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British Forces (Arrests)

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether arrests by British forces on operational duty overseas would be under (a) counter-insurgency and (b) counter-terrorist rules. [45803]

Mr. Ingram: British forces on operations only detain individuals where there is a legal basis to do so. The powers of arrest and detention are particular to each theatre and depend on the legal basis of the operation.

British Nuclear Deterrent

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the likely cost of replacing the British nuclear deterrent. [55951]

John Reid: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on 20 October 2005, Official Report, column 1217W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice).

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the policy of the (a) British Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force is on sourcing goods from Burma. [52159]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's procurement policy, which embraces the procurement activities of the Service Commands, is driven by the need to ensure best long term value for money in accordance with UK Government policy and any relevant international procurement directives. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 27 February 2006, Official Report, columns 124–25, by the Minister of State for Trade.

The Ministry of Defence has no current direct contracts in place with companies in Burma.

Hooding

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when officials and Ministers in his Department were first informed of the direction by the General Officer Commanding 1 (UK) Armoured Division banning hooding in April 2003; [36483]

(2) for what reason the General Officer Commanding 1 (UK) Armoured Division in Iraq issued a formal direction banning hooding in April 2003. [36585]

Mr. Ingram: Officials were aware of the direction by General Officer Commanding 1 (UK) Armoured Division in the days after it was issued. Ministers were made aware of this order in May 2004.

The direction was issued because it was assessed that there was no longer any military justification to continue the practice of hooding given the prevailing circumstances at the time.

Iraq

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of whether the use of
 
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munitions containing depleted uranium in Iraq has contributed to an increase in uranium levels in other countries. [56463]

Mr. Ingram: Assessments of the potential health and environmental effects of using depleted uranium munitions have been carried out by the Ministry of Defence and other government and independent academic groups. Information on the Ministry of Defence Depleted Uranium Research Programme was announced in the House on 14 March 2002, Official Report, columns 1179–80W. Information on work by other agencies such as the Royal Society and the United Nations Environment Programme is available on the world wide web at: www.postconflict.unep.ch/ and www.royalsociety.ac.uk/du/. These assessments consider how the depleted uranium is distributed in the environment and do not make a distinction between the country in which the material is used and any other country. All the assessments conclude that any DU contamination will be limited and localised. This has been confirmed by independent surveys in Iraq, Kuwait and in the Balkans and in the survey in Iraq by my Department announced in the House on 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 746W.

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the policy of the Coalition is on the protection and identification of holy sites in Iraq. [56594]

Mr. Ingram: The Iraqi Government has responsibility for the identification and protection of holy sites in Iraq. The Coalition does, however, take very seriously the need to respect Iraq's religious, historical and cultural heritage. UK forces respect sites of cultural sensitivity wherever they are deployed in the world. As part of the Coalition in Iraq, UK forces provide support as necessary to the Iraqi security forces as they continue to build stability and security.

Nuclear Submarines

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which UK ports are being adapted to accommodate nuclear submarine berths. [56451]

Mr. Ingram: No UK ports are currently being adapted to accommodate Z-berth nuclear submarine facilities. The Royal Navy currently uses Z-berths at RNAD Coulport, Loch Ewe, Loch Goil, Portsmouth and Broadford Bay. In a addition, the MOD is working with local authorities in Southampton and Portland to develop and test the emergency planning arrangements needed to re-establish full Z-berth status at those ports. This will not require adaptations to existing facilities. Preliminary discussions have also been held with Sefton metropolitan borough council.

Overseas Deployments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British soldiers are stationed abroad. [50222]

Mr. Ingram: The numbers of personnel posted to each location abroad are shown in Tri-Service Publication 6, Global Location of UK Regular Forces" (TSP 6).
 
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TSP 6 is published quarterly; the most recent publication shows the numbers of Service personnel at 1 October 2005.

Copies of TSP 6 are available in the House of Commons Library and at www.dasa.mod.uk.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British Service personnel on tour in Iraq were sent back to the UK in advance of their scheduled tour end date due to a post traumatic stress disorder or related condition developed whilst on tour in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005; and if he will make a statement. [53797]

John Reid [holding answer 27 February 2006]: Up to 31 December 2005, 200 personnel who deployed to Operation Telic were subsequently diagnosed as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We cannot, however, break these figures down to differentiate between those who were sent back to the UK early and those who presented at a MOD Department of Community Mental Health (DCMH) at a later date, as this information is not recorded. Nor do these figures indicate whether the mental health condition is attributable to service.

QinetiQ

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total value was of payments from his Department to QinetiQ in each of the last four years. [55542]

John Reid: The total value of payments to QinetiQ by the Ministry of Defence in each of the last four financial years was:

	£ million
2002–03	638.7
2003–04	727.5
2004–05	666.1
2005–06 (to end February 2006	665.5

These figures are VAT inclusive.

Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was allocated to the Royal Gibraltar Regiment in each of the last 13 years. [56849]

Mr. Ingram: Records of funding allocations are kept for only seven years; for the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, these allocations, including those for the current financial year, are as follows:
£ million

Financial year	Amount
1998–99	3.589
1999–2000	3.714
2000–01	4.198
2001–02	4.393
2002–03	4.669
2003–04	4.860
2004–05	5.019
2005–06	5.280

 
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Royal Navy

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria his Department uses to decide whether to grant requests for Royal Naval vessels to attend events organised by private organisations. [56997]

Mr. Ingram: Events are considered according to their potential to support Ministry of Defence interests and those who are likely to attend. This process takes into account security and berthing facilities, ship availability, cost implications, the nature of the event (including ship affiliations and other participants), demographics and levels of anticipated public attendance.

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