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10 May 2006 : Column 300W—continued
Disposal Contractors
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in relation to the case of arbitration referred to in the answer on 9 February 2004, Official Report, column 1177W, when the disposal contractor first sought resolution of contractual differences; what attempts were made, and on what dates, by the Department to resolve matters through negotiation or mediation; and when legal process commenced. [67842]
Mr. Ingram: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Eurofighter
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions officials from his Department have had with British Aerospace Systems concerning the impending order of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft by Saudi Arabia; and what effect he expects this contract to have on the delivery of Eurofighters to the RAF. [67859]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 3 May 2006]: There have been numerous, confidential discussions between MOD officials and BAE Systems representatives on a wide range of commercial and technical issues concerning the Typhoon programme and the implications of the proposed supply of the aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Negotiations continue between Her Majesty's Government, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and representatives of BAE Systems. Until these negotiations have concluded it is not possible to define precisely the implications for the Royal Air Force.
Iraq Service Medal
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British police officers have been seconded as advisers in Iraq since 2003; and how many of them have received an Operation Telic medal. [67774]
Mr. Watson: Since 2003, there have been 35 Ministry of Defence Police officers seconded as advisers in Iraq. None of these officers has received an Operation Telic medal.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen have served in Iraq for the qualifying period for receiving the Iraq service medal; and how many such medals have been awarded to servicemen. [68504]
Mr. Watson: The information is not held in the format requested. However, as at 28 April 2006, 107,197 applications for the Iraq medal had been received from service personnel. Of these, 105,064 have been found eligible. 100,930 medals have been despatched and 4,134 are awaiting engraving and despatch.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 20, on the Iraq service medal, what the nature is of the qualifications required for contractors to be awarded the Iraq service medal; what the procedure is for awarding the medal; how many further such awards are under review; and if he will list the companies involved. [68693]
Mr. Watson: Ministry of Defence Contractors on Deployed Operations (CONDO) in Iraq are eligible to receive the Ministry of Defence Iraq Medal, provided they meet the stipulated eligibility criteria. Sub-contractors employed by CONDOs, not directly under contract by the MOD, are ineligible for the award of the MOD Iraq Medal. A list of companies who are MOD CONDOs is set out as follows:
Ably Resource Solutions
AEI
AES
Aldershot Legal Services
Alenia Marconi Systems
Alvis Vickers
AMS Systems
Anteon UK Ltd.
Babcock Naval Services
BAE Integrated System Technologies
Barrett Europe Ltd.
Circuit Electric AS
Corinth Healthcare Services Ltd.
EDS
Fernau Avionics Ltd.
Frontier Medical Services
Fujitsu Services Ltd.
G3 Systems Ltd.
General Dynamics UK Ltd.
Goodrich
Harris Systems Ltd.
Jones and Attwood Ltd.
Kellogg Brown and Root
Kudos (UK) Ltd
L3 Communications
Life Fitness
Lightfoot Refrigeration Company
Lockheed Martin
MAN B&W Diesel Paxman
Marshall SV
McAlpine Business Services Ltd.
Midland Medical Services
Midway Road Tanker Services
MSV
Nowledgepool
Orient Freight Group & Willie Betz Transport
Paradigm Services Ltd.
Park Air Ltd.
PSP Safety Products Ltd.
Quench
Rima Alco
ROFI Industries Ltd.
Rolls-Royce
Royal Surrey Health Trust
Seabulk Offshore
Seafast Logistics
Serco
SFS/3663 (MOD Prime Food Contractor)
SSVC
STN Atlas Electronik
Supreme Food Service
Swire Pacific Offshore
Titan Airways
TSC
Thales Communications
Thales Optronics Ltd.
Turner Facilities Management
Vosper Thornycroft
Wiess
Applications from CONDO personnel are verified against the eligibility criteria by the Ministry of Defence Permanent Joint Headquarters before being sent to the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency, Ministry of Defence Medal Office, for the medal to be despatched to the recipient.
At the end of June 2005, the Prime Minister announced that the Queen had agreed a special medal to recognise service by UK civilians in Iraq. The eligibility criteria for this second Iraq medal is currently being considered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and will be announced in due course.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 20, on the Iraq service medal, if he will list the civilian journalists who have received Iraq medals; and which were (a) applied for by the recipient and (b) handed over in a medal ceremony. [68694]
Mr. Watson: In June 2004, media organisations with employees who deployed as War Correspondents with United Kingdom forces during Operation Telic were informed of their entitlement to the award of the campaign medal in accordance with DCI Gen 170/04. As a result, the Ministry of Defence received 74 requests for the medal with clasp, of which 61 had been distributed to the recipients as at 4 May 2006. The remaining 13 are held pending collection or confirmation of required postal address. There has not been any awards ceremony, all medals were either sent via registered post or collected by hand from the MOD.
The term war correspondent includes media support staff as well as journalists and broadcast reporters; thus camera/sound crew, producers, editors and other support staff who were part of the deployed team are included in the definition. These personnel are also entitled to the medal as detailed in the DCI and are included among the 74 requests made to the MOD.
Joint Strike Fighter
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what progress has been made on the Joint Strike Fighter project; and whether the project is on schedule; [68939]
(2) what progress has been made in the negotiations to secure the UK's rights to the source codes of the Joint Strike Fighter; and if he will make a statement. [68940]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 8 May 2006]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 27 April 2006, Official Report, columns 1270W, 1271W and 1272W, to the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone). Negotiations are currently underway to secure the information access we require for operational sovereignty. These are expected to conclude later this year.
Substantial progress has been made in the System Development and Demonstration phase of the JSF programme with the recent completion of the Critical Design Review for the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant. Progress in building development aircraft is on schedule with assembly of the first development Conventional Take Off and Landing variant now complete and first flight expected toward the end of this year. In conjunction with the US and the other international partners within the Joint Strike Fighter Programme, we are negotiating the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding for the co-operative Production, Support and Follow on Development Phase.
Michael White
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what disciplinary action has been taken against those involved in the death of Warrant Officer Michael White following his death in a live fire exercise near Newcastle, Co. Down in December 2001. [67689]
Mr. Watson: No disciplinary action has been taken against any individual following the death of Warrant Officer Michael White.
Ministerial Activities
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) public speeches and (b) official visits he has made since 5 May 2005; and how many letters he sent in this period. [55704]
Des Browne: My right hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (John Reid) made 15 public speeches and some 36 visits up to the end of February 2006. All speeches and visits were made in accordance with the Ministerial Code. He also replied to a total of 623 letters from right hon. and hon. Members over the period.
Private Americk Hayer
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what disciplinary action has been taken against the army instructor charged with grievous bodily harm upon Private Americk Hayer of the Royal Welch Fusiliers in the course of training at Warcop, Cumbria; [66934]
(2) what rank the officer was who informed the family of Private Americk Hayer of his hospitalisation in September 2005; what rank the officer was who visited him in hospital; when each event took place; and what the reason was for the time taken in each case; [66935]
(3) what steps have been taken to ensure that the Royal Welch Fusiliers tackled the racism and violence that led to assault and severe injuries for a trainee recruit in September 2005. [66936]
Mr. Watson: The incident happened on 26 August 2005 at Warcop Cumbria and involved personnel from Somme Company, the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick) where Fusilier (Fus) Hayer was a phase 2 trainee. Immediately following the incident normal notifications were instigated. A notification of casualty signal was sent and attempts to contact Fus Hayer's mother were made. There was no reply from the contact number and the company commander, a major, left a message on her answering service asking her to contact him. The company commander spoke to Mr. Hayer, Fus Hayer's stepfather, on 27 August 2005.
While Fus Hayer was in hospital, he was visited on 26 August 2005 by a captain and, on 30 August 2005, by a lieutenant. His company commander also spoke to him on the telephone on 28, 29 and 30 August 2005 as did his company sergeant major on 31 August. On his discharge from hospital on 2 September 2005, Fus Hayer was collected by the company sergeant major and returned to ITC Catterick.
At a district court martial held in Aldershot from 4 to 5 April 2006 Corporal L Orgill, of the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh (1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Wales), was found not guilty of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. Internal administrative action is being considered.
There is no evidence to suggest that there is an issue of institutionalised racism or violence within the 1st Battalion Royal Welsh (1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers).
RAF Rescue Missions
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost was of a rescue mission carried out by the RAF in 2005-06. [67566]
Mr. Ingram: This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what charge is made to the Scottish Ambulance Service for use of RAF search and rescue helicopters for air ambulance flights. [67567]
Mr. Ingram: The current charge to the Scottish Ambulance Service for use of RAF search and rescue helicopters for medical evacuation is £2,018 plus VAT per hour.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions in each year since 1996 RAF search and rescue helicopters have been used for air ambulance flights in (a) Orkney, (b) Shetland and (c) the Western Isles; and what the average cost was in each case. [67568]
Mr. Ingram: The following table shows the number of occasions RAF search and rescue helicopters have been used for medical evacuation flights in the isles of Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles in each year since 1999.
| Orkney Isles | Shetland Isles | Western Isles | |
| (1) Data are only held from 24 August 1999 |
Figures are not held centrally for the average cost of helicopter flights and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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