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14 Jan 2008 : Column 875W—continued
The MOD has robust policies and procedures in place to ensure the best possible support is offered to all families. These procedures are continually under review to ensure they reflect the needs and expectations of all those concerned. Support is given to families through visiting officers who are drawn from members of the Services and who have received relevant training. Visiting officers are appointed to act as a liaison, through regular contact, between the bereaved family and the Services. They establish links with the various agencies to provide ongoing support, both financial and emotional, and help the bereaved family to adjust to life without their loved one. Specific financial help is available to the bereaved family to help meet the costs of the funeral, incidental funeral expenses, travel and accommodation and subsistence to attend the repatriation ceremony and the pre-inquest and inquest hearing.
I am placing a copy of this in the Library of the House.
Armed Forces: Firearms
Dr. Fox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) SA-80 assault rifles and (b) 9mm Browning pistols were reported (i) lost or missing and
later recovered and (ii) lost or missing and not recovered by British armed forces in the United Kingdom in each year since 1997. [177587]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I am able to provide the total number of MOD owned rifles and pistols lost or stolen from UK based units from 2000 to 2007 which is shown in the following tables. No reliable information is held prior to this period.
| Pistol | Rifle (mil) | |||
| Lost | Recovered | Lost | Recovered | |
| Pistol | Rifle(mil) | |||
| Stolen | Recovered | Stolen | Recovered | |
Armed Forces: Health Services
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of the decision to charge nurses employed by his Department £15 for influenza inoculations on the operational effectiveness of the armed forces. [178006]
Derek Twigg: All military and civilian nurses working for the Ministry of Defence are eligible to receive any necessary influenza inoculations free of charge at service medical centres.
Armed Forces: Housing
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints were made to Modern Housing Solutions in each of the last 12 months. [177540]
Derek Twigg: The number of complaints received in each of the last 12 months is as follows:
| Number | |
Armed Forces: Rehabilitation
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department provides to help rehabilitate servicemen and women on their return from active service in the armed forces. [168864]
Derek Twigg: It is assumed that the question refers to our post-operational stress management policy. This applies to all the Armed Services, although each has its own individual processes that recognise its particular structure and culture. Operational deployments can be very stressful experiences, so wherever possible we look to offer individuals briefing prior to returning to their home base. Where possible a “decompression period” is arranged during which personnel can begin to unwind mentally and physically after their operational tour while having time to talk to colleagues and superiors with whom they have deployed about their experiences. Decompression can take place in a number of locations, for example in theatre while waiting for the return flight, or the Commander can arrange for it to take place in a third location (i.e. not home base and not theatre), such as Cyprus. For seagoing units, including embarked forces, decompression usually occurs as a matter of routine during the return passage to the UK which may include one or more operational standoffs or foreign port visits providing an opportunity for individuals to separate themselves, albeit briefly, from their working environment. Alternatively, Service personnel returning from operations can spend a period of time in their home base location to assist with the winding down period prior to progressing to Post Operational Tour leave. Access to specialised mental healthcare is available if required, both during the decompression period and back in the UK at MOD’s regional Departments of Community Mental Health.
The families of returning personnel are also offered presentations and issued with leaflets to alert them to the possible after-affects of an operational deployment. Welfare Officers, Padres, and other associated organisations (such as regimental and other support groups) also provide information and advice to families.
Reservists are treated in a similar fashion where possible, with all having access to the Regular welfare support system or having support delivered through their parent unit. All Reserve units in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force have Welfare Officers, while in the Territorial Army the Regimental Operational Support Officer will perform Welfare duties. Their duties will include support to the families of mobilised reserves, including the provision of briefing and leaflets.
Where mobilised Reservists are returning to regular civilian employment, support and advice is available to the civilian employer to help them understand the potential after-effects of an operational deployment on an individual.
Armed Forces: Schools
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the mobility rate was for each service children’s education (a) primary and (b) secondary school in the last academic year. [177594]
Derek Twigg: In order to combine primary and secondary statistics within a single database, Service Children’s Education (SCE) is currently revising the Data Collection System employed to monitor pupil mobility rates in SCE schools. I shall write to the hon. Member once this information becomes available.
Armed Forces: Training
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many training airborne jumps have been conducted by British service personnel in each year since 2001; and how many of these jumps were made from a (a) C-17 Globemaster, (b) C-130K Hercules, (c) C-130J Hercules, (d) other aeroplanes, (e) Chinook helicopters and (f) other helicopters in each year. [177544]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following table shows the total number of annual parachute descents by entitled service personnel conducted between 2001 and 2007 broken down by aircraft type. This includes displays conducted by the RAF Falcons display team, whose descents cannot be broken out from the annual parachute descents.
| Year | Total descents | C-17 Globemaster( 1) | C130( 2) | Other aircraft | Chinook | Other helicopters |
| (1) Although the C17 Globemaster has a parachute capability it is not used for parachute training as the aircraft have been designated for strategic airlift. (2) We cannot differentiate between the C130 variants. (3) Only includes figures to October. | ||||||
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