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8 Oct 2007 : Column 62W—continued
Aircraft Carriers: Procurement
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where the new aircraft carriers will be based. [154020]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 25 July 2007, Official Report, column 871, in which I confirmed that the new aircraft carriers are to be base-ported in Portsmouth.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that any cooperation with France in order to reduce costs will not result in a delay for the introduction of the new aircraft carriers. [154021]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We have always made it clear that for cooperation with France to work it must deliver cost savings and must do so without delaying the UK or French carrier programmes.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many type 45 destroyers will be procured in order to provide escort security to the UK's new aircraft carriers. [154048]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Several types of vessels will provide escort and security for the aircraft carriers, and the numbers employed will vary according to the threat faced. There are many variables involved in determining the number of ships required to defend a carrier or amphibious task group. These include the level of the threat, the level of multinational involvement and the type and scale of the operation. We currently have a contract for six type 45 destroyers.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected cost is of each of the future aircraft carriers. [154395]
Des Browne: The project to provide two future aircraft carriers is currently expected to cost £3.9 billion. There is agreement and a scheme of incentives, however, to work with industry to reduce this before a final price is settled by 2010.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the former target in-service dates of 2012 and 2015 have been replaced by 2014 and 2016 respectively for each of the future aircraft carriers. [154396]
Des Browne: In-service dates are not set until Main Gate, when the project is mature enough for us to take a view on the appropriate date. That point was reached in July and the dates (2014 and 2016) have been set.
Armed Forces: Culture
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what resources his Department provides for the cultural education of personnel when deployed overseas. [154231]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Cultural awareness training is an integral part of pre-deployment training for all personnel undertaking overseas operations. In mature theatres cultural awareness training is continued through education centres. Additionally, literature is available via a number of internal websites, and units are provided with material in CD and DVD formats to widen accessibility.
Armed Forces: Deployment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK personnel are deployed on operations, broken down by location. [154238]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following table shows the number of personnel deployed on operations by operation and location at 9 September 2007.
| Number of personnel deployed by operation and location( 1) | |
| Operation | Number |
| (1) Countries with 10 or more personnel are shown separately. Note: Countries with fewer than 10 personnel are not shown. | |
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what UK military units have been on operations outside the United Kingdom in each year since 1997. [154258]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave on 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 95W, to the hon. Member for South-West Norfolk (Mr. Fraser). Further detail and breakdown could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Housing
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Single Living Accommodation units were upgraded to Standard One in each financial year since 1997. [153389]
Des Browne: The number of Single Living Accommodation bed spaces that have been upgraded to our highest standard 'Grade One for Condition' in each financial year since 2001 is:
| Number | |
Records prior to 1 October 2001 are not held in a comparable format.
Armed Forces: Personnel Management
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what representations he has received on the Joint Personnel Administration system; [154545]
(2) how many complaints he received from military personnel about the Joint Personnel Administration system in each month since December 2006. [154547]
Derek Twigg: Since December 2006, 1,032 complaints had been received from armed forces personnel via the centralised JPA complaints process about mispayments and other apparent problems with pay, or the handling of queries. The following table shows the breakdown of these by month:
| Number of complaints | |
Armed Forces: Suicide
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the incidence of suicide by (a) serving members of the armed forces, (b) serving members of the armed forces who have served in a theatre of conflict and (c) former members of the armed forces was in each year for which figures are available. [154041]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence has centrally compiled and verified records of coroner-confirmed suicides and open verdict deaths that have occurred among UK regular Service personnel while in service during the period 1984 to 2006. The information is summarised in the following table .
Information is also available on regular service personnel who were deployed to the conflicts in the Gulf (September 1990 to June 1991), Iraq (January 2003 to December 2006) and Afghanistan (October 2005 to December 2006), and have since died in service of coroner-confirmed suicide or open verdict deaths.
Information on suicides and open verdict deaths that may have occurred to service personnel after discharge from the services is not currently available.
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