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DEFENCE

Anti-personnel Mines

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many anti-personnel mines belonging to other countries are stored on UK territory, broken down by country of storage; and which countries these weapons belong to. [102362]

Mr. Ingram: There are no anti-personnel mines belonging to other countries stored on United Kingdom territory.

Armed Forces Deployment (Gulf)

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British armed forces personnel are deployed to the Gulf region. [101964]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the statements my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has made in the House where he has detailed the composition and deployments of United Kingdom forces from all three Services to the Middle East region, presenting a significant and credible threat of force in support of UNSCR 1441 and the disarmament of Iraq.

We currently envisage the total deployment of around 45,000 servicemen and women. The majority of the UK's total force package has now successfully deployed to theatre, making a significant contribution to the flexible and balanced range of coalition capabilities.

Dol Dol Primary School

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps were taken to (a) address and (b) redress complaints of Masai women following the meeting on 19 October 1983 between representatives of the women with the officer commanding troops involved in reconstruction of the Dol Dol primary school in Kenya; how many incidents are alleged to have been committed by members of Her Majesty's armed forces; how many admissions of responsibility or apology have been sent; how many disciplinary actions have been taken against serving soldiers; and how many have been dismissed from the Army. [101819]

Mr. Ingram: A document relating to the meeting purportedly held on 19 October 1983 has recently been disclosed to the Department and is currently under consideration. However, no formal claims or legal proceedings have been served on the Ministry of Defence in respect of alleged assaults on Masai women in Kenya by British soldiers.

EU Military Capabilities

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his US

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counterpart regarding the European Union plans for undertaking the NATO operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. [101959]

Mr. Ingram: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has had no discussions with his United States counterpart regarding the European Union plans for undertaking the NATO operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what recent discussions he has had with European defence ministers about measures to improve EU military capabilities; [101962]

(2) when he last discussed progress on the ESDP with the (a) French, (b) German and (c) Belgian defence ministers. [101961]

Mr. Hoon: I last discussed progress on ESDP (a) with my French counterpart at the Le Touquet summit on 4 February 2003, (b) with my German counterpart in Berlin on 5 November 2002, and (c) with my Belgian counterpart on 19 November 2002. I discussed European military capability improvements with other EU Defence Ministers at our informal meeting on 4–5 October 2002, and at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on 19 November 2002. The subject was also discussed in the three bilateral meetings mentioned earlier, as well as meetings with my Italian and Greek counterparts on 21 January and 3 March 2003 respectively. We are working on remedying key European defence capability shortfalls under the European Capabilities Action Plan established last year.

Fylingdales

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) US, (b) RAF, (c) MOD and (d) Ministry of Defence Police Agency personnel are deployed at RAF Fylingdales. [101688]

Mr. Ingram: There are: 76 RAF personnel, 43 MOD civilian personnel, 189 UK contractors, one USAF personnel, and 10 US contractors employed at RAF Fylingdales. I am withholding the information relating to the Ministry of Defence Police deployed at RAF Fylingdales in accordance with Exemption 1 (Defence, security and international relations) of the Codes of Practice on Access to Government Information as it could compromise the security of the Station.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what investigations have been established in his Department into the role played by Royal Ordnance in providing military equipment and explosives to Iraq. [101651]

Mr. Ingram: Information on inquiries into the export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq is contained in the Report of that same name by Sir Richard Scott that was published on 15 February 1996.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many (a) medical and (b) nursing reservists he expects to be called up in the event of conflict in Iraq; and from which clinical specialities these will be drawn; [102380]

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(2) whether medical and nursing reservists will be rotated in the event of conflict in Iraq. [102427]

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

La Spezia

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with (a) his Italian counterpart and (b) NATO officials about the security implications for British warships at La Spezia resulting from the presence of personnel attached to impounded Iraqi corvettes. [98413]

Mr. Ingram: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had discussions with either his Italian counterpart or NATO officials on this matter. There are currently no British warships based in La Spezia or indeed scheduled to visit the port and consequently on that basis there are currently no perceived security implications.

NATO

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts about giving the alliance a greater role in Afghanistan. [101963]

Mr. Ingram: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and his officials have on several occasions discussed possible roles for NATO in Afghanistan with NATO colleagues. We fully support the decision by Germany and the Netherlands to benefit from NATO assistance in their leadership of ISAF III.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are for the European Union to undertake the NATO operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. [101965]

Mr. Hoon: The European Council indicated the European Union's willingness to lead a military operation in Bosnia following SFOR, when it met at Copenhagen on 12–13 December last year. Initial consultation has commenced with NATO, and other international players, with a view to the EU potentially assuming responsibility for the stabilisation role in Bosnia next year.

Political Memorabilia/Emblems

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what rules govern (a) the display of political memorabilia and emblems and (b) the wearing of sectarian emblems and apparel inside army barracks in Northern Ireland; at what level responsibility rests for removing inappropriate displays; and how many personnel have been disciplined for offences arising from such displays since April 1998. [101154]

Mr. Ingram: The Army has clear guidelines on Equal Opportunities Policy and Complaints which are laid out in Army General Administrative Instructions. These are reinforced in Northern Ireland by Northern Ireland Standing Operations Procedures (NISOP) including a section on Equal Opportunities and Diversity with an annex on Northern Ireland Sectarian Harassment

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Policy and Guidelines which covers areas such as flags and emblems. The implementation of these policies rests with the appropriate Commander of a Battalion, unit or station. A copy of this NISOP was placed in the Library of the House of Commons in April 2000. Since 1998 the Army Board has considered administrative action against one officer and awarded an administrative sanction against him.

Royal Navy Vessels

Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many invitations to tender have been made to Farrow System Ltd. in relation to the cleaning of (a) Royal Navy vessels and (b) glass-fibre reinforced materials in Royal Navy vessels since completing work on HMS Quorn and on the orlop deck of HMS Victory; [101625]

(2) how much has been spent on surface cleaning of (a) Royal Navy vessels and (b) glass-fibre reinforced materials in Royal Navy vessels since 2nd February 2000; [101624]

(3) if he will make a statement on the application of public procurement procedures in inviting tenders for the surface cleaning of glass-fibre reinforced materials in Royal Navy vessels. [101623]

Mr. Ingram: Cleaning of Royal Navy Vessels and glass-fibre reinforced materials in Royal Navy vessels is undertaken as part of larger packages of work carried out during a vessel's regular maintenance and refit period, known as Upkeep Periods, undertaken by one of the three dockyards at Devonport, Portsmouth and Rosyth. The Ministry of Defence would not, therefore, have issued invitations to tender for cleaning direct to Farrow Systems.

Upkeep Periods involve a whole range of work activity and to identify how much has been spent on the specific task of surface cleaning would involve disproportionate cost.

Invitations to tender for Upkeep Periods follow public procurement procedures; any work subcontracted out would be subject to the procurement procedures laid down by the company undertaking the Upkeep Period.

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