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13 Dec 2004 : Column 911W—continued
Gulf War Syndrome
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will make a statement on the findings of the independent inquiry into Gulf War Syndrome headed by Lord Lloyd of Berwick. [203568]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 9 December 2004]: Lord Lloyd published the report into his unofficial investigation into Gulf Veterans' Illnesses on 17 November and we have studied it carefully as we would do with any other relevant material. We are of the view that it contains no new substantive or scientific evidence to support its conclusions and recommendations. It also fails to take into account the large amount of either substantive or scientific written material provided by the Ministry of Defence to Lord Lloyd to help inform his investigation.
The report gives the impression that 6,000 veterans are suffering from ill health due to their service in the 1990–91 Gulf Conflict. We understand this refers to those veterans who have claimed a war pension. Although these veterans have served in the Gulf, many of the claims will be for disablements and illnesses unrelated to their Gulf service. The number of veterans in receipt of pensions or gratuities for unspecified, symptomatic Gulf-related illnesses is approximately 1,400, less than 3 per cent. of the personnel who served in the Gulf. Additionally, only some 100 claimants have failed to receive an award for Gulf-related illnesses, not the 272 stated by the Lloyd report. I announced on 29 November 2004, Official Report, column 354, that the MOD will investigate and review these cases that do relate to Gulf illness where these can be identified.
We have been surprised by Lord Lloyd's refusal to disclose who sponsored and funded his investigation. This contrasts with Government policy of transparency and openness set out in our policy document "Gulf Veterans' Illnesses: A New Beginning", published in July 1997.
Health Liability Claims
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the
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implications of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force National Council Report of 10 July 1998 for the health liability claims of British servicemen who served in the Pacific Region in the 1940s and 1950s; and if he will make a statement. [201740]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 6 December 2004]: The Ministry of Defence is examining files to establish whether or not consideration was given to the implications of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force National Council Report of 10 July 1998 for the health liability claims of British servicemen who served in the Pacific Region in the 1940s and 1950. I will write to the hon. Member once this examination is complete.
Regarding claims from servicemen consequent of their service in the Pacific under section 10 of the Crown Proceedings Act 1947. The British service personnel who served in the Pacific region in the 1940s and 1950s are prevented from pursuing claims for compensation from the Ministry of Defence. The repeal of section 10 by the Crown Proceedings (Armed Forces) Act 1987 was not made retrospective.
Compensation in the form of a War Pension Compensation is, however, available to all former members of HM forces suffering from service attributable illness or injury. War Pensions are paid by the Veterans Agency and are non-discretionary, not means-tested and are made on a no-fault, tax free and retrospective basis. They are up-rated annually. The Veterans Agency also makes provision for the widows of service and ex-service personnel whose death is attributable to service in the form of a War Widows Pension.
HMS Daring
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been carried out of the implications for the Royal Navy of the gap between the in-service date for HMS Daring and the phasing out of the Sea Harrier in 2006; and if he will make a statement. [201640]
Mr. Ingram: An element of operational risk has been accepted, though a significant air defence capability will still be maintained.
IT Contracts
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) projected cost at the time of tender and (b) actual cost at the time of completion was for each IT contract commissioned by his Department in the last five years. [201612]
Mr. Ingram: The Department commissions a very large number of IT contracts and in the last five year period around 20,000 IT related contracts of varying values were let. To ascertain which IT contracts were completed over the period and then compare their projected costs against actual costs could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Personnel Survey
Mr. Keetch:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons questions relating to (a) racial and sexual harassment, (b) racial and sexual discrimination
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and (c) bullying were omitted from the sixth serving personnel survey for the Army completed in August; and how many (i) pages and (ii) questions the full report comprised. [204028]
Mr. Caplin: The full Army Continuous Attitude Survey (CAS) was published on the MOD's internet site on 26 October. Due to an administrative error the copies of the Army CAS that were placed in the Library of the Houses were incomplete. This error has now been rectified and steps taken to ensure that a mistake of this type will not occur again. Copies of the full Army CAS have now been placed in the Library of the House.
The questions relating to racial and sexual harassment, racial and sexual discrimination and bullying were contained in the part of the Army CAS that was initially omitted from the copies placed in the Library of the House. The full Army CAS comprises 52 pages and 113 questions.
Procurement
Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will review the cost-effectiveness of his Department's procurement policy. [200124]
Mr. Ingram:
Defence Procurement Policy is kept under continual review. For example, in 2004 the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) undertook a major review of its performance in the implementation
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of Smart Acquisition and is now implementing a major change programme to implement more consistently good performance across the agency. At departmental level, we have also identified proposals for the establishment of a senior level procurement process owner to improve procurement across the Department and have established a new Acquisition Policy Board, chaired by my noble friend the Minister for Defence Procurement, that will, amongst other matters, review defence procurement policy issues.
RAF Bases
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) military and (b) civilian personnel are based in each RAF base (i) in Scotland, (ii) in England, (iii) in Wales, (iv) in Northern Ireland and (v) abroad; how these numbers have changed in each year since 1991; and if he will make a statement. [203813]
Mr. Caplin: Service Personnel data are not available at base level. Service location by local authority is published in TSP10. The latest publication available is July 2002. DASA are currently reviewing the source data and process by which location statistics are produced. The target date for completion of this review is January 2005.
There are no centrally held reliable data on the number of civilians at base level. However, the following table gives the total number of full time equivalent civilians in the RAF budgetary units by country.
(20) the figure is less than 10.
(21) Figures for 1993 to 1999 include staff in RAF Logistics Command. This ceased to be a separate budgetary area on 30 March 2000 with personnel forming part of the Defence Logistics Organisation.
Note:
Data for 1991 and 1992 are not available.
Source:
DASA (Civilian)
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