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20 Jun 2003 : Column 516W—continued

Gulf War Syndrome

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the outcome of the appeal in the case of Mr. Shaun Rusling, and its implications for other Service personnel suffering illnesses due to mobilisation for or action in the 1991 Gulf War. [120495]

Mr. Caplin: The High Court judgment of 13 June 2003 against the Ministry of Defence, as appellant, rested on a number of considerations. A key consideration was that the Pensions Appeal Tribunal was entitled to find, in Mr. Rusling's case, that the Ministry of Defence had failed to show beyond reasonable doubt that disablement due to 'Gulf War Syndrome', which he claimed in 1994, was neither attributable nor aggravated by his Service in the armed forces. The High Court made it clear that it was not in a position to express any views on whether, according to current medical research, 'Gulf War Syndrome' was or was not a 'single disease entity', and the judge confirmed that the court had not expressed any such view in its judgment. The court confirmed that all other cases would have to be decided on their own facts.

We would not expect the level of Mr. Rusling's war pension to be affected by this judgment as the disablement that he describes as 'Gulf War Syndrome' is already being fully compensated for in his war pension award, using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of diseases, 10th edition, (ICD10) category, "Signs, Symptoms and Ill-Defined Conditions".

Of those veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict who have already claimed for conditions they attribute to their Service in the armed forces, many have already received a war pension. These awards have been based on consideration on whether there was evidence of disablement and whether this was attributable to Service. Where these have been satisfied, an award has been made. Similarly, therefore, the eligibility for an award and its level has not been affected by the issue of whether or not there was a single disease entity, 'Gulf War Syndrome'.

HMS Tireless

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what object HMS Tireless recently hit while sailing in the Arctic; and if he will make a statement. [118359]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 11 June 2003]: HMS Tireless suffered some external damage as a result of contact with a free-floating object. It is unfortunate that both surface vessels and submarines occasionally suffer damage from hitting free-floating objects such as large timbers or containers which have fallen from ships.

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Publication of information on the precise nature of the free-floating object could provide an indication of the location of a submarine at the time of the contact. I am, therefore, withholding information on the precise category of free-floating object, in accordance with Exemption 1a of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to national security.

Iraq

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ALARM missiles were fired by (a) Tornado F3 and (b) Tornado GR4 during Operation Telic. [115323]

Mr. Ingram: United Kingdom forces fired in the region of 45 ALARM missiles during Operation Telic. All were fired by Tornado GR4 aircraft.

Joint Strike Fighter

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money has been allocated by his Department for the Joint Strike Fighter; how much he expects this programme to cost; and when he expects to make a full financial commitment. [119186]

Mr. Ingram: Funding is allocated for in-year expenditure only. Provision for future years' expenditure is made in the annually revised Equipment Plan. In the case of Joint Strike Fighter, the allocation for equipment procurement for 2003–2004 is £138 million. We currently anticipate that the procurement cost of the Joint Strike Fighter programme will be up to £10 billion dependent on the number of aircraft acquired and how they are supported. Full financial commitment is not anticipated before 2006.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the minimum number of joint strike fighter ASTOVL variants below which purchase by the UK would no longer be financially viable. [119493]

Mr. Ingram: None. Our current planning assumption is to acquire up to 150 short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the joint strike fighter (JSF) to meet our future joint combat aircraft (FJCA) requirement. But no decision has yet been taken and final numbers will depend on the outcome of on-going work to confirm future United Kingdom fast jet requirements. The estimated cost of acquiring 150 STOVL JSF is taken into account in the Department's forward resource plans.

Medical Personnel

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Storm Shadow missiles were used during the Iraq conflict; and if he will make a statement on its operational effectiveness. [111814]

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Storm Shadow missiles were fired by Tornado bombers during Operation Telic. [115324]

Mr. Ingram: 27 Storm Shadow Missiles were used during recent operations in Iraq and are considered to have performed highly effectively.

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Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) precision and (b) non-precision bombs were used by British forces during operations in Iraq. [113244]

Mr. Ingram: British Forces used in the region of 780 precision bombs and in the region of 140 non-precision bombs during operations in Iraq.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of available stocks of (a) precision guided munitions and (b) non-precision guided munitions were used during the Iraq conflict. [113263]

Mr. Ingram: I am withholding this information under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what stocks of (a) solid propellant, (b) other fuel, including unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine, (c) oxidiser and (d) other related materials capable of use with short or medium range ballistic missiles capable of being fired at ranges (i) no greater than 150km and (ii) greater than 150km have (A) been captured by and (B) fallen into the possession of coalition forces in Iraq; [114923]

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Mr. Ingram: Coalition forces are currently conducting investigations into Iraq's programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. One aim of these investigations will be to account for Iraq's illegal weapons programmes, including ballistic missiles with proscribed ranges and associated materials, and their final dispositions. We are confident that further evidence of Iraq's illegal weapons programmes, including ballistic missiles with proscribed ranges, will be uncovered. At the appropriate time, we will make the evidence public.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) secondments and (b) advisers have been attached to his forces in Iraq to assist with or advise on United States peace keeping operations; and if he will make a statement. [116233]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 3 June 2003]: There are some 40 military and civilian personnel attached to United States forces in order to assist or advise them with peace keeping operations. Some 15 more military personnel will be arriving in Baghdad between 15 and 25 June 2003.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the targets hit by each of the Cruise missiles fired by HMS Turbulent during the invasion of Iraq; and if he will place in the Library the full battle damage assessment assembled for each Cruise missile fired from the submarine. [117626]

Mr. Ingram: I am withholding this information in accordance with Exemption la of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to defence, security and international relations.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his Department's disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration strategy for Iraq. [118778]

Mr. Hoon: The Government are contributing to current discussions on how the Coalition Provisional Authority should approach Security Sector Reform in Iraq, including the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former members of Iraq's armed forces back into Iraqi society.

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