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DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Afghan staff members have been engaged by the UK-led provincial reconstruction team in Mazar-e-Sharif; and how many of these are women. [123029]

Mr. Ingram: About 20 local staff, including one woman, have been engaged so far to support the UK-led Provincial Reconstruction Team that will shortly deploy to Mazar-e-Sharif.

Colombia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many United Kingdom service personnel are deployed in Colombia; and what the equivalent figure was in each of the past five years. [123449]

Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 11 June 2003, Official Report, column 910W.

Defence Medical Services

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the status of the Defence Medical Services. [123596]

Mr. Caplin: The Defence Medical Services (DMS), comprise the Royal Naval Medical Service, the Army Medical Services and the Royal Air Force Medical Service. They are a vital component of the armed forces, providing essential medical support to Service personnel both on military operations and in peacetime. During 2002–03, DMS personnel have deployed successfully on operations to Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Northern Ireland.

We are committed to the modernisation of the DMS to meet the challenges we expect to face in the future. The provision of an effective deployable medical operational capability in support of deployed forces in Iraq demonstrated that our medical personnel are among the very best in the world. We do not underestimate the continuing challenges facing us to make good the acknowledged manning shortfalls and to equip our doctors, dentists, nurses and other medical personnel with modern medical equipment, but we are committed to doing so.

Executive Agencies

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people work for the International Visits Control Office; how many are employed in Scotland; what the personnel costs of the agency are; and how these figures compare to 2002. [119275]

Mr. Caplin: The International Visits Control Office is part of the Defence Procurement Agency, having transferred from the Directorate of Defence Security on 1 April 2003. It is currently based in London, but will transfer to Abbey Wood, Bristol by the end of 2003. It has no staff employed in Scotland. The office has a complement of nine staff, with annual personnel costs of approximately £177,000 compared to £189,000 for the previous year.

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Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people work for the Defence Estates; how many are employed in Scotland; what the personnel costs of the agency are; and how these figures compare to 2002. [119287]

Mr. Caplin: At 31 March 2003 Defence Estates employed 1,785 people, of which 112 were in Scotland. At 31 March 2002 it employed 1,539 people of which 107 were in Scotland. The Agency's expenditure on pay and allowances totalled £51 million in 2002–03 and £46 million in 2001–02.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people work for the Directorate of Standardisation; how many are employed in Scotland; what the personnel costs of the agency are; and how these figures compare to 2002. [119299]

Mr. Caplin: In 1999 the Directorate of Standardisation became the United Kingdom Defence Standardisation team and part of the Defence Procurement Agency's Procurement Development Group. The UK Defence Standardisation team has the equivalent of 38 people working full time of which 33 are employed in Scotland. The payroll costs for financial year 2003–04 will be £1.2 million. The figures for 2002–03 were 38, 32 and £1.1 million respectively.

Health Care Funding

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures have been taken to ensure that healthcare funding in the armed forces does not fall in relation to that available under the NHS. [R] [121450]

Mr. Caplin: The provision of timely appropriate healthcare for service personnel remains a very high priority for the Defence Medical Services (DMS) which seek to provide at least as high standards of care as provided by the NHS, and work closely with the NHS to achieve this.

Iraq

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sources he draws on for compiling his estimates of the numbers of civilian casualties in Iraq during 2003. [114210]

Mr. Ingram: We have no means of ascertaining the numbers of military or civilian lives lost during decisive military operations in Iraq, and have therefore made no such estimates, although we made every effort to minimise civilian casualties.

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to create a fully armed Iraqi Army; who will control it; what role a British Army training team will have; and whether other countries have requested a team for the training of their military. [121090]

Mr. Ingram: Under the direction of Mr Walter Slocombe, the Director for Security Affairs, the Coalition Provisional Authority intends to lead on the creation of a New Iraqi Army. Its plans for the training of this force were formally announced on 23 June. Initial plans are to form a core Brigade of Light Infantry, although the final shape and size of the armed forces will be developed in consultation with emerging Iraqi authorities, who will be fully engaged in the

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development process. The early work will be conducted by the Coalition Military Advisory Training Team (CMATT) which has a UK military deputy. Training is due to commence on 15 July. It is anticipated that there will be a small United Kingdom element directly involved in the training and development processes of the New Iraqi armed forces. UK armed forces have significant experience in providing military assistance and advice to a number of countries around the world, including in the Middle East.

Less-than-lethal Weapons

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what less-than-lethal weapons have gone missing from the (a) armed forces and (b) intelligence services in the last five years. [123036]

Mr. Ingram: The information requested will take some time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House. The Ministry of Defence cannot comment in respect of the intelligence services.

RAF Church Fenton

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 452W, what guidance had been issued to his Department in respect of TUPE liabilities at RAF Church Fenton before the decision was made to transfer flying currently undertaken by the Joint Elementary Flying Training School to university air squadrons. [123092]

Mr. Caplin: No guidance was issued to the Department. The advice given by our own legal officers was that Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) would be unlikely to apply.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 452W, how many additional staff have been recruited within university air squadrons in order to provide ground base flying training. [123153]

Mr. Caplin: Ground branch training for University Air Squadron (UAS) students has, in the past, been provided by the flying instructional staff, with some help from visiting lecturers and branch mentors from nearby RAF stations undertaking such work as a secondary duty. Various studies into UAS training had pointed to the benefits of dedicated ground branch training instructors, in particular to increase the potential for attracting ground branch students. In 1997, such posts were established on each of the 15 UASs but funding was not available. As a result of a further review of the UASs, funding was agreed and the first ground branch training instructor arrived in April 2003; a total of seven are now in place. The overall establishment of ground branch training instructors has been reduced to 14, with a shared instructor for two co-located UASs. It is expected that all the posts will be filled by the end of 2004.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 452W, what representations have been received from the PROSPECT trade union in respect of the new arrangements for elementary flying training. [123154]

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Mr. Caplin: Two meetings have been held with the PROSPECT Trade Union, at their request, to explain the new arrangements for Elementary Flying Training and consider whether Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) would apply to any current Babcock HCS staff when the new arrangements commence in July 2003.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 4 June 2003, Official Report, column 452W, what budget was set for elementary flying training by university air squadrons in (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03 and (c) 2003–04. [123091]

Mr. Caplin: The contract costs of providing Elementary Flying Training (EFT) to the University Air Squadrons (UASs) in 2001–02 and 2002–03, and the anticipated contract cost for 2003–04, are approximately £5.0 million, £5.5 million and £5.55 million respectively. This does not include fuel, manpower or the ownership of the sites where flying is undertaken. The UAS EFT share of the contract cost is approximately 49 per cent. of the total hours flown, as the contract also provides Air Experience Flying for Air Cadets and other non-EFT flying.

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