| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
1 Apr 2008 : Column 790W—continued
Armed Forces: Pensions
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of beneficiaries of pension-sharing orders for armed forces pensions under the age of 65 years whose former spouse already receives a pension. [196187]
Derek Twigg: The precise number of beneficiaries of pension-sharing orders for armed forces pensions under the age of 65 years where the former spouse already receives a pension is not held, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
As a broad estimate, however, there are some 1,800 beneficiaries whose pension share will become payable from age 60, and another 450 that will commence from age 65.
Armed Forces: Recruitment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what caps or restrictions have been placed on the recruitment for the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF in each year since 2005; and what plans there are for the next financial year. [196618]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Restrictions are placed on military recruiting in terms of the overall manning requirement and quality of the individuals applying. The numbers of recruits required every year are derived from the requirement for trained manpower to sustain the service’s delivery of operational capability and the manning structures that support it. In order to assure operational capability, recruits must meet the three services’ entry standards.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people from Yorkshire and the Humber were recruited into each of the armed services in each year since 2001. [197138]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information is not held in the format requested to allow the identification of those recruited to the armed forces who originated from a particular region within the UK. It is possible, however, to ascertain the number recruited through the Armed Forces Career Offices within the Yorkshire/Humberside area and these are given in the following table. Please note that figures are not available for RAF personnel before 2003-04 as these were not centrally held. Figures for naval officers are also not included as they are recruited through the auspices of the Officer Career Liaison Offices of which there are six nationwide. These cover too wide a geographical area to provide useful information in this response.
| Royal Navy | Royal Marines | Army | RAF | |
Armed Forces: Schools
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to extend the skill force programme in schools. [195275]
Derek Twigg: Skill Force was started in September 2000 by the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education and Skills (now the Department for Children, Schools and Families). It uses ex-military instructors to provide the teams which support schools to re-engage disaffected 14 to 16-year-olds with vocationally based education. It was always intended that Skill Force should become a charity and in 2004 it received charitable status.
Since then MOD has provided Skill Force with £10.3 million and funding from other Government Departments (DfES now DCSF) amounts to £9 million. Skill Force will become fully self-supporting in Financial Year 2009-10 when further funding from MOD will cease. Thereafter, the expansion of Skill Force into schools will not be an MOD responsibility.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) orders outstanding for, (b) initial date of announcement for procurement and (c) expected delivery date are for the (i) Pitbull, (ii) Mastiff, (iii) Bulldog and (iv) Ridgeback armoured vehicles. [196613]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There is no vehicle named Pitbull in UK military service. The hon. Member may be referring to the Mobility Weapon Mount Installation Kit (MWMIK), now to be named Jackal in service with UK armed forces. Of the 130 vehicles in the initial order, some 60 have now been delivered. We have announced our intention to procure a further 72 vehicles, with the full quantity of over 200 vehicles expected to be delivered by the end of the year. We announced our intention to procure the initial order in June 2007.
We have ordered over 280 Mastiff vehicles. The first tranche has been completely delivered, with 174 remaining to be delivered by mid 2009. The intention to procure the first tranche of Mastiff was announced in July 2006.
We are converting 900 FV430 vehicles with an upgraded drivetrain to the Mk3, or Bulldog, specification. For operations in Iraq over 100 of these vehicles have been upgraded further (including with additional protection) and this variant has been fully delivered. We announced our intention to procure up-armoured Bulldog in July 2006.
The intention to procure some 150 Ridgeback was announced in December 2007. As contract details have still to be finalised, none have been delivered and schedules have not yet been set.
Charter Flights
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on chartering transport aircraft in 2007. [197424]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Chartered aircraft are used to transport freight and personnel when RAF assets are not available, generally due to operational commitments, and when there is a requirement for additional or specialist airlift that it would not be cost-effective to provide in-house.
The expenditure in 2007 was £111 million in direct support of operations and £7 million on core general business.
Civil Service Appeal Board
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of appeals by employees of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were (i) heard and (ii) upheld by the Civil Service Appeal Board in each of the last 10 years; how much was awarded in compensation by the Board to each successful appellant in each year; what the reason was for each compensation award; how many appellants were reinstated by the Board in each year; and what the reason was for each (A) dismissal and (B) reinstatement. [192515]
Derek Twigg: Statistics for appeals made to the Civil Service Appeal Board (CSAB) by MOD Civil Servants prior to 2004 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The information in the following tables represents both departmental and agency figures as some agencies have only one or two cases and there exists a duty to protect the identity of individuals concerned within the scope of the Data Protection Act 1998.
The figures for appeals made to the Civil Service Appeal Board by MOD Civil Servants from 2004-2005 onwards are:
| 2004-05 | |
| Number/percentage | |
1. Compensation award £30,684.66—CSAB found insufficient evidence of fraudulent intent.
2. Compensation award £17,667.55—CSAB found dismissal unfair on grounds of failing to satisfy the substantive issue.
3. Original Departmental Review Board compensation award increased from 75 per cent. to 100 per cent. due to new medical evidence.
Original reason for dismissal:
Six gross misconduct
Three unsatisfactory attendance
Two redundancy
One unsatisfactory performance.
| 2005-06 | |
| Number/percentage | |
Original compensation award increased by 50 per cent. due to medical evidence.
Original reason for dismissal:
10 gross misconduct
Three redundancy
Two unsatisfactory attendance.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |