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Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects her Department supports in India; and what the amount of grants is in each case. [11395]
Clare Short: All project support to India is provided in the form of grants. The table provides details of active projects and total financial commitment.
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Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the extent of poverty and malnutrition in Tajikistan; and what aid has been offered to Tajikistan by the United Kingdom (a) directly and (b) through the programmes of the EU and United Nations. [10923]
Clare Short: Reliable data on Tajikistan are scarce. It is one of the poorest countries of the former Soviet Union, with rates of acute malnutrition ranging between 6.4 and 10.3 per cent. in different areas.
Since 1994, the United Kingdom has offered a total of £29.7 million to Tajikistan. Of this, £1 million has been through DFID's direct programme. DFID has also channelled £9.5 million into humanitarian assistance. £11.8 million has been provided through the European Commission, mainly to ECHO (EC Humanitarian Office) programmes. £1 million has been allocated to ECHO this year. £1.2 million has been offered to Tajikistan through programmes of the United Nations.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total requirement is for trained Harrier pilots in the (a) Navy and (b) RAF; and how many there are at present in each case. [11578]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 31 October 2001]: The naval requirement for Sea Harrier pilots (Commander and below) as at 1 October 2001 was 64, with an authorised increase to 66 planned for 1 April 2003. The current naval strength (Commander and below) is 44. The Royal Air Force requires 85 Harrier pilots to fill Harrier GR7-specific flying and flying related ground appointments (Wing Commander and below). It has a current strength of 102 Harrier pilots. A number of these are filling career broadening posts such as staff appointments, or are serving as qualified flying instructors or with the RAF Aerobatic Team, and some are on exchange postings.
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Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to improve retention rates within the armed forces. [10067]
Mr. Ingram: Armed forces retention is being tackled as a matter of the highest priority. Our aim is to maintain good levels of retention through policies that genuinely reflect the priorities of our people and their families, both at home and on deployment. A key outcome of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was a widespread recognition of the need for an Armed Forces Overarching Personnel Strategy (AFOPS) as part of the 'Policy for People'. This was introduced in April 2000 to give more emphasis to personal issues. The SDR 'Policy for People' included some of the following aims: better terms and conditions; improvements to pay and allowances; better quality of training; addressing concerns about family life; ensuring equality of opportunity and provision of better accommodation. All these have now been embodied in the AFOPS Action Plan.
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is to improve the career prospects and retention of young service men and women; and if he will make a statement. [10570]
Mr. Ingram: A wide range of challenging careers are offered to both young men and women joining the services. We need over 25,000 high quality, well motivated recruits each year to maintain the correct balance of age and experience; and the need for and success of training is therefore crucial to the continuing operational success of our armed forces. The Defence Training Review, completed earlier this year, emphasised the importance of transferable qualifications to both the recruitment and the retention of personnel in the armed forces. An earlier scheme to come out of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was the 'Learning Forces Initiative' which provides opportunities for service personnel to gain transferable skills and recognised civilian qualifications, not only improving and enriching their service careers but also preparing them for their second careers. The armed forces are also working closely with a number of key authorities to deliver increased recognition of service education and training leading to academic, vocational and professional qualifications. In
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summary, the armed forces provide attractive career prospects by offering: high quality training; accreditation of training wherever possible, against nationally recognised standards; a wide range of professionally demanding jobs, with many offering significant amounts of responsibility early on in careers; good promotion opportunities; encouragement to serve to age 40 or beyond; and provision of education facilities and grants to assist with the cost of education.
Armed forces retention is being tackled as a matter of the highest priority. Our aim is to maintain good levels of retention through policies that genuinely reflect the priorities of our people and their families, both at home and on deployment. A key outcome of the Strategic Defence Review was a widespread recognition of the need for an Armed Forces Overarching Personnel Strategy (AFOPS) as part of the 'Policy for People'. This was introduced in April 2000 to give more emphasis to personnel issues. The SDR 'Policy for People' included some of the following aims: better terms and conditions; improvements to pay and allowances; better quality of training; addressing concerns about family life; ensuring equality of opportunity and provision of better accommodation. New initiatives are under way in all of these areas.
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