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12 July 2006 : Column 1881W—continued
Injured British Servicemen (Treatment)
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops are being treated for injuries sustained in Iraq in (a) Al Udeid, (b) Baghdad, (c) Basra Air Station, (d) Seeb Tallil, (e) Al Muthanna, (f) Al Amarah, (g) the Princess Mary Hospital, RAF Akrotiri, (h) the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, (i) the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court and (j) each of the regional rehabilitation units in the UK. [82051]
Des Browne: Information on the number of people treated at each of the facilities requested is not routinely collected and held centrally, and to do so would involve disproportionate cost. However each facility was requested to make a specific report for the purpose of answering this question. Please see the following table, which shows the number of personnel who received treatment in each facility on the date shown for injuries sustained in Iraq.
Iraq
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which units have remained in Iraq longer than their planned deployment because of shortages of air transport in the last 12 months; how long each has remained in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [81134]
Des Browne: No units have remained in Iraq longer than their planned deployment because of shortages of air transport in the last 12 months. Scheduled routine flights may however be delayed for a variety of reasons, including adverse weather, technical difficulties, ground handling problems, de-conflicting aircraft movements and force protection of airfields.
RAF Complaints Process
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what complaint process is available to RAF personnel who experience administrative errors in the payment of wages and salary; and how complaints under the process are dealt with. [84386]
Mr. Watson: Complaints from RAF personnel concerning payment of salary may be routed via mail, e-mail or fax to the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency (AFPAA), as set out in a customer care charter. Alternatively, a complaint may be raised via the Unit Personnel Services Flight who will pass it to AFPAA.
Each complaint is logged and given a unique reference number enabling it to be tracked, and an acknowledgement sent. The complaint is then passed to the appropriate operations area for investigation and response. Where the individual remains dissatisfied with the response, they are able to invoke the general formal RAF Redress to complaint procedure.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is for (a) the retention in service and (b) the upgrading of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus. [83612]
Mr. Ingram: On current plans Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus will be withdrawn from service in 2020. No decisions have been taken on the upgrading of RFA Argus, though we are considering our options for the future provision of a Joint Casualty Treatment Ship capability.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) additions and (b) deletions have been made within the past 12 months to the list of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships scheduled for refitting and upgrading. [83614]
Mr. Ingram: During the twelve months from 30 June 2005 to 1 July 2006, there were no additions or deletions to forward plans to the refit of Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships. Refits are, however, part of a wider upkeep programme, from which there have been seventeen deletions, but no additions. These deletions, which remove projects between 2006 and 2020, are listed in the following table:
| Ship | Reason for the deletion | |
RN and RFA ships are not specifically scheduled for upgrades, since equipment is upgraded when the opportunity arises, usually as part of an upkeep period.
Opportunities to undertake upgrades are kept under regular review and can change for operational reasons.
Tour Intervals
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress in his Department’s measurement of tour intervals of personnel in the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Air Force. [81136]
Mr. Ingram: Harmony guidelines are measured in two ways: unit harmony, which is expressed in tour intervals, and individual harmony through separated service, which is the length of time individuals spend away from their home base. The former is relatively easy to measure but can mask the actual effect of deployments on individuals. Work is therefore in progress to develop a common and effective system of separated service measurement. Currently, each service has its own procedures for measuring harmony. These take account of the different service regimes for manning and career management, training requirements and patterns of deployment. The different systems do not allow straightforward comparisons of the impact of separation on people to be made between services.
A common definition of separated service has now been developed and the service rules for recording have been harmonised. These harmonised rules take effect, for each service in turn, with the roll out of the Joint Personnel Administration system. This is now in operation for the Royal Air Force and, when complete for the Royal Navy (anticipated in November 2006) and Army (anticipated in March 2007), will allow accurate measurement of separated service across the armed forces.
Welfare Services
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on morale of servicewomen of using Nell McAndrew to advertise the Confidential Support Line. [83915]
Mr. Watson: One of Nell McAndrew’s chosen charities is the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, which operates the Confidential Support Line. We are very grateful for her support for Service personnel and its positive effect on morale.
Health
Food (Nutritional Content)
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the merits of banning the sale of food containing hydrogenated fats. [84713]
Caroline Flint:
The Government have no plans to ban the sale of foods containing hydrogenated fats. There have been concerns expressed about
hydrogenated fats due to their high level of trans fatty acids (TFA). The average consumption of TFA is below the maximum level recommended by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy in 1994.
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will introduce regulations requiring fast food outlets to publish nutritional information about their products in an easily accessible and public form. [84715]
Caroline Flint: There are no plans to introduce regulations of this sort. The Food Standards Agency encourages catering establishments, including fast food outlets, to voluntarily provide information about the nutritional content of the food they serve to help consumers who wish to use such information to inform their choices.
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the merits of making the traffic light system for nutritional information on food packaging compulsory for all forms of packaged food. [84716]
Caroline Flint: The Government currently have no plans to make front of pack signpost nutritional labelling compulsory. Responsibility for food labelling lies with the European Union and the rules are harmonised across Europe. The European Commission wishes to update the existing nutrition labelling legislation and recognises the need for simpler nutritional information which will help the consumer to make healthier choices. Formal proposals are expected from the Commission next year.
Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the voluntary traffic light system for nutritional information on food packaging. [84717]
Caroline Flint: Comprehensive consumer research with more than 2,500 participants conducted by the Foods Standards Agency (FSA) has shown that the Government-endorsed approach recommended by the FSA helps consumers across all population groups make healthier choices. The vast majority of consumers (96 per cent.) thought a simplified front of pack nutritional signposting scheme would help them make healthier choices.
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