| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1535W—continued
Defence Service Agencies (Scotland)
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for each financial year since 1997–98 the Army Personnel Centre spent in Scotland (a) in monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland in each case; and if he will make a statement. [215455]
Mr. Caplin: Staff costs and staff numbers are included in the Annual Report and Accounts for the Army Personnel Centre, copies of which are held in the Library of the House. The proportion of staff based outside Scotland is less than one percent.
Departmental Estate
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many acres of vacant, dormant, unused and under-utilised land are owned by his Department; and if he will estimate the number of homes that could be built on the land if it was made available. [219680]
Mr. Caplin
[holding answer 3 March 2005]: Ministry of Defence Land and property in excess of 9,635 acres (3,900 hectares) has been identified as surplus to operational requirements. Given favourable planning frameworks, this amount of land could accommodate between 16,000 to 20,000 new homes over the next decade. It is possible that there are other dormant, vacant or under-utilised MOD sites that have not been declared surplus to operational requirements. The future of such sites will be considered as part of the Department's estate rationalisation studies.
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1536W
Departmental Records Office (Hayes)
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many agency staff commissioned by TNT have been dismissed from working on the Departmental records office site at Bourne Avenue, Hayes on the grounds of drug abuse on site in the last nine months. [220247]
Mr. Caplin: TNT have a strict policy of zero tolerance for drug and alcohol abuse, and random searches of staff entering and leaving the Hayes site are carried out by TNT's security personnel. Two members of TNT's agency staff have been dismissed because they were found in possession of an illegal substance. Five further members of the agency staff have had their employment with TNT terminated because they were suspected of such possession. However, drug abuse on the Hayes site was not substantiated in any of these cases.
Geneva Conventions
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether further investigations are taking place in relation to alleged breaches of the Geneva Convention arising out of Operation Ali Baba; and if he will make a statement. [210701]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 27 January 2005]: No criminal investigations are taking place into alleged breaches of the Geneva Convention in relation to Operation Ali Baba although administrative action in relation to potential breaches of the Army's values and standards remains a possibility.
Gulf War-related Illnesses
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what medical testing is available for veterans claiming Gulf War-related illnesses. [220490]
Mr. Caplin: In order to adjudicate a claim for a War Pension, a diagnosis of the claimed condition is required. In claims where entitlement is awarded, an up to date description of the accepted condition is necessary to determine the correct assessment of disablement. Wherever possible this information is obtained from service medical documents, a report from a claimant's General Practitioner, relevant hospital case notes or a report from the Gulf Veterans' Medical Assessment Programme in cases where a veteran has been referred to this unit by a General Practitioner.
In those cases where these sources of evidence do not provide the necessary information, a medical examination report, specialist report or audiological report is requested. These reports are based on the results of the clinical history and examination, together with non-invasive tests of function such as pure tone audiometry or simple tests of respiratory function where appropriate. More invasive tests such as blood tests, endoscopy and X-rays are not sanctioned for the purpose of adjudicating claims for war pensions.
Any Gulf veteran who has concerns about their health may be referred by their doctor to the Gulf Veterans' Medical Assessment Programme where they will be interviewed and given a full medical examination.
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1537W
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims of Gulf War-related illnesses are waiting to be processed. [220491]
Mr. Caplin: This information is not available in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Iraq
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much financial compensation has been paid to Iraqi citizens for damage done to Iraqi property as a result of the actions undertaken by British military forces in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [212307]
Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has paid approximately £183,000 since cessation of hostilities on 1 May 2003 on compensation claims relating to property damage in Iraq as a result of incidents involving members of HM forces.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list (a) armoured regiments and (b) artillery regiments that have been deployed in Iraq in an infantry role since the end of hostilities; what the reasons for deployment in this role was in each case; and what assessment he has made of the potential risks of using armoured regiments in an infantry role; [219062]
(2) what the training time is for artillery and armoured units to (a) re-role in an infantry role and (b) revert to their original roles. [219063]
Mr. Ingram: Details of Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Artillery units that have deployed in an infantry role in Iraq since the end of hostilities are set out in the following table. It is not unusual for non-infantry units to deploy in an infantry role as every soldier in the British Army is trained as infanteer first, and as a specialist second. Such units would not, however, primarily be deployed in an infantry role during war fighting operations. My hon. Friend may be assured that there is assessed to be no increased risk in deploying such units in this role and that they receive the same pre-deployment training as Infantry Battalions. All units, upon return from an 'out of role' operational tour, will undertake a routinely planned training programme designed to bring it back up to competency in its specialism. The duration of such a training programme will vary according to an individual unit's specialism.
Missile Defence
Norman Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions have taken place between the
7 Mar 2005 : Column 1538W
US and UK about RAF Menwith Hill becoming a component of the American Missile Defence System; and if he will make a statement. [218904]
Mr. Hoon: There has been no request from the United States to use facilities at RAF Menwith Hill for missile defence purposes. The position remains as set out in my answer of 26 April 2004, Official Report, column 727W, to the hon. Member.
Parachutists
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the parachute battalions are in receipt of parachute pay. [219049]
Mr. Caplin: Figures for the members of parachute battalions in receipt of parachute pay are as follows:
Notes:
1.The figures quoted are as at 1 January 2005 and are for UK Regular Trained Army Officers and Soldiers only and therefore exclude TA, Mobilised Reserves, Full Time Reserve Service, Gurkhas and Home Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment.
2.The figures do not include officers and soldiers in the Parachute Regiment that are serving outside the battalion, or personnel from other cap badges that are attached to the battalion. The officer element excludes personnel with the rank of colonel and above.
3.All figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |