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Defence Fire Service

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed in the Defence Fire Service; and how many of these have indicated a willingness to become sponsored reserves in the event that the public sector comparator solution is selected for the Airfield Support Services Project. [167645]

Mr. Ingram: There are approximately 1,300 personnel based in the United Kingdom who are employed by the Defence Fire Service. A survey carried out in spring 2002 for Fire Study 2000, which has been used to inform the Public Sector Comparator for the Airfield Support Services Project, identified 420 fire fighters willing to become sponsored reserves.

Eurofighter Typhoon

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the position of each Eurofighter Typhoon partner in respect of when they will be ordering their Tranche II aircraft. [170108]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 30April 2004]: It is not appropriate to comment on the position of our partner Eurofighter Typhoon nations in respect of their orders for Tranche II aircraft. The international arrangements for the project require that all four nations must agree the order before it can be placed on their behalf by the responsible NATO procurement agency.

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his partners in the Eurofighter Typhoon Project about the UK being allocated the building of the 18 aircraft destined for Austria; and if he will make statement. [170109]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 30 April 2004]: The Secretary of State for Defence has had no discussions with partners in the Eurofighter Typhoon project about the United Kingdom being allocated the building of the 18 aircraft destined for Austria. Austria has ordered 18 Typhoons from Eurofighter GmbH and the role of national contractors in their construction has yet to be decided.
 
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France Campaign 1940

Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the contribution made by the 51st Highland Division who were captured at St. Valery-en-Caux. [169918]

Mr. Caplin: The valour of the 51st (Highland) Division at St. Valery-en-Caux is legendary. It is, however, Government policy to sponsor commemorations only for Jubilees of the Sovereign's Accession and 50th and 60th anniversaries and centennials of events of the greatest national significance. Nevertheless it is open to the successor units of those which fought at St. Valery to organise their own commemorations if they wish.

HMS Vanguard

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what safeguards will be in place for citizens of the Devonport area when the nuclear reactor of HMS Vanguard is fired up after her Long Overhaul Period (Refit). [166902]

Mr. Ingram: The nuclear reactor of HMS Vanguard is currently undergoing detailed inspection, revalidation and overhaul as part of the refit, and will be subject to rigorous testing prior to being operated. These measures are taken to ensure the safety of the reactor, and hence the safety of the workforce and members of the public. They are identical to those applied to all nuclear reactor systems towards the end of a refit where the submarine has been refuelled. All aspects of this work are subject to detailed safety justification and Devonport Management Limited (DML), as the nuclear site licensee, requires the prior approval of the UK's independent regulators, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, for all nuclear operations at Devonport Royal Dockyard. In addition, authorisation to operate refuelled nuclear submarines requires the approval of the Ministry of Defence's internal regulator. In the highly unlikely event of a nuclear incident, Devonport is covered by a site emergency plan, which is jointly prepared by DML and MOD. There is also an off-site emergency plan for which Plymouth City council is responsible.

Iraq

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the number of unexploded cluster bombs and bomblets that remain in Iraq having been dropped by British military operations. [166415]

Mr. Ingram: To date, around 930,000 individual items of unexploded ordnance have been cleared from the Multi-National Division (South East) Area of Operations. This figure includes around 5,800 items of submunitions, however this category is not broken down further into type of submunition or county of origin. Therefore it is not possible to quantify the number of unexploded cluster bombs and bomblets that remain in Iraq having been dropped by British military operations.
 
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Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures his Department has implemented to (a) trace and (b) recover munitions containing depleted uranium used by British forces in Iraq. [166871]

Mr. Ingram: An initial survey of the region has been started to mark known sites for clearance. Surface lying depleted uranium (DU) fragments are being removed from the battlefield as they are discovered.

The Ministry of Defence has provided the coordinates of targets attacked by British forces using DU ammunition to the United Nations Environment Programme which will assess DU levels as part of its post-conflict environmental survey of Iraq when the security situation allows.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that all investigations into alleged abuses by Coalition Forces in Iraq are conducted by a body that is (a) competent, (b) impartial and (c) independent. [166936]

Mr. Ingram: Formal investigations into alleged cases of misconduct by members of the UK Armed Forces are conducted by the Royal Military Police who are competent, impartial and, in exercising their constabulary powers, fully independent of the Army chain of command.

Investigations into allegations against members of other Coalition partners' Armed Forces are a matter for them to comment on.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that the findings of all investigations into alleged abuses by United Kingdom forces in Iraq are made public. [166937]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 February 2004, Official Report, column 45W to the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr (Mr. Price).

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements exist for the sharing of information between United States military forces and (a) British forces and (b) the United Kingdom diplomatic representation to the Coalition Provisional Authority respectively, in respect of Iraqi civilians (i) killed and (ii) injured by military activities by US forces in Iraq. [167403]

Mr. Ingram: We liaise closely with all our partners in the International Coalition on a range of issues but casualties allegedly caused by other than UK Forces are a matter for the relevant partner nation to comment on.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what attempts have been made to ascertain the number of Iraqi civilians (a) killed and (b) injured by British forces in Iraq since 1May 2003. [167421]

Mr. Ingram: UK units report all confirmed fatalities of which they are aware arising from incidents in which they were involved and we have put in place a mechanism for central collation of unit reports. However, it is not always possible to confirm whether fatalities or injuries have occurred during a particular incident. For example, in some incidents we believe Iraqi dead and/or injured may have been taken away by their compatriots before UK forces could investigate. In other incidents UK forces have been forced to withdraw
 
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before any Iraqi fatalities and/or injuries could be confirmed. Consequently, we have no reliable means of assessing the completeness of the information.

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many students in full-time employment have interrupted their studies to serve with reserve forces in Iraq and the adjoining theatre over the last 24 months; [169225]

(2) how many students in full-time employment now serving with reserve forces in Iraq and the adjoining theatre interrupted their studies in order to do so. [169224]

Mr. Caplin: Generally, it is Ministry of Defence policy to grant an exemption from or deferral of call-out for reservists who are in full-time education if such an exemption or deferral is sought. Therefore, the overall number of individuals who have served or who are serving in Iraq and who were in full time education prior to call-out is thought to be very small. Precise figures are not held centrally, as this would require a trawl of computer records and an examination of individual personnel files to establish the information requested. This could be done only at disproportionate cost.

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