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Geneva Convention

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those practices which are not specifically prohibited by the Geneva Convention but which he classifies as unacceptable and not to be followed by United Kingdom service personnel. [173002]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Government Buildings (Disabled Access)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether all government buildings in his Department within the Greater London area are fully accessible to disabled people; and if he will make a statement. [199313]

Mr. Caplin: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
 
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Green Ministers

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many departmental Green Ministers there have been since 1997. [197837]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 16 November 2004]: Four.

Guantanamo Bay

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates representatives of his Department visited British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay; whether he has received adverse reports on the welfare of detainees or allegations of ill-treatment; what representations he made on behalf of the prisoners; and what action he took to make his concerns known to relatives or legal representatives of those detained. [179815]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Gurkha Soldiers

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Gurkha soldiers are serving in the British Army. [196724]

Mr. Caplin: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many payments under the ex gratia compensation scheme for former Far East prisoners of the Japanese have been made to former Gurkhas. [188576]

Mr. Caplin: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Harrier Aircraft

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will undertake an independent investigation into (a) delays and (b) difficulties encountered in repairing ZD402, ZD376, ZD470, ZD472, ZD408, ZD404 and ZD466 at RAF Cottesmore. [199352]

Mr. Ingram: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.

Hooding

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hoods (a) have been ordered by his Department and (b) are available to British troops for use after arrest and during detention of military combatants in Iraq. [178710]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Human Rights Abusers

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what mechanisms are used to ensure that known human rights abusers do not receive military training or assistance from the UK Government. [197630]

 
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Mr. Ingram: Where there have been concerns about a country's armed forces' human rights record, UK military defence assistance and training normally includes targeted security sector reform activity aimed at helping to ensure that the relevant armed forces operate in an accountable manner fully respecting human rights.

Hurricane Ivan

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance his Department has offered to islands affected by Hurricane Ivan in the Caribbean; and what plans he has for providing further assistance. [190273]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to my right hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

India

Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) dates and (b) purpose of his recent visit to India were; who accompanied him; and how much the visit cost. [194111]

Mr. Hoon: I visited India and Pakistan from 4–8 October 2004. The primary purpose of the visit to India was to meet the new Indian Defence Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. As set out in the Prime Ministers' Declaration of 20 September 2004, the United Kingdom has an important relationship with India; maintaining high-level contacts is a key strand of the defence element of the relationship.

I was accompanied to India by my wife, three Ministry of Defence officials (a Private Secretary, a policy official, and a telecommunications specialist), my special adviser and Metropolitan Police protection officers.

The total cost to the MOD of the visit was £78,503.

Infantry

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there has been (a) a cap and (b) a restriction on recruitment for the infantry in the last three years. [196217]

Mr. Caplin: There have been control measures placed on all levels of the Army, including the infantry, over the last three years to meet adjustments to funding allocations. However, recruiting has not ceased.

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of infantry recruits from Scotland failed to complete their training courses in (a) each of the last five years during which Scottish infantry recruits were trained at Glencorse and (b) each year since their training has been carried out at Catterick. [198515]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 16 November 2004]: Data is not held centrally on the historical percentages of infantry recruits from Scotland who failed to complete their training courses and will need to be collated from various sources. I will write to the hon. Member when the information has been collated and place a copy in the Library of the House.
 
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Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Scottish infantry recruits committed suicide during their training (a) during the last 20 years during which their training was carried out at Glencorse and (b) during each year since their training has been carried out at Catterick. [198621]

Mr. Caplin: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) expected enrolment, (b) actual enrolment, (c) recruitment and (d) lost strength was for each infantry regiment in the latest year for which figures are available. [197914]

Mr. Caplin: The following table shows the numbers of soldiers enlisted, the enlistment target and phase 2 trained output for the three career employment groups (CEG) for the Infantry; the Guards, Line and Para and the corresponding outflow figure from the Field Army for financial year 2003–04, the last full year that figures are available.
Soldiers

Infantry	Enlistment target	Enlisted	Phase 2 trained output to the field army	Outflow from field army
Guards	530	700	530	470
Line	2,510	3,600	2,510	2,430
Para	190	450	190	300

Figures for officers for the corresponding period are as follows.
Officers

Infantry	RMAS output to the field army	Outflow from field army
Guards	35	20
Line	158	120
Para	14	20

Information on targets and enlistments for soldiers to Infantry Regiments is not available in the format requested. The Army Training and Recruiting Agency is tasked to recruit to the three Infantry CEGs and not to Regiments, as capbadges for soldiers are only allocated by the Field Army on completion of training. For officers, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is given a target for commissioned officers to the Army generally and not to specific regiments. Officers are only allocated a capbadge in their third term.

Notes:

1. Figures include regular Army personnel only. 2. Outflow figures include absence without leave. 3. Figures do not include transfers from the Infantry into other arms/services. 4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 for presentational purposes. 5. For officers, the outflow figures exclude colonels and above.

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