House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 19 Jan 2005 (pt 7)

19 Jan 2005 : Column 956W—continued

Jake Shrof

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to investigate allegations of bullying and sexual assault made by former Coldstream Guardsman Jake Shrof. [208386]

Mr. Caplin: An investigation into these allegations was carried out by the Royal Military Police. The resulting report and supporting evidence was considered by the Army Prosecuting Authority who determined that there was insufficient evidence to direct trial by court martial.

Meteorological Office

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to review the financial resources available to the Meteorological Office; and if he will make a statement. [208875]

Mr. Caplin: The Meteorological Office is a trading fund within the Ministry of Defence. It receives revenue through two main channels.

The Government centrally funds the National Met Programme, which underpins the UK's meteorological capability. The programme and the resources required are agreed annually with the Met Office. The programme and the Met Office's performance is kept under review by an independent group of commissioners who represent the interests of all stakeholder departments. The commissioners report directly to me on a biannual basis, and contribute to the overall financial planning and resource allocation processes in the Ministry of Defence.

It receives the second directly from customers in the public and private sectors, on agreed contractual terms. It is a matter for individual customer departments to keep the funds for their Met Office services under review in the course of normal business.

In addition, the Met Office can if required seek loans or similar types of one-off financial support from the Ministry of Defence, as its parent department.

19 Jan 2005 : Column 957W

Private Terence Morrison

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what disciplinary action has been taken against Private Terence Morrison in connection with the attempted murder of a 14-year-old boy in Belfast on 6 November 2004; and in what regiment Private Morrison serves. [208866]

Mr. Caplin: This incident is subject to an investigation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and it would be inappropriate to comment further. In accordance with data protection legislation, it is not our policy to confirm the unit in which a named individual is serving.

Court Martial (RAF Aldergrove)

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the factors were that influenced his decision to locate at RAF Aldegrove the court martial of six Royal Marine instructors facing assault charges connected with their conduct at Lympstone, Devon. [208857]

Mr. Caplin: The Military Court Centre at Aldergrove was deemed to be the most appropriate venue to accommodate this trial. It is a purpose built courtroom with modern facilities and is sufficiently large enough to handle a trial involving six defendants, their counsel and numerous witnesses.

Sickness Absence

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days sick leave were taken by civil servants in the Department in each year since 1997; and what the sickness absence rate was in each year. [204511]

Mr. Caplin: The following tables show the numbers of days of sickness absence for non-industrials and industrials in the Ministry of Defence since 1997.
Number of days' sickness absence and the sickness absence rate for non-industrial civil servants in the Ministry of Defence 1997–2003 and financial year 2003–04

Sickness absence
(working days) Absence rate

1997⁽⁷⁾ 573,0003 ⁽⁹⁾8.4

1998⁽⁷⁾ 571,0003 ⁽⁹⁾8.6

1999⁽⁸⁾ 538,7004 ⁽¹⁰⁾8.1

2000⁽⁸⁾ 520,1004 ⁽¹⁰⁾7.9

2001⁽¹¹⁾ No reliable data available —

2002⁽⁸⁾ ⁽¹⁰⁾465,200 ⁽¹⁰⁾7.3

2003⁽⁸⁾ ⁽¹⁰⁾481,000 ⁽¹⁰⁾7.6

FY 2003–04⁽⁸⁾ ⁽¹⁰⁾494,100 ⁽¹⁰⁾7.8

⁽⁷⁾ Excludes non-industrial Ministry of Defence staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Rates are from the Annual Report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" which is published by the Cabinet Office.
⁽⁸⁾ Excludes non-industrial Ministry of Defence staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Rates are from UK Defence Statistics 2004 Table 2.35. Excludes obvious outliers.
⁽⁹⁾ The number of sickness days' absent is calculated using a staff year, which constitutes 225 working days (365 days less bank holidays, weekends and average annual leave) and corresponds to a full-time employee who has been continuously employed throughout the year. Those employees who have worked for only part of a year will be recorded as having worked a fraction of a staff year. For part-time staff, the staff year figure is based on the number of hours worked as a proportion of full-time hours.
⁽¹⁰⁾ Sickness absence days and rates are based on FTE working days lost. For example, if a part-time employee (working 50 per cent. full-time hours) is sick for seven calendar days, this is five working days lost and 2.5 FTE working days lost.
⁽¹¹⁾ There is no sickness absence information for non-industrial Ministry of Defence staff available for 2001 for data quality reasons.

19 Jan 2005 : Column 958W

Number of days' sickness absence and the sickness absence rate for industrial civil servants in the Ministry of Defence1997–2003 and financial year 2003–04

Sickness absence⁽¹²⁾
(working days) Absence rate⁽¹²⁾

1997⁽¹³⁾ p337,100 p13.7

1998⁽¹³⁾ p376,800 p16.3

1999⁽¹⁴⁾ 320,900 12.9

2000⁽¹⁵⁾ No reliable data available —

2001⁽¹⁴⁾ 304,900 14.8

2002⁽¹⁴⁾ 259,700 14.8

2003⁽¹⁴⁾ 209,900 13.5

FY 2003–04⁽¹⁴⁾ 187,100 12.2

⁽¹²⁾ Sickness absence days and rates are based on FTE working days lost. For example, if a part-time employee (working 50 per cent. full-time hours) is sick for seven calendar days, this is five working days lost and 2.5 FTE working days lost.
⁽¹³⁾ Excludes industrial Ministry of Defence Staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Sickness absence records for industrial staff are not as robust as for non-industrial staff and the early years are marked as provisional.
⁽¹⁴⁾ Excludes industrial Ministry of Defence Staff in Trading Funds and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Rates are from UK Defence Statistics 2004 Table 2.35. Excludes obvious outliers.
⁽¹⁵⁾ There is no sickness absence information for industrial Ministry of Defence staff available for 2000 for data quality reasons.

	Sickness absence (working days)	Absence rate
1997⁽⁷⁾	573,0003	⁽⁹⁾8.4
1998⁽⁷⁾	571,0003	⁽⁹⁾8.6
1999⁽⁸⁾	538,7004	⁽¹⁰⁾8.1
2000⁽⁸⁾	520,1004	⁽¹⁰⁾7.9
2001⁽¹¹⁾	No reliable data available	—
2002⁽⁸⁾	⁽¹⁰⁾465,200	⁽¹⁰⁾7.3
2003⁽⁸⁾	⁽¹⁰⁾481,000	⁽¹⁰⁾7.6
FY 2003–04⁽⁸⁾	⁽¹⁰⁾494,100	⁽¹⁰⁾7.8

	Sickness absence⁽¹²⁾ (working days)	Absence rate⁽¹²⁾
1997⁽¹³⁾	p337,100	p13.7
1998⁽¹³⁾	p376,800	p16.3
1999⁽¹⁴⁾	320,900	12.9
2000⁽¹⁵⁾	No reliable data available	—
2001⁽¹⁴⁾	304,900	14.8
2002⁽¹⁴⁾	259,700	14.8
2003⁽¹⁴⁾	209,900	13.5
FY 2003–04⁽¹⁴⁾	187,100	12.2

Tanzania

Mr. McNamara: : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers have participated in adventure training exercises in Tanzania since 10 November 2004; and from which regiments. [208384]

Mr. Ingram: Some nine members of the Light Dragoons participated in adventurous training in Tanzania between 11–16 November 2004. There has been no further adventurous training undertaken by the British Army in the country since that date.

TRANSPORT

Cycling

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to promote the integration of rail and cycle travel, with particular reference to off-peak periods; and what mechanisms exist for co-ordinating transport and public health policies in respect of cycling. [208521]

Charlotte Atkins: We expect train operators and Network Rail to encourage bike and rail journeys in order to enable the bicycle to be used as part of a longer journey and to reduce car use. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) published their Cycling Policy last year. The policy states that:

there should be cycle parking at most stations over the next five years, so that 95 per cent. of journeys originate from stations with cycle parking;

train operators should carry bikes at all times, whilst accepting that this will not always be possible during peak periods.

19 Jan 2005 : Column 959W

The Department is providing over £500,000 to improve cycle parking at stations where a pressing need has been identified and last year published, with the Countryside Agency, Bike and Rail—A Good Practice Guide.

In light of its keen interest in both cycling and walking, the Department has been active in the development of public health policy. Ministers and officials were closely involved in cross-Government consideration of initiatives to raise levels of cycling, leading to commitments on cycle training and cycle commuting in the public health White Paper published in November last year. The Department of Health was also one of a number of Departments which contributed to Walking and Cycling: an Action Plan, published by the Department for Transport in June last year. The action plan contains more than 40 actions aimed at increasing cycling and walking, in light of the health, transport and environmental benefits.

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