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RAF Leeming

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) military and (b) civilian personnel are employed at RAF Leeming. [222512]

Mr. Ingram: There are approximately 1,570 Service and 280 civilian posts at RAF Leeming.

Recruitment

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by nation and region of the UK selection figures for each of the services for the most recent year for which figures are available. [214414]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 2 February 2005]: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Regional Offices

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what regional (a) bodies, (b) institutions, (c) taskforces, (d) panels, (e) offices and (f) organisations the Government have established since May 1997 which are the responsibility of his Department. [220192]

Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence has not established any regional bodies, institutions, taskforces, panels, offices or organisations since 1997. This reflects the nature of the Department's work.

Religious Counsellors

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the limits are of confidentiality offered by the Padre or religious counsellor in an Army barracks setting; what (a) guidelines and (b) advice are available to newly appointed officers regarding the limits of such confidentiality; and what provisions are made for periodic advice on the subject to be given to such appointees through the chain of command; [217674]

(2) on how many occasions in the past five years complaints have been made concerning the Padre or religious counsellor in (a) Catterick, (b) Deepcut,
 
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(c) Bullingdon barracks and (d) HMS Lympstone; what disciplinary action was taken in each case; and what the outcome was of that action; [217675]

(3) if he will place in the Library the advice and directions regarding confidentiality and complaints concerning bullying that have been given through the chain of command to the Padre or religious counsellors at Catterick barracks. [217676]

Mr. Caplin: All welfare work, including that conducted by Chaplains or religious counsellors, is conducted within the Army code of confidentiality, information about which is widely available throughout the Army.

The core element of the code of confidentiality is the legal and professional obligation not to disclose private information" about another without consent. There are however exceptional circumstances when information can be disclosed, and in some circumstances must be done so without an individual's consent. These are:

Where there is a risk of harm to the individual or others

In order to prevent a serious criminal act

If there is a serious contravention of military law

If there is, or likely to be, a serious breach of national security

If the soldier is no longer able to carry out his/her duty (and not disclosing would have a detrimental effect on operational effectiveness)

There have been no formal complaints in the last five years against Chaplains at any of the establishments listed.

Research

Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of opportunities for research and consulting disseminated by his Department resulted in (a) research reports and (b) physical deliverables in (i) 2001–02, (ii) 2002–03 and (iii) 2003–04. [202180]

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

Resource Account Codes

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library his Department's resource account codes for financial years 2001–02 to 2003–04. [221979]

Mr. Ingram: Yes.

Resource Budgeting

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether additional civil servants were employed to deal with resource budgeting in the Department. [218134]

Mr. Caplin: Some 2,400, mainly finance and information technology, staff were engaged in the implementation of resource accounting and budgeting in the MOD over the period 1996 to 2001. It is not, however, possible to distinguish accurately between those posts which were additional and those which had been redeployed from legacy processes and systems.
 
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Royal Anglian Regiment

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is his intention to post the (a) 1st and (b) 2nd Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment for tours of duty in Iraq in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [224909]

Mr. Ingram: The 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment will be deploying to Iraq in the forthcoming weeks to undertake a six month tour. There are no current plans to send the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment to Iraq in the next 12 months.

Royal Army Dental Corps

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the (a) manning levels and (b) activities of the Royal Army Dental Corps. [211421]

Mr. Ingram: Manning levels for the Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) as at 1 February 2005 are shown in the following table against the establishment.

	Establishment	Strength
Officers	180	170
Soldiers	270	240
Total	450	410

Note:
Figures rounded to the nearest 10.

The principal activities of the RADC are: force preparation, (ensuring that the Army is dentally fit for operational task); support to deployed forces on operations, including support to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force as appropriate; and the provision of an NHS equivalent service to forces dependants based overseas. The RADC operates in all base locations worldwide and all operational theatres.

Royal Irish Regiment

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 14 December 2004, Official Report, column 1010W, on the Royal Irish Regiment, if he will provide the information available on the average working hours for the junior rank operational soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment. [211473]

Mr. Ingram: Information on the average working hours specifically for junior rank operational soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

DASA carry out a continuous sample survey of working patterns which provides an estimate of the average working hours per person, per week, for each service, but the Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service) are not included and the sample is insufficient to report on average working hours at the level of detail requested.

The results of the 2003–04 survey gave an estimate of an average of 47.1 hours worked" per week for all regular trained junior ranks in the Army.

Hours worked" includes time spent carrying out normal work, secondary duties, compulsory fitness training, organised sports and representational activities but excludes meal and tea breaks and time spent on call.
 
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Royal Navy

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last assessed the needs of the Royal Navy for fleet auxiliary support; what the present (a) provision and (b) demand are assessed to be; and what forecast his Department has made of future demand. [210691]

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

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will define what is meant by (a) normal support and (b) reduced support for Royal Navy ships. [221396]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 March 2005]: Normal support is the best possible support to FLEET units within the Defence Logistics Organisation's current ability.

Under reduced support, health and safety demands will be met and certain operational capabilities will also be fully maintained.

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