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Army Deployments

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many tours were undertaken by each regiment of (a) the Royal Logistics Corps, (b) Royal Corps of Signals and (c) Corps of Royal Engineers in the last five years; what the (i) location and (ii) length of each deployment was; and what the length of time between each deployment was for each regiment. [51832]

Mr. Ingram: The location of deployments undertaken by elements of the Royal Logistics Corps (RLC), Royal Signals (R SIGNALS) and Royal Engineers (RE) over the past five years has been placed in the Library of the House. Such deployments are normally conducted at sub-unit level and below, and vary in duration and composition of personnel involved, some involving a number of short visits to theatre. While the length of time between such deployments (or 'Tour Intervals'
 
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(TI)) is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost, in general terms the average TI's for each Regiment is as follows:

	Months
RLC	29.3
R SIGNALS	30.2
RE	24.1

Of course, it is recognised that these are pinch point" trades where the TI's are much shorter. Future Army structures will address these concerns by investing in trade groups that have been in high demand (such as engineers and logisticians), whilst restructuring the Army to better enable Brigade level operations, including ensuring that each deployable Brigade has its own integral enablers.

Departmental Energy Costs

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent by his Department on (a) gas and (b) electricity in 2004–05. [51785]

Mr. Touhig: Expenditure on gas and electricity forms part of the utilities costs, which are disclosed at Note 3 within the published departmental resource accounts. A copy of the annual report and accounts for 2004–05 is available in the Library of the House.

The following table details the total gas and electricity costs incurred by the Department in 2004–05.

	£ million
Gas	69
Electricity	114

Departmental Finance

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will break down the (a) main estimate, (b) winter supplementary estimate and (c) spring supplementary estimate Request for Resources 1 Annually Managed Expenditure provision by subhead in (i) near cash and non cash terms for financial years 1999–2000 to 2005–06; [53662]

(2) if he will break down the Request for Resources 1 Annually Managed Expenditure outturn by subhead in (i) near cash and (ii) non cash terms for financial years 1999–2000 to 2004–05; [53663]

(3) if he will break down the (a) main estimate, (b) winter supplementary estimate and (c) spring supplementary estimate Request for Resources 1 non-budget expenditure provision by subhead in (i) near cash and (ii) non cash terms for financial years 1999–2000 to 2005–06; [53664]

(4) if he will break down the Request for Resources 3 Annually Managed Expenditure outturn by subhead in (a) near cash and (b) non cash terms for financial years 2002–03 to 2004–05; [53665]
 
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(5) if he will break down the Request for Resources 1 non-budget expenditure outturn by subhead in (a) near cash and (b) non cash terms for financial years 1999–2000 to 2004–05; [53666]

(6) if he will break down the (a) main estimate, (b) winter supplementary estimate and (c) spring supplementary estimate Request for Resources 3 Annual Managed Expenditure provision by subhead in (i) near cash and (ii) non-cash terms for financial years 2002 to 2005. [53841]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the British military base on Gibraltar. [56859]

Mr. Ingram: There are no plans to change Gibraltar's current military role, which centres on providing a forward mounting base and other facilities to support overseas operations. This role will continue to be kept under regular review.

Iraq

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British soldiers have been wounded in Iraq; how many were returned home as a result of their injuries; and whether his Department keeps records of their geographical location in the UK when they return. [36699]

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British (a) servicemen and (b) women have been very seriously injured in Iraq in each month since March 2003. [39267]

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel in Iraq were wounded in (a) action and (b) accidents in each year since hostilities began, broken down by severity of injury. [45453]

John Reid [pursuant to the reply, 2 February 2006, Official Report, c. 704–5W]: I stated that the number of military and civilian personnel medically evacuated from theatre was some 4,000. The answer should have said up to some 4,000.

Mental Health Services

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the Department of Health to ensure that veterans have access to adequate mental health services on discharge. [55580]

Mr. Touhig: The formal framework for discussions between the two Departments is set out in a Concordat, first signed by my predecessor and his Department of Health (DH) counterpart in 2002, and revised in 2005 to include the other UK Health Authorities, which sets out
 
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how the Defence Medical Services and the NHS will work together to further their individual and mutual aims of delivering high quality healthcare to both the UK armed forces and NHS patients.

A joint MOD/DH Partnership Board, co-chaired by senior MOD and DH personnel, meets three times a year to monitor the effectiveness of the Concordat and to explore mutual areas of co-operation. I am kept informed of the work of the Partnership Board. In 2005, the Partnership Board approved revised Health Guidance for the NHS covering, among other things, arrangements for the continuing care of service personnel on retirement or discharge from the armed forces. This guidance specifies that, for a very small group who have a significant and debilitating illness at the time of medical discharge, ;it is essential that the MOD is able to engage as soon as possible with the Primary Care Trust of future residence to ensure that there is a seamless transfer of care.

The MOD has work in hand to ensure that there is a coherent response to veterans' mental health issues, co-ordinating inputs from the NHS, Health Departments throughout the UK, the Services and ex-Service organisations including the specialist mental health charity, Combat Stress. In support of these developments, MOD is also working on a number of in-Service initiatives, for example relating to the prevention and management of problems arising out of operational stress and to the need to address issues of stigma and discrimination.

Regimental Mascots

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of maintaining regimental (a) dogs, (b) goats and (c) other animal mascots was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [50244]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Veterans

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department takes to maintain contact with veterans following discharge from service. [55581]

Mr. Touhig: The Ministry of Defence is exceptional among employers in the extent to which it seeks to maintain contact with and offer support to those who have left service. The Veterans Agency is the focus for maintaining contact and provides a helpline service that offer advice or puts the veteran in touch with Government or non-Government agencies that can offer the assistance sought. Particular assistance is offered to those who are discharged for medical reasons and, where the condition is due to service, pensions may be payable from the War Pension Scheme and the Armed Forces Pension Scheme attributable pension; contact is maintained with the leaver to establish eligibility and to ensure that the appropriate payments are made. Those in receipt of a War Pension are provided with practical advice and assistance from the War Pensions Welfare Service.
 
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There are wider welfare arrangements in the event of death or serious injury and the Department also works closely with ex-Service organisations to support their work in providing assistance and advice to those who have left the armed forces, particularly where they have welfare needs. Assistance is provided to eligible Service personnel to identify employment opportunities after they have left the armed forces and this can be provided up to two years after discharge. More generally, we are proud of the achievements of our veterans and take a wide range of opportunities to celebrate their successes and to commemorate their sacrifices. We seek to involve veterans closely in these events.

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