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25 Oct 2005 : Column 247W—continued
Aircraft Crashes
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of Annex H to the RAF Board of Inquiry report into the loss of Tornado GR1A at Killin (Glen Ogle) on 1 September 1994. [20791]
Mr. Touhig:
I will place a copy of Annex H of the Board of Inquiry into the loss of the Tornado ZG708 at Killin (Glen Ogle) on 1 September 1994 in the Library. The document has been declassified and a small amount of information at paragraph 3 and Annexes A and B, has been withheld under the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 8 (Right to Respect for Private
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and Family Life), enabled by the Human Rights Act 1998. The names of individuals that do not form a substantive part of the information requested have been removed.
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the RAF Boards of Inquiry reports on (a) the Tornado ZE858 which crashed at Stainmore, Cumberland on 21 October 1993, (b) the Tornado F3 which crashed into the North sea 45 nautical miles north east of Scarborough on 7 June 1994, (c) the Tornado GR1 which crashed 16 nautical miles north of RAF Lossiemouth on 19 July 1994 and (d) the Tornado F3 which crashed on 10 March 1995. [20792]
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Mr. Touhig: The Boards of Inquiry reports are being recalled from archives and will be examined for release, suitably redacted. I will write to the right hon. Member, and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Arms Fairs
Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department issues guidelines to companies on the types of weapons made available for sale at arms fairs. [17191]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
No. However we do liaise with exhibition organisers about export control obligations which may apply to them, or to exhibitors and their clients.
In preparation for DSEi 2005, for example, the DTI's Export Control Organisation (ECO) liaised with the exhibition organisers, providing them with guidance on exhibition activities, which was published on the exhibition organisers' website and in a handbook provided to the exhibitors. A bulletin was also sent to all exhibitors prior to the exhibition, which included information about relevant UK controls, including the UK's trade controls. Exhibitors were made further aware of UK export/trade control requirements in a pre-briefing for exhibitors immediately prior to the exhibition.
Army Prosecuting Authority
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many investigations of alleged ill-treatment by service personnel in Iraq have been discontinued at a commanding officer's request before the Army Prosecuting Authority has had an opportunity to consider them. [21099]
Balkans
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the security situation in the Balkans. [20717]
Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 October 2005, Official Report, column 657W, to the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands).
Civilian Staff
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian staff employed by the Department have been made redundant in each year since 1998. [20449]
Mr. Touhig
[holding answer 21 October 2005]: The following table gives details of Ministry of Defence civilian redundancies, both voluntary and compulsory, for the financial years 1999–2000 to 2004–05. Comparable information for financial year 1998–99 is not available.
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| Headcount | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 1,560 |
| 2000–01 | 1,220 |
| 2001–02 | 840 |
| 2002–03 | 710 |
| 2003–04 | 1,580 |
| 2004–05 | 890 |
Notes:
1. This table uses the revised definition of civilian personnel (www.dasa.mod.uk) includes trading funds.
2. No redundancy information is available for Royal Fleet Auxiliary or locally engaged civilian staff.
3. Due to the founding methods used, figures are rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Departmental Vehicles
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many vehicles for which the Department is responsible are fitted with retreaded tyres. [17992]
Earthquake Rescue Work
Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what requests (a) the UK Government and (b) NATO have received from the (i) Pakistani, (ii) Kashmiri and (iii) Indian authorities for helicopters and other military equipment deployed in Afghanistan to be redeployed to humanitarian emergency rescue work following the earthquake. [18270]
Mr. Ingram: The Pakistan Government asked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 9 October for United Kingdom helicopter support in the expectation that there were UK military helicopters in the region. At the time, there were no deployments of UK military helicopters in the region, including in Afghanistan. At DfID's request, however, the Ministry of Defence will deploy three heavy lift CH-47 Chinook helicopters, with accompanying personnel, for a four week operating period to support the Pakistan relief effort. A small military team travelled to Islamabad on 19 October to facilitate the deployment of these aircraft.
The MOD also air-lifted two Puma helicopters from Seville, Spain, by RAF C- 17 for use by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in support of the relief effort. The helicopters arrived in Islamabad on 17 October.
The requests that NATO has received are available on the NATO website.
Fraud Investigations
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Special Investigations Branch personnel and (b) secondees from other agencies were assigned to the investigation of fraud in (i) 2003–04, (ii) 2004–05 and (iii) to date in 2005–06. [21535]
Mr. Ingram:
Since 2003, the Royal Military Police Special Investigation Branch has employed two Staff Sergeants and four specialist Financial Warrant Officers to investigate fraud, related both to Public and Non-Public funds in the Army.
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Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he was first informed of Special Investigations Branch (SIB) inquiries into fraud in the Adjutant General's Office; what estimate he has made of the amount of money fraudulently dispensed; how many employees are under investigation; and at what rank the SIB officer in charge of the investigation is. [21534]
Mr. Ingram: I am unable to comment as this could prejudice ongoing Royal Military Police investigations.
Infantry
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the adequacy and availability of British infantry to respond to additional urgent deployments; and if he will make a statement. [20676]
Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 13 June 2005, Official Report, column 12, to the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess).
Iran
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure the repatriation of Royal Naval equipment seized by Iranian forces in the Shatt-Al-Arab. [21205]
Mr. Ingram: We have pressed the Iranian authorities on many occasions to return the Royal Navy boats and equipment which they have held since June 2004. Our discussions continue.
Iraq
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hired cars and vans are in use with UK forces in Iraq; and what the cost was of the hire of such vehicles in Iraq in 2004–05. [21077]
Mr. Ingram: As at 25 October 2005 there are a total of 117 cars and vans on hire in Iraq. Numbers of cars and vans on hire have decreased from 529 in April to the current levels. The cost of the hire of such vehicles for the whole of 2004–05 was £8,274,176.82.
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