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12 May 2008 : Column 1313W—continued
This has proved to be a complex question to answer. You will be aware that most Infantry battalions have deployed on operations at least once in the last five years. The Infantry tend to deploy as formed units with the tour intervals in relation to Army units being based on (a) ‘Units’ defined as any Regiment deploying with a Regimental Headquarters and more than two Sub Units and (b) ‘deployment’ as any Unit deploying for four months or more. The Army's Harmony Guidelines recommend that Army units achieve 24 months between each six month operational tour.
Elements from other Arms and Services regularly deploy as sub-units, on attachment to other units, or as individual augmentees. For example, this is the case for Royal Engineers, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel. Information on some units, such as Logistics have not been included in the return as this would incur disproportionate cost. Although other Corps may deploy with an RHQ and two or more sub units, it may not always be with the same formation or with the same individuals and would therefore make the information very difficult to collate.
A Squadron is the key unit of deployment for the RAF and figures are collated accordingly. Additional Wings have been formed due to the increasing demand for Force Protection and this is the reason why some Wings have deployed fewer than others.
You can see from the table that while some Army units have undertaken three deployments, others have only completed one. Whilst operations have been continuing in Iraq and Afghanistan, units will also have been covering endorsed standing Military tasks such as commitments in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, the Balkans and the Falkland Islands as well as Public Duties, in addition to conducting essential training and recuperating from operations. Moreover, there have been occasions where one or two sub units of a Battalion or Regiment have deployed, but these instances do not qualify as unit deployments and are therefore not included in the table.
I am sorry that this information has taken so long to compile, but its collation has involved trawling through a substantial amount of information to ensure as full and accurate a response as possible based on the criteria set out above. Now that this detail has been gathered it will be maintained to prevent any such delay occurring in the future.
I am placing a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen and women normally resident in East Dunbartonshire were serving in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan at the latest date for which figures are available; and how many such service personnel have served in each country in the last five years. [204553]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 9 May 2008]: Data on the UK residential location of armed forces personnel are not held centrally in databases of individual records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Territorial Army are on active service in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan. [204561]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As at 31 March 2008, there were 512 members of the Territorial Army serving in the Afghanistan Joint Operational Area (JOA), and 122 in the Iraq JOA.
Joint Rapid Reaction Force
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2008, Official Report, column 58W, on the Joint Rapid Reaction Force, which units will form the UK's commitment to the Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps from July to December 2008. [203475]
Des Browne: The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) is a High Readiness Force (Land) assigned to NATO. Sixty per cent. of its established posts are found by the UK. Headquarters ARRC's intimate supporting elements are Headquarters 1 Signal Brigade, 252 Close Support Squadron, the ARRC Support Battalion and 12 Military Intelligence Company.
Kosovo: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on providing the strategic airlift required to deploy the UK's commitment for NATO’s Operational Reserve Force in Kosovo. [203217]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: None. Our forward planning for this task will allow us to make maximum use of commercial charter aircraft.
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what equipment will be made available to the UK operational reserve battalion for its deployment to Kosovo. [204140]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Equipment to be made available to the UK Operational Reserve Battalion includes Snatch Land Rovers, standard Land Rovers, Saxon personnel carriers, 4-ton trucks, engineering equipment, battlefield ambulances, riot control equipment (including shields and batons), body armour, personal light weapons and communications equipment, along with general items such as fuel, food, personal kit, vehicle spares and ammunition.
The overall need for airlift has been reduced by the pre-positioning of heavy equipment by road. Commercially chartered aircraft will be used for the transfer of personnel and further equipment wherever possible although some military aircraft have been allocated for use where necessary.
Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons his Department has imposed a 65-tonne weight limit on commercial loads which can be handled on the Falklands Jetty at Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre; when this limit was determined; whether its impact on the planning consent given for the construction plans for the new Marchwood Power Station was considered before the limit was laid down; and if he will make a statement. [204537]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth
[holding answer 9 May 2008]: An internal review of the Falklands Jetty at the Sea Mounting Centre (SMC) Marchwood was carried out in 2005. It was concluded that the Jetty can continue to routinely handle military and commercial loads
weighing up to 65 tonnes. While requests for the Jetty to be used for heavier loads are still considered, these tend to be handled through alternative facilities at the SMC. The SMC holds no records to suggest it was involved in the planning considerations for the Power Station in 2001-02.
Since Marchwood Power Limited started utilising the SMC in August 2007, the MOD has worked closely with the company to ensure that its requirements are met as practicably and safely as possible.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the weight limit is for military loads which can be handled on the Falklands Jetty at Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre; [204538]
(2) what the weight was of the heaviest load handled on the Falkland Jetty at Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre since 2001. [204544]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 9 May 2008]: Since 2005, the heaviest piece of equipment that can routinely be handled from the Falklands Jetty is the military Challenger II tank, which weighs 65 tonnes. These vehicles are, however, usually loaded via Roll-On/Roll-Off facilities at the SMC’s quayside. Requests for the Jetty to be used for heavier loads are still considered although these tend to be handled through alternative facilities at the Sea Mounting Centre. Prior to 2005, the heaviest load handled from the Falklands Jetty was a 215 tonne reactor in 2001.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment was made of the (a) effect on traffic from the Port of Southampton to the Marchwood Power Station site and (b) cost of delivering the main heavy plant for the power station by road, when the decision to impose a 65 tonne limit on commercial loads handled at the Falkland Jetty at the Sea Mounting Centre was taken; [204545]
(2) if he will instruct his Department to give permission for up to 12 loads to be delivered to the new Marchwood Power Station via the Sea Mounting Centre and exempted from the 65 tonne limit. [204546]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: When the decision to impose a routine weight restriction of 65 tonnes for loads on the Falklands Jetty was made in 2005, no assessment was carried out by MOD of the effects on traffic or the cost of delivering such loads by road. This is because an alternative loading solution exists that involves the acceptance of heavier loads using a floating crane to lift them over the Sea Mounting Centre's quay wall either onto the quayside or waiting rail transportation. To date, some 36 loads for the Marchwood Power Station, weighing between 98 and 171 tonnes, have been moved in this way.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serviceable helicopters are available to (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy and (c) the Royal Air Force; and how many were available to each in 2005. [204194]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: For the purposes of MOD reporting, a serviceable helicopter is defined as one that is used, is capable of being used or could be made ready for a period of two hours flying within a planned flying programme. Fit For Purpose is the metric that is used to measure serviceability, and the figures in the table represent the average Fit For Purpose figures for the month of March in each of the specified years. The numbers of helicopters that are considered to be Fit For Purpose will vary from day to day due, primarily, to routine maintenance requirements, and does not include helicopters in transit.
The number of serviceable helicopters available in the Forward Fleet for the month of March in 2005 and 2008, broken down by Service are shown as follows:
| March | ||
| 2005 | 2008 | |
The figures for 2008 do not include the eight RAF Chinook Mark 3 helicopters that are being converted to a Battlefield role but do include three of the six RAF Merlin helicopters recently acquired from Denmark, as announced by the Secretary of State on 30 March 2007. The figures for 2008 also reflect the planned reductions in the Gazelle and Lynx Mk 7 fleets. The number of serviceable Apache will increase as the capability continues to be fielded.
Territorial Army: Manpower
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of Territorial Army personnel are drawn from (a) small, (b) medium and (c) large businesses. [204607]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Figures for the Territorial Army are not available separately from the rest of the Volunteer Reserve Forces (VRF). Latest data show that, of the 59 per cent. of VRF with employers:
27 per cent. work for employers with one to nine employees
26 per cent. work for employers with 10 to 49 employees
23 per cent. work for employers with 50 to 200 employees
10 per cent. work for employers with 200 to 500 employees
14 per cent. work for employers with 500+ employees.
International Development
Africa: Overseas Aid
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money was spent by his Department on aid programmes for Africa in each year since 2004, broken down by development objective. [201664]
Gillian Merron: Department for International Development (DFID) expenditure, both bilateral and multilateral, on aid programmes for Africa since 2004 is set out in the following tables.
| Table 1: UK total bilateral gross public expenditure (GPEX) on development to Africa 2004-05 to 2006-07, by sector | |||
| £000 | |||
| Sector | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
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