---

26 Nov 2002 : Column 182W—continued

Retired Officer Scheme

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 19 November,

26 Nov 2002 : Column 183W

ref. 81662, which employment legislation is driving the abolition of the Retired Officer Scheme; what measures have been taken to recruit into military support posts; and how the terms and conditions of service of those that would have been recruited into the Retired Officer Scheme will be affected by the new arrangements. [82881]

Dr. Moonie: The EC Directive on fixed term work places restraints upon the use of fixed term appointments for retired officers, the current method of employment. Following agreement with all key stakeholders, preparations are in hand to make the first appointment by fair and open competition to a military support post in early 2003.

Normal civil service terms and conditions will apply with, exceptionally, a normal retirement age of 65 as an expedient to help to overcome the current manning deficit.

Service Accommodation

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many members of the (a) RAF and (b) Army indicated when last questioned that they were (i) satisfied and (ii) dissatisfied with the standard of their accommodation; what percentage of those responding this represents; what percentage of actual strength this represents; and if he will make a statement; [82246]

(2) how many members of the Army indicated when last questioned that they were (a) satisfied and (b) dissatisfied with the standard of their service family accommodation; what percentage of those responding

26 Nov 2002 : Column 184W

this represents; what percentage of actual strength this represents; what areas they indicated were in greatest need of improvement; and if he will make a statement. [82244]

Dr. Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Service Personnel

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of Service personnel went AWOL or deserted in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what the equivalent figures were (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 20 years ago. [80648]

Dr. Moonie: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Service Personnel (Deaths)

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of each of Her Majesty's armed forces have died through (a) combat or civil disturbance related incidents, (b) natural causes, (c) road traffic accidents and (d) accidental, self-inflicted and other causes in (i) Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) Germany and (iv) other overseas postings in each year since 1990. [80682]

Dr. Moonie: Between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2001, 2,481 serving members of Her Majesty's Armed Forces have died. 110 as a result of hostile action and assault; 326 with suicide or open verdicts, 777 due to natural causes; 762 deaths due to road traffic accidents; and 506 due to all other causes (including outstanding coroners verdicts).

Regular Armed Forces deaths by cause since 1 January 1990

		Year of Death
		1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	Grand Total
Deaths due to Hostile Action & Assault	Army Navy RAF	12
0
0	36
1
5	7
0
0	7
0
0	11
2
0	3
1
0	6
1
0	3
2
0	1
0
0	4
0
1	3
1
0	3
0
0	96
8
6
Suicide and Open Verdicts	Army Navy RAF	21
9
14	25
6
8	20
6
7	22
1
9	19
6
5	25
1
3	18
5
3	17
4
4	13
0
3	11
4
2	16
4
7	7
1
0	214
47
65
Deaths due to Natural Causes	Army Navy RAF	48
19
36	40
19
28	50
21
29	39
9
24	29
18
21	24
12
25	16
9
15	25
16
17	28
10
17	21
7
16	23
6
14	20
14
12	363
160
254
Deaths due to RTA	Army Navy RAF	67
13
22	72
13
7	50
17
16	40
22
13	41
8
10	32
7
14	26
9
8	39
9
6	40
5
16	30
8
4	30
7
11	31
11
8	498
129
135
Other Causes	Army Navy RAF	27
9
23	20
14
17	28
4
12	25
12
18	30
3
16	30
10
20	19
3
8	9
8
6	15
11
6	19
7
9	22
7
2	21 7 9	265
95
146
Grand Total		320	311	267	241	219	207	146	165	165	143	153	144	2,481

Note:

Suicide and open verdicts for 1995 and later are subject to change as outstanding coroners verdicts are confirmed. This could lead to significant increases, particularly for 1999 and later.

Between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2001, 1,701 members of Her Majesty's armed forces have died in Great Britain; 111 have died in Northern Ireland; 276 have died in Germany; and 393 have died in all other overseas postings. These figures are shown in the table.

Regular Armed Forces deaths by location since 1 January 1990

		Year of Death
		1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	Grand Total
Great Britain	Army Navy RAF	92
45
83	85
47
49	75
44
48	84
32
56	70
34
41	66
27
47	49
25
26	66
34
27	61
20
34	61
20
30	65
20
30	54
31
23	828
379
494
Northern Ireland	Army Navy RAF	15
0
0	14
0
0	18
0
5	13
1
0	6
0
1	11
1
0	4
0
1	5
0
0	3
0
1	1
0
0	5
0
1	5
0
0	100
2
9
Germany (BAOR)	Army Navy RAF	39
0
9	44
1
4	37
0
5	21
0
	25
0
2	15
0
4	14
0
3	8
0
2	10
0
1	9
0
0	7
0
2	10
0
1	239 1 36
Other overseas postings	Army Navy RAF	29
5
3	50
5
12	25
4
6	15
11
5	29
3
8	22
3
11	18
2
4	14
5
4	23
6
6	14
6
2	17
5
1	13
2
5	269
57
67
Grand Total		320	311	267	241	219	207	146	165	165	143	153	144	2481

26 Nov 2002 : Column 185W

Strategic Sealift Programme

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what costs were incurred as a result of his ministerial direction regarding the Strategic Sealift programme. [82567]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 25 November 2002]: No net costs resulted from the ministerial direction. There were some associated management and legal charges, which would not otherwise have been incurred, offset by savings in the terms of the service contract. The shipbuilding contracts themselves had already been negotiated by the service provider and the Ministry of Defence assumed responsibility for contract payments. These will be recovered from the service provider when the ships are completed.

Suicides

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the result was of his recent review of the definition of a self-inflicted death; what actions he has taken in consequence; and what steps have been taken to compare the rate of suicides in each of Her Majesty's armed forces with information available from the Office for National Statistics from samples of the civilian population and appropriate comparator groups. [80686]

Dr. Moonie: The review of the statistical classification of deaths in the armed forces is still underway. Whilst this is going on, the category of Xself inflicted deaths", which had been the basis of some Parliamentary Questions and some official statistics, will not be used. This category had included coroner confirmed suicides and open verdicts, broadly in line with the Office for National Statistics definition of suicide, but coroners' verdicts of accidental death and death by misadventure, together with unknown and outstanding verdicts, were also included. This wider Xself inflicted" category was often misinterpreted as meaning suicide. One of the aims of the review is to remove such confusion by putting the definitions on the same footing as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) use. This will allow more meaningful comparison between military and civilian populations. Furthermore, in answering future questions specifically about the number of suicides, both coroner confirmed suicides and open verdicts will be shown. The Defence Analytical Services Agency are liaising with colleagues in the ONS, and intend to publish an analysis of trends and method of suicides among the armed forces compared to civilians in the first part of 2003.

26 Nov 2002 : Column 186W

---