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Flooding (Armed Forces)
3. Ms Sally Keeble (Northampton, North): If he will make a statement on the deployment of the armed forces to assist the public during the recent floods. [138573]
7. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett (Denton and Reddish): If he will make a statement on the deployment of the armed forces to assist the public during the recent floods. [138578]
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): Members of the armed forces from more than 60 different military units provided help for flood victims in numerous locations across 15 counties during the period 30 October to 14 November. In addition, personnel from
Territorial Army units also participated. I congratulate them on their achievements in saving life and protecting property.The Ministry of Defence is also helping in the recovery phase. Some 200 MOD houses have been made available to those evacuated owing to flooding, and around 50 of these have already been taken up. The armed forces and the MOD remain ready to serve the community and to respond to emergencies of all kinds, at all times.
Ms Keeble: I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. I draw particular attention to the work of the Territorial Army which, in my constituency, played a prominent role in saving lives during the floods a couple of years back. Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that the experience of the TA and other forces will be properly pulled together and recorded, so that they can learn the lessons of how to protect people during floods and make sure that their excellent work continues? Will he pay particular tribute to the Territorial Army, which does an outstanding job, especially in such circumstances?
Mr. Hoon: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her observations, particularly about the Territorial Army, although its members and Regular Army units would have been the first to pay tribute to the role of all the emergency services in responding to the crisis all over the country. There is no danger of the experience or expertise being lost, simply because the organisation of the Army, particularly in respect of emergency assistance, parallels precisely the arrangement of the emergency services. When there is a crisis requiring help from the armed forces, the decision to assist is taken at local level, working with the experience acquired on previous occasions.
Mr. Bennett: I echo the sentiments and expressions of appreciation of all the hard work put in by service personnel. Is my right hon. Friend aware of the view of the Environment Agency that the help was crucial in the protection of places such as York? Can he confirm that if, sadly, the weather goes on being bad for the rest of the winter, enough sandbags and sand to fill them will be available?
Mr. Hoon: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his observations. I went to York during the crisis and saw for myself the work that the armed forces were doing--together, incidentally, with some tremendous work being conducted by the Environment Agency. That was a great example of all the emergency services and Government, at both national and local level, working extremely effectively together. I can give my hon. Friend the assurance, if not about the specific number of sandbags, at least that the armed forces stand ready to assist should they be required again.
Mr. Christopher Fraser (Mid-Dorset and North Poole): Does the Secretary of State accept that the invaluable contribution of the TA in the recent floods underlines the mistake that he made by massively slashing 18,000 TA officers?
Mr. Hoon: On the contrary: the fact that the TA was operating so successfully across many parts of the country demonstrates the wisdom of the decisions that we took.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York): Will the Secretary of State join me in paying particular tribute to the Royal Engineers based at Rippon and to the Environment Agency, particularly for the work that it did at Rawcliffe, where, as the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr. Bennett) implied, there were no sandbags available and no pumping? Does the Secretary of State accept that as a result not just of the cuts in the TA but of the overstretch brought about by the additional commitments of the regular forces, the severe weather forecasts for the Christmas and new year period are putting extreme pressure and intolerable demands on our armed forces?
Mr. Hoon: It was--[Interruption]--an example, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) indicates sotto voce, of the rapid reaction capability of the British armed forces. I had the opportunity and privilege of visiting both Selby and Chilwell during the crisis. A member of the armed forces said--it is significant in this context--that he was pleased to assist local communities in the United Kingdom. He added that it was the first time in his military career that he had helped in the United Kingdom.
RAF Portreath
4. Ms Candy Atherton (Falmouth and Camborne): What progress has been made by the land survey at RAF Portreath. [138574]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Dr. Lewis Moonie): Earlier this year we engaged a specialist contractor, with significant experience in dealing with contaminated sites, to undertake further land quality assessment at RAF Portreath. This followed on from the phase 1 land quality assessment undertaken at the site by the RAF. The work is proceeding well, and sample results taken to date do not indicate any contamination by chemical weapons or their breakdown products. We have found small amounts of chemicals associated with general industrial activity.
Ms Atherton: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will he confirm that the survey will include the mine shafts and dumps at RAF Portreath? Does he agree that it is outrageous that previous Governments failed to conduct safety surveys?
Dr. Moonie: I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work that she has undertaken on behalf of her constituents in pursuing this matter. This is the beginning and not the end of the investigations that we are undertaking at RAF Portreath. It is our intention carefully to examine the final results from this phase of the study when they are presented to us in the new year. We shall take further action as necessary.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham): Is the hon. Gentleman anticipating compensation claims from employees who claim that their health has suffered in consequence?
Dr. Moonie: I have no record of any such claims.
Armed Forces (Education and Training)
5. Fiona Mactaggart (Slough): If he will make a statement on developments in education and training for the armed forces. [138575]
The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. John Spellar): As has been well demonstrated by the recent deployments to Sierra Leone and in the Balkans, the training of our armed forces is of a very high standard. To maintain that standard and ensure that our training and education arrangements for the armed forces and Ministry of Defence civilians continue to meet defence needs in the 21st century, my noble Friend Lord Robertson, when Secretary of State for Defence, announced a wide-ranging and fundamental review of education and training in the Department. This review is due to complete next spring, when I will make a further statement to the House.
Fiona Mactaggart: Can my hon. Friend assure me that the review will make a high priority of ensuring that service personnel obtain qualifications that they can use in their future careers when they leave the armed forces, so that they can participate fully in civilian life, which in the past people leaving the armed forces have often had difficulty in doing?
Mr. Spellar: Yes; there is no doubt that the level of training that we provide for our service men and women is superb, as demonstrated by the number of employers who are often actively trying to poach many of our trained personnel. There has been a difficulty when qualifications do not necessarily match civilian qualifications, and are less portable in civilian society, which these days is far more certificate based. We are working with the relevant agencies to ensure that the training that our people undertake in specific skills and more general areas are properly recognised with qualifications that they can carry. That is good for the armed forces and very good, as my hon. Friend has said, when service men and women re-enter the civilian employment market, when they are able to capitalise on the training and experience that they have gained.
Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood): Can the Minister explain what the effect has been on the throughput of trained pilots into the Royal Air Force of the grounding of the Tucano aircraft? What are the technical problems; when will they be solved; what will the additional cost to the defence budget of rectifying the problems be; where are they being sent; and is this part of the problem with the shortfall of RAF fast jet pilots? Is the problem a lack of training facilities or is it something much more fundamental?
Mr. Spellar: There has been a failure of a part, and we are working with the aircraft's manufacturers to rectify the problem as soon as possible. That introduces a training gap, so those who are in training will undertake part of their training in Australia. We have already reached an agreement with the Royal Australian Air Force to cover that, so we hope to be able to maintain training. However, the hon. Gentleman identifies, rightly, the difficulties facing all air forces throughout the world: there is a shortfall of pilots, especially because of the extremely
buoyant civilian air transport industry. We are working on several measures to alleviate the problem, some of which have been implemented, with others to follow shortly.
Ms Sandra Osborne (Ayr): My hon. Friend will be aware that the search and rescue function of HMS Gannet in my constituency is under review and might be removed. Is he aware that the site has the potential to provide an excellent education and training centre; and will he consider that as an alternative use?
Mr. Spellar: I thank my hon. Friend for her question. We are considering suitable alternative defence uses for the site and, as usual, discussing with appropriate local authorities alternative uses in the event that defence has to vacate the site. We recognise the contribution that the Prestwick area has made to defence and, as always, we want to assist the area as much as possible in dealing with the inevitable and unfortunate consequences that arise whenever we reduce a capability. However, I take my hon. Friend's point and will draw it to the attention of the defence training review.
Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury): Will the Government, on behalf of the whole nation, give their wholehearted support to the Royal British Legion campaign to construct an education centre on the site of the battle of the Somme, where 420,000 patriotic British soldiers laid down their lives? Is the Minister aware that the French department of the Somme and the European Union have each promised £300,000, but that the British Government, reluctantly, have promised only £30,000?
Mr. Spellar: As the hon. Gentleman knows, we hold regular discussions with the Royal British Legion on a number of issues. I am not aware that the issue he raises has been discussed by Ministers and the Royal British Legion, but I shall certainly check. We shall look into the matter and we thank him for raising it.
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