| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 May 2003 : Column 267W—continued
Armed Forces Accommodation
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2003, Official Report, column 445W, on armed forces accommodation, if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidelines relating to the 4-tier grading system. [112669]
Causes of Death
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made in
14 May 2003 : Column 268W
identifying the causes of death of (a) Sapper Luke Allsopp and (b) Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth; and if he will make a statement. [112486]
Dr. Moonie: The investigation into the deaths of Sapper Allsopp and Staff Sergeant Cullingworth is still ongoing and it is not yet possible to predict when it is likely to finish. It would, therefore, be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage.
Children's Rights
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) changes have been made and (b) guidance has been issued by the Director General of Service Personnel Policy on bringing law and policy relating to under-18s into line with UK obligations under (i) the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and (ii) other international guidelines. [112629]
Dr. Moonie: Our existing policy and procedures for recruitment were already in line with our obligations. We have a policy to ensure that no under 18s are deployed on UN peacekeeping operations and no under 18s carry out operational patrols in Northern Ireland, and last year we introduced a policy whereby no under 18 soldiers may be deployed on operations outside the United Kingdom unless they are of a purely humanitarian nature and no hostile forces are involved.
Cluster Bombs
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures exist to control the onward sale to third countries of (a) RBL 755 and (b) BL 755 cluster bombs originally exported from the United Kingdom. [112482]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
The risk of strategically controlled goods being diverted to a third country is considered at the time of application for a licence, when this possibility is considered against Criterion 7 of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Criterion 7 addresses the existence of a risk that the equipment will be diverted within the buyer country or re-exported under undesirable conditions and includes consideration of the capability of the recipient country to exert effective export controls. The Government may draw upon information from a wide variety of sources when considering the risk.
Deepcut Barracks
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what categories of items have been reported (a) stolen and (b) lost at Deepcut Army barracks in each of the past 10 years; and how many rounds of (i) ammunition and (ii) weapon parts were missing in each year. [112633]
Dr. Moonie: In accordance with Service accounting procedures, records of items stolen or lost have been retained for the past five years only. The categories of military stores involved in incidents of theft or loss at Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut during this period are as follows.
14 May 2003 : Column 269W
| Year | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| Stolen | 1998 | Miscellaneous Stores |
| 2002 | Equipment, Miscellaneous Stores | |
| 2003 | Miscellaneous Stores | |
| Lost | 1998 | Accommodation Stores, Equipment, Miscellaneous Stores |
| 1999 | Accommodation Stores, Equipment, Rations, Miscellaneous Stores, Clothing | |
| 2000 | Accommodation Stores, Equipment, Miscellaneous Stores, Clothing | |
| 2001 | Accommodation Stores, Equipment, Miscellaneous Stores | |
| 2002 | Accommodation Stores, Equipment, Rations, Miscellaneous Stores, Clothing |
Over the past five years, two small weapons parts have been found to be missing. There have been no recorded incidents of lost or missing ammunition rounds since 29 September 2002. Records prior to this period are currently in the possession of Surrey police and are unavailable for examination.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims have been made against insurance for personally issued kit at Deepcut Army barracks in each of the past 10 years. [112634]
Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence does not insure itself against the loss or theft or personally issued military kit. Any private claim would be a matter between an individual and his or her insurer.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many fires have been recorded at Deepcut Army barracks in the past 10 years; and in how many cases civilian firefighters have been called to assist. [112635]
Dr. Moonie: Records are only available from June 1997. Since that time there have been eight separate fire incidents within the perimeter of the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut. On each occasion the local civilian fire service was called to assist.
Electoral Procedures
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that service personnel on operations can vote in elections. [112655]
Dr. Moonie: The Representation of the People Act 2000 and the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 presented Service personnel with a range of electoral registration options. They may register to vote at their private or other qualifying address, Service Families Accommodation or Single Living Accommodation, or register to vote by means of a Service declaration, or by rolling registration. A fresh Service declaration must be made every 12 months and, together with all households in the United Kingdom, all Service Voters will receive an annual renewal notification from the local Electoral Registration Officer with whom they are registered. The Ministry of Defence issues annual Defence Council Instructions explaining these measures in detail. The last was issued on 31 January 2003. Those overseas who are registered as Service Voters can only vote by proxy. Those in the United Kingdom who are unable to vote in person may vote by either post or proxy. Those individuals who choose to register on an electoral register—and who are not registered as Service Voters through a Service
14 May 2003 : Column 270W
declaration—will be able to vote either by post or proxy if they are overseas or away from home during an election. If personnel are overseas, every effort is made by ships, units, and stations to give reasonable assistance to personnel to register or vote in line with their electoral registration choice.
Executive Agencies
Mr. Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who the chief executive officer is of the (a) Defence Diversification Agency, (b) Defence Evaluation and Research Agency and (c) Veterans Agency. [112701]
Dr. Moonie: The Director General of the Defence Diversification Agency is Professor Damien G. McDonnell BSc PhD DSc CPhys FinstP QBE. He does not have the title chief executive since the Defence Diversification Agency is part of the Ministry of Defence head office and not a Defence agency.
The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) no longer exists. On 1 July 2001, two new organisations, QinetiQ pic and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, a trading fund, were formed from DERA. The chief executive officer of QinetiQ is Sir John Chisholm MA FR Eng, and the chief executive of DSTL is Mr. Martin Earwicker.
The chief executive of the Veterans Agency is Mr. Alan Burnham.
Graduate Scientists
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many graduate scientists were recruited by the Nuclear Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in each of the last three years; and how many additional graduate scientists will be recruited during 2003–04. [112825]
Dr. Moonie: The following figures show the number of science graduates recruited at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
| Science graduates | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 39 |
| 2001–02 | 38 |
| 2002–03 | 43 |
The expected recruitment figure for 2003–04 is 50.
Gurkhas
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the two Gurkha reinforcement companies. [112651]
Dr. Moonie: Both of the remaining Gurkha Reinforcement Companies are due to be disbanded, the first by July this year and the second by March 2004.
Improved infantry manning levels mean that the requirement for the Gurkha Reinforcement Companies has reduced. Notwithstanding this we intend to maintain Gurkha force levels at around 3,500 and plan to create two additional permanent Gurkha sub-units.
14 May 2003 : Column 271W
Iraq
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what latest estimate he has of the death toll from current hostilities in Iraq among (a) UK forces, (b) US forces, (c) Iraqi forces, (d) Iraqi civilians and (e) other civilian non-combatants. [110267]
Mr. Hoon: As of 6 May, 34 United Kingdom Service personnel had died during coalition military operations against Iraq.
The number of fatalities suffered by US forces is a matter for the US authorities.
We make every effort to minimise any impact on the Iraqi civilian population. We have no means of ascertaining the numbers of Iraqi military personnel or civilians, or other civilians who were killed or injured during the coalition's military action.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efforts his Department is making to assure the employers of TA soldiers serving in Iraq that their employees will return at the earliest opportunity. [112649]
Dr. Moonie: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence stated on 30 April 2003, Official Report, columns 15–16WS, we will continue to withdraw assets and personnel from the region where possible, but we will maintain an appropriate military presence for as long as is necessary. The requirement for Reservists will match this pattern. Where possible, Regional Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCAs), in concert with the Regional Brigade Chain of Command, have kept local employers of TA and Regular Army Reservists informed of the situation.
Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that reservists on duty in Iraq are kept informed by their commanding officers of how long they will be required to remain in Iraq. [112877]
Dr. Moonie: On mobilisation, reservists are informed of the likely length of their mobilised service. This is usually 6 months in theatre plus a further 1½ months made up of pre-deployment training and post-deployment admin and leave (a total of 7½ months). Should there be any changes to the period of mobilised service, reservists would be informed by their commanding officer as a matter of course.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK civilians have been deployed in Iraq by his Department since the end of the war; from what department of government they have been drawn; and what the expected (a) cost and (b) length of their deployment is. [113236]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 13 May 2003]: The number of Ministry of Defence civilian personnel deployed into theatre is in excess of 180. Of those personnel, the number deployed into Iraq varies daily, but is in the order of 12. In addition, some 50 civilians from other Government Departments have deployed, or are deploying into Iraq with the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. The Coalition, including civilian personnel, will stay in Iraq only as long as is necessary to help the Iraqi people to build their own political institutions and reconstruct
14 May 2003 : Column 272W
their country. It is too early to predict how long this is likely to take and therefore, how much the deployment of United Kingdom civilians to Iraq will cost.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |