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8 Mar 2005 : Column 1667W—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 Ministry of Defence police 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. [215434]
Mr. Caplin: The information requested is shown as follows:
The number of MOD Police Agency personnel employed in Scotland in each financial year since 1997–98 is shown as follows:
| MOD Police Agency personnel employed in Scotland | |
|---|---|
| April 1997 | 960 |
| April 1998 | 890 |
| April 1999 | 890 |
| April 2000 | 890 |
| April 2001 | 870 |
| April 2002 | 840 |
| April 2003 | 820 |
| April 2004 | 1,120 |
| January 2005 | 1,310 |
Defence Spending (Scotland)
Angus Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for financial years (a) 2001–02, (b) 2000–01, (c) 1999–2000,
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(d) 1998–99 and (e) 1997–98 the Defence Bills Agency spent in Scotland (i) in monetary terms and (ii) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [217240]
Mr. Ingram: The Defence Bills Agency is based in Liverpool. It had no staff based in Scotland in 1997–98,1998–99,1999–2000, 2000–01 or 2001–02.
Both Civilian and Service personnel data by Agency are collated annually at 1 April and presented in Table2.6 of UK Defence Statistics, a copy of which is held in the Library of the House. Further information on personnel figures is available on the DASA website at www.dasa.mod.uk
Departmental Documents
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to publish an updated version of his Department's efficiency technical note. [217844]
Mr. Ingram: An updated Efficiency Technical Note is due to be published in the autumn.
East Timor
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military advice his Department is offering to the new Government of East Timor. [220852]
Mr. Ingram: Although the Ministry of Defence has previously provided military assistance to the Government of East Timor, we are not currently offering any formal military advice to them.
Gulf War-related Illnesses
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many veterans who have had claims of Gulf War-related illnesses refused have appealed against the decision; and what the success rate has been. [220492]
Mr. Caplin: [holding answer 7 March 2005]: 132 veterans appealed against decisions that Gulf War-related illness conditions were not related to their service in the armed forces. Of these, 36 cases were allowed by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal (PAT).
221 veterans appealed against the level of assessment of disablement. 74 had their assessment increased after being heard at the PAT, 80 had their assessment upheld, six had their assessment reduced, 39 were cleared pre-appeal and 22 were withdrawn by the appellant.
Iraq
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much block leave is allocated to units (a) prior toan operational tour of Iraq and (b) on return from Iraq. [219064]
Mr. Caplin:
There is no established regulation on the provision of 'block leave' prior to deployment on an operational tour. Many units do work a 'block leave' system in which the unit will stand-down as a whole. These periods may take place at the discretion of the commanding officer before an operational tour,
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providing they do not conflict with the interests of the service and that there is sufficient time prior to deployment for leave to be taken.
Post operational tour leave and post operational detachment leave were introduced in recognition of the stresses and strains that operational deployments bring to both an individual and their family and friends. The general entitlement for all personnel returning from a tour in Iraq of six months is a minimum of 20 working days leave. However, the breakdown of this entitlement between additional post-operational leave and an individual's annual leave entitlement differs between the three services.
Military Aircraft Crashes
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the complete RAF Board of Inquiry into the crash of a Tornado aircraft in Glen Ogle on 1 September 1994. [217295]
Mr. Caplin: I will place in the Library a copy of parts one to five of the Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the crash of a Tornado aircraft in Glen Ogle on 1 September 1994, together with a copy of the list of annexes to the BoI. The BoI papers have been declassified and redacted in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. A small amount of information at paragraph 19.n and 59.j of part two of the BoI papers, and some of the title of annex R in the list of annexes, has been withheld for security reasons, and information in paragraphs 22a, 34 and 46 of part two of the BoI papers have been withheld under the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8 (Right to Respect for Private and Family Life), enabled by the Human Rights Act 1998.
Mutual Defence Agreeement
Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the annual costs associated with the operation of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement in each of the last 10 years. [220106]
Mr. Hoon: The annual costs associated with operating the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) would include not only the operating costs of the Atomic Control Office (London) and the Atomic Coordinating Office (Washington), but also the costs of any Ministry of Defence and AWE personnel spending significant parts of their time on work associated with the Agreement, the costs of visits to the US under the MDA and the costs of transfers of material. Such information over the past 10 years is not readily available in the form requested and could only be collated at disproportionate cost.
Naval Operational Strength
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) frigates and (b) destroyers are operational. [220160]
Mr. Ingram:
As at 3 March 2005, there are 23 frigates and destroyers currently available for tasking by CINCFLEET.
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Near Air Misses (Worcestershire)
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an assessment on the safety of the Royal Air Force training flight path over the Air Ambulance Heliport at Strensham in Worcestershire. [219547]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 3 March 2005]: There is no flight training path over or near the site of the Heliport at Strensham. The Strensham location lies within the UK low flying system and Class G airspace, within which the internationally recognised principle of see and avoid" operates. Additionally, the site of the heliport is marked on low flying charts as a warning to pilots that helicopters are operating from there.
RAF
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of Royal Air Force recruitment campaigns has been in each of the last five years. [212363]
Mr. Caplin: The overall marketing budgets, which cover recruitment advertising campaigns and general material promoting the Royal Air Force, for the previous four financial years are detailed in the following table.
| Financial year | Cost incurred (£ million) |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 5.390 |
| 2001–02 | 6.518 |
| 2002–03 | 8.125 |
| 2003–04 | 8.316 |
The most recent forecast for financial year 2004–05 is £9.100 million.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what effect the planned changes to the Royal Air Force will have on jobs in (a) London, (b) Essex and (c) the UK. [212365]
Mr. Caplin: My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces announced on 9 December 2004 the outcome of the initial work on the drawdown of uniformed RAF manpower to around 41,000. Since then much work has been completed and the implementation has begun. Work on the impact of these changes on Ministry of Defence civilian jobs is also ongoing. However, it is not yet possible to say how individual jobs or their locations will be affected, but RAF and MOD civilian personnel will be kept informed of the changes as they develop.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of planned changes to the funding of the Royal Air Force on UK national security. [212381]
Mr. Ingram:
The Royal Air Force is not funded as an entity in its own right; instead we invest in defence as a whole. I am satisfied that the changes announced to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 21 July 2004, Official Report, columns 343–66 and set out in detail in Delivering Security in a Changing World—Future Capabilities (Cm 6269) will enhance the UK defences and security.
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