are doing well on recruitment.The hon. Gentleman is right to say that retention remains of concern. It is important that people should remain in the armed forces for as long as they had planned to when they joined, but the problem is being addressed, both in terms of significant changes in our commitments, which were leading to overstretch towards the end of last year, and in terms of enhanced allowances and improved pay, which are now available. The hon. Gentleman would, I think, be satisfied by the considerable turn-around in recent months.
Learning Forces Initiative
16. Mr. Jeff Ennis (Barnsley, East and Mexborough): If he will make a statement on the progress of the Government's learning forces initiative. [109415]
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): We are making good progress with our learning forces initiative. It will encourage people to join the services, develop them once they have joined and equip them for the civilian employment market when they leave.
Mr. Ennis: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the scheme should be properly funded so that it may help service men make a more successful transition to civilian life? As more than £1 billion a year is spent by the armed forces on education and training, does my right hon. Friend agree that more of that pot of money should be allocated to enhancing the scheme?
Mr. Hoon: I am confident that appropriate sums are made available to the scheme, which is not just about assisting people to make the transfer to civilian life, but about improving basic key skills for the least able recruits, offering all personnel the opportunity to gain level 2 national vocational qualifications within three years of joining the services and introducing standard learning credits with awards of up to £175 a year to members of the armed forces to help them to advance personal development through academic or practical study. The initiative is not just about the transition to civilian life, although that is important. It seeks to improve the ability and qualifications of members of our armed services while they are in the services.
Shoeburyness
17. Sir Teddy Taylor (Rochford and Southend, East): If he will make a further statement on the future of the old and new ranges at Shoeburyness. [109416]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Dr. Lewis Moonie): As my predecessor informed the House on 28 January, the whole of the old ranges and Horseshoe barracks, Shoeburyness, were sold, subject to contract, on 20 January 2000. As for the new ranges, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency is
now working with SERCO Ltd. to rationalise the estate and to introduce new business to co-exist with the continuing range activities, which may require the release of a small amount of land. DERA plans to brief the local community on that subject in early March and then jointly to agree a way forward.
Sir Teddy Taylor: Is the Minister aware that members of the local community in Shoeburyness are a little disturbed because, although the site of the old ranges was sold in January, they have still not been told who bought it? Although we were given the strongest assurances from both DERA and SERCO that they would keep the local community advised about the new ranges, there have been no meetings so far. Will the hon. Gentleman take a personal interest in the issue; will he try to ensure that the local community is told what is happening; and, if need be, will he speak at a public meeting in Shoeburyness to tell the local community exactly what is happening with two delightful and very valuable sites?
Dr. Moonie: I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware that we cannot make an announcement until the contracts are signed and everything is properly closed. I have the greatest sympathy for his constituents in the present situation. I shall do everything in my power to expedite the appropriate development of the site.
Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich): Will my hon. Friend tell me how many contracts SERCO has in the Ministry of Defence?
Dr. Moonie: A very large, positive integer.
Food Purchasing
18. Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley): How much of the food purchased for the armed forces is sourced from abroad. [109418]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Dr. Lewis Moonie): The supply of food for our armed forces was contracted out by the previous Administration. The agreement does not specify the source from which our contractors should obtain products, but expects them to seek the best market price, consistent with meeting our quality standard, while giving full consideration to British products. Our main food supply contract is with 3663: it is sourcing a range of more than 1,300 different products for the armed forces, including fresh, chilled and frozen commodities. The company advises that about 26 per cent. of those are currently imported. Included in that figure are products which are not made or grown in this country.
Mr. Evans: Will the Minister explain why so much of our food is sourced from abroad? I accept that, in certain cases when the armed forces are abroad for a period, it is more appropriate to source the food locally. However, we have moved on: the Minister's party is in government.
Will he explain why, when the French will not eat our beef, we are forcing our armed forces to take £1 million-worth of French chickens? Does he agree that, when the French will not eat our beef, it is hard for us to swallow the fact that we are forcing our armed forces to eat their chickens?
Dr. Moonie: As the hon. Gentleman can tell from looking at me, it is plain that I have little difficulty in swallowing anything.
As for French chickens, I regret to say that, thanks to the provisions of the contract--which I am sure the hon. Gentleman enthusiastically supported when he was in government--we have no choice but to accept supply from the cheapest source. However, I can offer him one ray of light: on the matter of lamb, I have today agreed to meet Welsh hill farmers to discuss whether there is any possibility that they can satisfy some of our requirements for that product.
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