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7 May 2008 : Column 921W—continued
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what vehicles he expects British forces to use while serving as NATO's Operational Reserve Force in Kosovo. [203218]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The vehicles to be used by British forces serving as NATO's Operational Reserve Force in Kosovo include Snatch armoured Land Rovers, standard Land Rovers, Saxon personnel carriers, 4-ton trucks, battlefield ambulances and various engineering vehicles.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral answer of 28 April 2008, Official Report, column 16, on what date his Department (a) began and (b) completed pre-positioning equipment for the UK's commitment for NATO's Operational Reserve Force in Kosovo. [203288]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The pre-positioning of equipment in Kosovo for potential use by the UK troops operating as the NATO Operational Reserve Force began in early November 2007. The transportation of equipment will be completed by 31 May 2008, the date when the UK Battalion is due to be in Kosovo ready to begin its task.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral answer of 28 April 2008, Official Report, column 16, what equipment has been pre-positioned in Kosovo for the UK's commitment to NATO's Operational Reserve Force. [203289]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As of 30 April 2008, equipment that has been pre-positioned in Kosovo includes Snatch Land Rovers, standard Land Rovers, Saxon personnel carriers, 4-ton trucks, engineering equipment, vehicle spares, ammunition, food, riot control equipment (including shields and batons) and fuel.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral answer of 28 April 2008, Official Report, column 16, how many (a) C-17 Globemaster, (b) C-130K Hercules, (c) C-130J Hercules, (d) Tristar and (e) VC-10 aircraft sorties were flown to pre-position the equipment required for the UK's commitment to NATO's Operational Reserve Force in Kosovo. [203290]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Two sorties were flown by C-130J Hercules in order to deliver ammunition. The C-17 Globemaster, C-130K Hercules, Tristar and VC-10 have not to date been used to pre-position equipment.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral answer of 28 April 2008, Official Report, column 16, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of troops which can be sustained by the pre-positioned equipment provided for NATO’s Operational Reserve Force and (b) the length of time UK forces can be sustained with the equipment. [203291]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: It is planned that the battalion assigned to the NATO Operational Reserve Force (approximately 600 troops) will be sustainable for 30 days from the date its mission in Kosovo begins. This is in accordance with the requirements of the NATO Operational Reserve Force high readiness commitment.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he was first informed that NATO would make a request for the UK to deploy a high readiness battalion to Kosovo; and when the request was formally received by his Department. [203935]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: This commitment began on 1 January 2008. Since then, Ministers have been kept informed of discussions between the UK and NATO on this subject. The Department received a formal request from NATO for the deployment of the UK element of the operational reserve force on 7 April 2008. I said in the House on 28 April 2008, Official Report, column 15 that we were responding to the request imminently. An announcement was subsequently made to Parliament on 29 April 2008 and a formal reply to NATO made on 2 May 2008.
Meteorological Office: Politics International
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what payments the Met Office has made to Politics International Ltd. in each of the last five years; on what dates; and for what purpose the payments were made in each case. [202255]
Derek Twigg: The Met Office has made the following payments to Politics International Ltd in each of the last five years:
| 2004 | £ |
These payments relate to training for Met Office witnesses appearing before Select Committees; training for Met Office staff in stakeholder management; assistance with the development and strengthening of relationships with key stakeholders; and support for Met Office participation in stakeholder events relating to meteorology and climate science.
Military Decorations
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to amend the criteria for the award of the General Service Medal; and if he will make a statement. [203491]
Derek Twigg: There are currently no plans to amend the criteria for the award of the GSM 1962.
Navy: Labour Turnover
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have (a) joined and (b) left the Royal Navy since 2005. [203721]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The number of personnel joining the Royal Naval Service since 2005 can be found in Table 3 of Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 1 - Strength, Intake and Outflow of UK Regular Forces. The number of personnel leaving the Royal Naval Service since 2005 can be found in Table 4 of the same publication. TSP 1 is published monthly. The most recent publication shows figures for data from 1 April 2003 to 1 March 2008 and can be found at
Copies of TSP 1 are available in the Library of the House and also at
Prince William
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, columns 887-88W, on His Royal Highness Prince William, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of training His Royal Highness Prince William as a pilot. [202762]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: No specific calculation has been made of the individual cost of HRH Prince William’s flying training. However it is unlikely to exceed that of equivalent training undertaken by other trainees, given that basic flight training covers a series of set elements.
The cost of providing basic flying training for the RAF is detailed in the following table.
| RAF flight training costs | ||
| Activity | Aircraft type | Cost (£000) at 2007-08 prices |
Reserve Forces: Manpower
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people there are in the Volunteer Reserve Forces; and what proportion of them have seen active service in either Iraq or Afghanistan. [203678]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The latest manning figures for the Volunteer Reserves (VRs) are as follows:
| Number | |
| Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10 | |
The overall proportion of VRs who have seen active service in Iraq or Afghanistan is not available, and the steady turnover of the Reserves would render such a figure relatively meaningless, but over 17,000 VRs have been mobilised in support of operations since 2003.
Since 2006, over 2,160 VRs have served in Iraq, and over 2,010 in Afghanistan.
Royal Military Academy
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was in each of the last three years. [203669]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The cost to the public purse of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for the last three financial years for which validated figures are available is:
| Financial year | Cost (£ million) |
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