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16 July 2007 : Column 17W—continued

Armed Forces: Personal Records

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information and statistics his Department records on Service families regarding (a) accommodation, (b) mobility, (c) education, (d) health care, (e) dentistry, (f) demographics, (g) number of family members and (h) age of family members. [149314]

Derek Twigg: This information is not held centrally in the format requested and therefore could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Protection

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK military personnel are providing close protection for EU mission staff. [149130]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: None.

Armed Forces: Training

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the cost of training specifically for operations is included in the costs of operations funded from the Treasury Reserve. [148289]


16 July 2007 : Column 18W

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 9 July 2007]: The net additional cost of training specifically for operations is included in the cost of operations funded from the Treasury's Reserve.

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces training (a) accidents and (b) deaths were investigated by the Land Accident Investigation Unit between June 2006 and June 2007. [149127]

Derek Twigg: Between June 2006 and June 2007 the Land Accident Investigation Team undertook 71 investigations of incidents that occurred during training, including seven fatalities.

Armed Forces: Young People

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of new candidates to the armed forces were school leavers aged 16 and a half years in the last 12 months. [147136]

Derek Twigg: During the Financial Year 2006-07 there were 58,951 applicants for armed forces employment. Of these, 14,812 were from candidates aged under 17 years of age on the date of application, representing 25.1 per cent.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Future Rapid Effect System to enter service. [148268]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The in-service date for the Future Rapid Effect System will not be fixed until the main investment decision has been taken. The procurement strategy is, however, designed to achieve the earliest in-service date which meets the Army’s needs and offers the potential for sustained operational effectiveness.

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British companies are involved in the Future Rapid Effects System project; and in what capacity each plays a part. [148551]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 11 July 2007]: UK registered companies currently involved in the FRES programme are listed in the following table:


16 July 2007 : Column 19W
Company Support provided

Atkins Defence

FRES Systems House

Lockheed Martin UK INSYS Ltd.

Electric Armour Technology Demonstrator Programme

BAES Land Systems (Bridging) Ltd.

Gap Crossing Technology Demonstrator Programme

SULA Systems Ltd.

Independent systems engineering

BMT Sigma

Planning and scheduling

Fraser Nash Consulting Ltd.

Independent safety advice

Synthesys Systems Engineers Ltd.

Independent advice on system integration issues

Cap Gemini

Access to a shared working environment to facilitate joint working between FRES IPT, Atkins and other key stakeholders

Commerce Decisions Ltd.

Provision of tender selection tool and associated consultancy support

County Cabins

Providing the Portacabin village at Bovington for the duration of the utility vehicle design competition

General Dynamics (UK) Ltd.

Utility vehicle design competition


Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made with the Future Rapid Effect System programme; and if he will make a statement. [149238]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 12 July 2007]: The acquisition strategy for future phases of the FRES programme was announced by my noble Friend Lord
16 July 2007 : Column 20W
Drayson in November 2006. The initial wave of three competitions that will select the utility vehicle (UV) design, UV integrator, and system of systems integrator, has formally been launched and utility vehicle trials have commenced. The outcome of the trials will be announced later this year.

Army: Deployment

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) lowest and (b) average period of time between operational tours was for each army infantry battalion over the last three years. [148278]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Three years is too short a period to produce a meaningful analysis of tour intervals as only two infantry battalions have undertaken more than two operational tours as formed units in that time. A summary of deployments over the last three years by battalion indicating tour intervals is shown in the following table.


16 July 2007 : Column 21W

16 July 2007 : Column 22W
Ser Army infantry battalion Last operational deployment (as a unit) Start date Previous operational deployment (as a unit) End date Prior deployments since June 2004 (as a unit) Last unit tour interval (months) Lowest unit tour interval (months) Average unit tour interval (months)

1

1 Gren Gds

Afghanistan

May 2007

Iraq

May to September 2006

Balkans (October 2004 to March 2005)

8

8

11

2

1 Coldm Gds

Iraq

May 2005

Northern Ireland

March 2000

61

n/a

n/a

3

1 SG

Iraq

November 2004

Northern Ireland

November 2001

35

n/a

n/a

4

1 IG

Iraq

June 2007

Northern Ireland

March 2004

38

n/a

n/a

5

1 WG

Balkans

October 2006

Iraq

April 2005

17

n/a

n/a

6

1 Scots (1 RS)(1)

Northern Ireland

January 2006

Iraq

April 2004

20

n/a

n/a

7

1 Scots (1 KOSB)(1)

Iraq

July 2003

Northern Ireland

March 2002

15

n/a

n/a

8

2 Scots

Iraq

April 2004

Balkans

October 1999

53

n/a

n/a

9

3 Scots

Iraq

November 2005

Balkans

October 2003

24

n/a

n/a

10

4 Scots

Iraq

July 2004

Iraq

June 2003

12

n/a

n/a

11

5 Scots

Balkans

April 2005

Iraq

July 2004

8

n/a

n/a

12

1 PWRR

Iraq

May 2006

Iraq

October 2004

18

n/a

n/a

13

2 PWRR

Iraq

January 2005

Northern Ireland

December 2003

12

n/a

n/a

14

1 RRF

Iraq

November 2005

Iraq

June 2003

28

n/a

n/a

15

2 RRF

Northern Ireland

April 2003

Northern Ireland

June 2002

9

n/a

n/a

16

1 R Anglian

Afghanistan

May 2007

Iraq

October 2005

17

n/a

n/a

17

2 R Anglian

Iraq

May 2006

Afghanistan

October 2003

30

n/a

n/a

18

1 KORBR(2)

Iraq

November 2005

Balkans

October 2000

60

n/a

n/a

19

1 Kings(2)

Iraq

July 2003

Prior to January 1999

n/a

n/a

20

QLR(2)

Iraq

July 03

Northern Ireland

September 2001

21

n/a

n/a

21

1 Lancs(2)

n/a

n/a

22

2 Lancs(2)

Iraq

November 2006

n/a

23

1 Yorks

Iraq

November 2006

Balkans

September 2004

25

n/a

n/a

24

2 Yorks

Balkans

April 2006

Afghanistan

October 2004

17

n/a

n/a

25

3 Yorks

Iraq

November 2004

Balkans

June 200I

40

n/a

n/a

26

1 R Welsh

Cyprus (Theatre Reserve Battalion)

May 2007

Northern Ireland

September to January 2006

Iraq (May to October 2004)

15

10

13

27

2 R Welsh

Iraq

June 2007

Iraq

October 2005

19

n/a

n/a

28

1 Mercian

Iraq

May 2004

Northern Ireland

December 2002

16

n/a

n/a

29

2 Mercian

Afghanistan

May 2007

Afghanistan

April 2005

23

n/a

n/a

30

3 Mercian

Iraq

November 2006

Iraq

October 2005

12

n/a

n/a

31

1 Rifles (1 RGBW)(3)

Afghanistan

October 2005

Northern Ireland

July 2003

26

n/a

n/a

32

1 Rifles (1 D&D)(3)

Iraq

May 2006

Northern Ireland

March 2001

61

n/a

n/a

33

2 Rifles

Iraq

November 2006

Northern Ireland

September 2004

25

n/a

n/a

34

3 Rifles

Northern Ireland

September 20 04

Northern Ireland

May 2000

51

n/a

n/a

35

4 Rifles

Iraq

June 2007

Balkans

October 2001

67

n/a

n/a

36

5 Rifles

Iraq

May 2006

Iraq

April 2004

24

n/a

n/a

37

1 R Irish

Iraq

July 2005

Iraq

June 2003

24

n/a

n/a

38

1 Para(4)

Northern Ireland

March 2005

Iraq

June 2003

20

n/a

n/a

39

2 Para

Iraq

November 2005

Iraq

March 2004

19

n/a

n/a

40

3 Para

Afghanistan

April 2006

Northern Ireland

August 2004

19

n/a

n/a

41

1 RGR

Balkans

October 2005

Balkans

March 2004

30

n/a

n/a

42

2RGR

Afghanistan

April 2005

Afghanistan

April 2004

11

n/a

n/a

(1) 1 RS and 1 KOSB amalgamated to form 1 Scots in August 2006. 1 Scots has yet to deploy on an operation. (2 )1 KORBR, 1 Kings and QLR amalgamated in July 2006 to form 1 Lancs and 2 Lancs. 1 Lancs has yet to deploy on an operation. (3) 1 RGBW and 1 DDLI amalgamated in March 2007 to form 1 Rifles. (4) As from August 2005 1 Para are no longer under the operational control of HQ Land.

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