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9 Jun 2005 : Column 639W—continued
British Service Deployment
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service personnel have been (a) deployed and (b) seconded to (i) Guantanamo Bay, (ii) Guam and (iii) Diego Garcia since 1997, and for what purpose; and if he will make a statement. [2050]
Mr. Ingram:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott) and the hon. Member for Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr (Adam Price) on 24 May 2005, Official Report, column 54W.
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Darfur
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent support has been offered to the African Union Force in Darfur with (a) logistics and (b) equipment; and what British military personnel are supporting this deployment. [1634]
Mr. Ingram: The United Kingdom strongly supports the expansion of the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur, and is working with NATO, the EU and the UN to identify what assistance can be provided to support the AU's objectives. The UK will provide £6.6 million this financial year to help the expansion of the AU mission. It is planned that the money will be used to provide, among other things, additional off-road vehicles, rapid deployment equipment (including shelters) and support to civilian policing. In addition, the Ministry of Defence will provide some movement and logistics specialists, although the exact details of this contribution is yet to be finalised.
European Defence Agency
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what legal basis there is in the EU Treaties for the establishment of a European Defence Agency. [2805]
Mr. Ingram: The European Defence Agency was established in July 2004 by a Joint Action of the Council, in accordance with Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union.
HMCS Chicoutimi
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications for the Royal Navy of the report and findings of the inquiry into the fire on board HMCS Chicoutimi. [653]
Mr. Ingram: The Royal Navy is currently reviewing the findings and recommendations of the Canadian board of inquiry.
Iraq
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether private security firms and personnel are employed in the (a) management and (b) running of prisons and detention centres under the control of the UK in Iraq. [2049]
Mr. Ingram: The United Kingdom has one detention centre in Iraq, the Divisional Temporary Detention Facility situated in Shaibah Logistics Base. No private security firms or personnel are involved in the management or running of that facility.
Military Records (First World War)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the preservation of military index cards relating to British servicemen in the First World War. [2339]
Mr. Touhig:
The index cards to the First World War Army medal rolls are already preserved in a microfilmed format and available to researchers at the National Archives (in Class WO 372) and through the National Archives website online. The microfilming process
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captured the information held on the front of the cards, all but a very small percentage of the backs of the cards being blank.
The Ministry of Defence has no further administrative use for the cards and, with the National Archives, has actively sought to identify a suitable institution prepared to accept the original cards, understanding the value attached to such records by many people. The Imperial War Museum has accepted the women's cards and the remainder of the collection has been transferred into the custody of the Western Front Association.
Royal Green Jackets
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future location of the Royal Green Jackets regiment. [1865]
Mr. Ingram: No decision has been made on the future locations of the two battalions of the Royal Green Jackets.
Tornado Engine Project
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the financial impact on the Tornado engine project arising from the application of the Value Engineering Review and Management procedure for cost control; whether the procedure is applied to all defence projects; and if he will make a statement. [1170]
Mr. Ingram: This particular procedure is not used by the Ministry of Defence for the procurement and logistic support of equipment. However, the MOD uses a number of initiatives and processes in partnership with industry to improve performance, reliability, quality, safety and life cycle costs on all defence procurement projects.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Castle Court/Cathedral Way/Royal Avenue
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will produce the masterplans for the Castle Court and Cathedral Way/Royal Avenue areas of Belfast. [3477]
Mr. Hanson:
Public consultation on the draft masterplans for the Castlecourt and Cathedral Way/Royal Avenue areas of Belfast ended on 23 May 2005. Officials in the Department for Social Development are evaluating the representations received on the draft masterplans and I will announce the way forward on finalising the masterplans as soon as this work is completed.
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Racially Motivated Assault
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many racially motivated assaults have been reported in each of the last five years in Northern Ireland. [2806]
Mr. Woodward: The following table sets out the figures for all racially motivated incidents which took place between 2000 and 2004.
(9) Racially motivated assaults.
A new method of recording these figures was introduced in 2004–05. The statistics issued by the Chief Constable are subject to strict Home Office counting rules and as a result are not directly comparable with the figures provided in the previous table.
The figures for 2004–05 are as follows:
PSNI believe the rise in figures to be due to an increase in racially motivated offences, improved confidence in the PSNI among minority ethnic communities and improved recording systems.
Suicides
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have committed suicide in the Province in each of the last 10 years, broken down by age and gender. [1446]
Angela E. Smith: The following table gives the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland for each year between 1995 and 2004 due to 'suicide and self-inflicted injury' 1 and 'undetermined injury whether accidentally or purposefully inflicted' 2 .
1 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes X60-X84, Y87.0 for years 2001–04 and Ninth Revision codes E950-E959 for years 1995–2000.
2 International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes Y10-Y34, Y87.2 for years 2001–04 and Ninth Revision codes E980-E989 for years 1995–2000.
(10) Provisional data.
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