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12 May 2003 : Column 34W—continued
Afghanistan
23. Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the military situation in Afghanistan. [112237]
Mr. Ingram: The military situation in Afghanistan continues to evolve. The effectiveness of the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul is well established and there are encouraging signs of greater stability in many of the Afghan regions. The three Provincial Reconstruction Teams already in place are building on that stability, as will the Team the United Kingdom will lead in Mazar-e Sharif. Even so, terrorist remnants still pose a danger in some areas. Afghan and coalition forces are cooperating to end that threat.
Accommodation
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) of the total available stock of MOD accommodation units in each of the six districts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, (a) how many and what proportion are within a restricted military base, and
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how many of those are empty, and (b) how many are situated within the civilian community and how many of those are empty; [111431]
- (2) how many (a) MOD-owned and (b) long-term leased accommodation units there are in each of the six districts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; [111432]
(3) how many and what proportion of his Department's accommodation units situated within civilian areas in Kerrier district have been empty in each of the last five years for which records are available; and of these, how many were in the St. Ives constituency. [111424]
Dr. Moonie: All Service family housing in Cornwall is owned by Annington Homes Ltd. and managed and maintained, under a lease-back agreement, by the Ministry of Defence's Defence Housing Executive (DHE) Agency.
The number of Service family housing units in Cornwall and the number empty, by constituency, is shown in the table. Only seven properties in Cornwall are located within a military base (RAF St. Mawgan), and they are all occupied.
| Constituency | Locations | Total properties | Vacant properties |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Ives | Helston (Culdrose) | 293 | 41 |
| Falmouth and Cambourne | Falmouth/Redruth | 52 | 2 |
| Truro and St. Austell | 0 | — | |
| Cornwall North | Newquay/St. Mawgan/St. Eval | 368 | 46 |
| Cornwall South East | Saltash | 102 | 14 |
| Scilly Isles | 0 | — | |
| Totals in Cornwall | 815 | (7)103 |
(7) Of the vacant properties:
some 50 are either under offer or allocated and awaiting incoming families;
29 are identified for disposal during this financial year; and
20 are held against known future deployments.
The remainder are available for occupation.
There are 333 properties within the Kerrier district council boundaries, of which 293 are located in the St. Ives constituency. 43 properties are currently vacant, of which 41 are in the St. Ives constituency, including those held against future deployment. Historic data for district council areas is not held, but our available records for Cornwall as a whole over the last three years show that the number of vacancies has not changed substantially.
Aircraft Carriers
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is for the in-service dates for each of the proposed new aircraft carriers. [111334]
Mr. Ingram: Our target in-service dates for the two new aircraft carriers are 2012 and 2015. Estimates for their delivery are being developed progressively this year during the remainder of the assessment phase by the CVF Alliance of BAE Systems, Thales UK and the Ministry of Defence, taking account of the maturing carrier design. The expected in service dates will be confirmed next spring when we place the contract for the demonstration and manufacture of the carriers.
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Army Exercises
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what mechanisms are in place to monitor the process of applying lessons learned from past army exercises to future activities; and who is responsible for ensuring such processes take place; [110553]
- (2) who is responsible within his Department for the planning and execution of army exercises; and what procedures are in place to assess their performance and that of their subordinates. [110552]
Mr. Ingram: There is a robust system in place to ensure that appropriate training is undertaken by the Army, and that relevant lessons are learned from exercises. Ultimately the responsibility for the planning and execution of Army exercises lies with Headquarters Land Command. The exercise programme is disseminated through the Land Command Collective Training Programme, which is designed to ensure that the right number of troops achieve the right level of readiness, in line with the Formation Readiness Cycle.
Individual exercises are planned against the 'Mission Essential Tasks List' (METL) that each unit is asked to undertake. The specific manner in which these METLs are met is a decision for the Chain of Command to take, at the appropriate level dependent on the size of the exercise. Headquarters Land Command undertakes the formulation of the METL, through a consultation process with the relevant Chain of Command. The procedure for assessing the individual performances of the personnel involved in the planning and execution of exercises, and that of their subordinates, is through the annual appraisal system, which is informed by an "After Action Review" conducted immediately at the end of each exercise.
Following soon after the completion of each exercise a Post Exercise Report is produced examining the success of the exercise against its aims. This not only enables the Chain of Command to assess the Collective Performance of the units/formations involved, but also provides an avenue for feedback, which allows the Army to learn appropriate lessons. The Land Warfare Centre's Mission Support Group, which is part of Land Command, is responsible for the effective collation and dissemination of lessons learned from past Army exercises.
Throughout the year, all collective training establishments systematically analyse the performance of all unit, battlegroup and brigade level exercises. These observations are then used to inform Land Command's lines of development, such as concepts and doctrine, sustainability, structures, training development, equipment and technology and people.
In addition, the Mission Support Group issues 'Observations from Training' (OFT), a collation of the lessons learnt from the exercises undertaken in the preceding year. The OFT seek to identify trends and general observations from training. It is the responsibility of the Chain of Command to ensure that the OFT receives widespread distribution, and that the lessons learned inform future training and operations.
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Challenger Tank
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the performance of Challenger 2 tanks in the desert conditions of southern Iraq in 2003. [110759]
Mr. Ingram: Post operational reporting will provide analysis and an assessment of the performance of equipment deployed on operations in Iraq. It would, therefore, be premature for me to provide a detailed assessment. Early indications are, however, that the Challenger 2 tanks performed very well.
Chinook Helicopters
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the position regarding the possible sale to the US of the Chinook HC3 helicopters originally ordered for the RAF. [108846]
Mr. Ingram: An approach was received from the United States last year about the possible purchase of the Chinook Mk3, with the United Kingdom in turn purchasing the MH47G. While informal discussions took place with the DoD, no formal approach has been received.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the Chinook HC3 helicopters ordered for the RAF (a) were delivered to the UK and (b) are flying in the UK. [108847]
Mr. Ingram: Of the eight Chinook Mk3 aircraft ordered for the RAF, seven were delivered to the United Kingdom during the period of July 2001 to May 2002. The remaining aircraft has been retained at Boeing Helicopters in Philadelphia, USA in support of a UK Chinook capability enhancement programme.
Two of the Chinook Mk3s are flying in the UK as part of the Military Aircraft Release (MAR) Trials, another is currently being utilised at RAF Odiham for ground training.
The remaining four in-country aircraft are awaiting the issue of MAR recommendations and a Release to Service.
Depleted Uranium
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what response his Department will be making to the recent recommendations by the United Nations Environment Programme that guidelines be distributed immediately to military and civilian personnel, and to the general public, on how to minimize the risk of accidental exposure to depleted uranium. [111451]
Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence welcomes the "Desk Study on Iraq" from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In support of the UNEP work, MOD agrees that information should be released on how much depleted uranium (DU) has been used in the Iraq conflict and where. NATO provided information following use of DU in the Balkans conflict and the United Kingdom will do so for DU it has fired in its area of operations in Iraq.
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The MOD has already issued appropriate safety instructions to those UK troops who have been deployed to the Gulf. These safety instructions make clear that the risks from DU are far lower than those from other hazards arising from military operations and that combat and life-saving activities should never be delayed on account of concern over DU. The emphasis is on avoiding situations where DU dust may be encountered and on wearing appropriate respiratory protective equipment and protective clothing when it is necessary to enter potentially contaminated areas.
DU particulate remains highly localised to the points of impact where DU munitions have struck hard targets: only in these small areas would DU levels be significant enough to necessitate precautions to prevent or reduce possible intakes. Increasing amounts of independent research by eminent scientists within groups such as the Royal Society DU Working Group and the United Nations Environment Programme support this view. As many defeated tanks as possible within the British area of operations are being cordoned off and kept undisturbed, until it is possible to send scientists to examine them.
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