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16 Jun 2008 : Column 711W—continued
“the weight of evidence from studies so far indicates that present day practice for managing solid municipal waste has, at most, a minor effect on human health and the environment, particularly when compared to other everyday activities”.
Defence
Skill Force
8. Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received on initiatives in the city of Nottingham by Skill Force to use the talents of retired military personnel. [210796]
Derek Twigg: Skill Force, an MOD initiated project, was set up in 2000 and since April 2005 has been, as originally intended, a fully divested registered charity. They are involved in three schools in the city of Nottingham. They have a school team of five instructors, of which four are ex-service personnel. They are currently in Hadden Park School, William Sharpe School and Hayward School.
Skill Force are seeking to expand to cover five schools in the city from September of this year.
Iraq
9. Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on economic development in Basra province. [210798]
Des Browne: As the Prime Minister explained to the House last October, economic reconstruction in Iraq—and in particular in Basra province—is a key element of our strategy. We are supporting Iraqi Government and private sector efforts to stimulate economic development in Basra, and I saw some encouraging signs of progress during my recent visit to the city. I will continue to have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on this and other elements of our strategy in Iraq.
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made on the mentoring, monitoring and training of Iraqi security forces in southern Iraq. [210804]
Des Browne: UK forces in southern Iraq continue to make very good progress in mentoring and training the Iraqi Security Forces. Our main focus is on developing the 14th Division of the Iraqi Army until it is fully operational. We have embedded a significant number of our people with that division in order to help achieve this, and our forces continue to provide a range of other support as well. The performance of 14th Division during recent operations in and around Basra demonstrates the continuing success of our approach.
Common Security and Defence Policy
11. Sarah McCarthy-Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of the common security and defence policy as defined in the treaty of Lisbon on UK defence policy. [210800]
Des Browne: I welcome the Lisbon Treaty since it reflects UK objectives of ensuring the development of a flexible, robust and NATO friendly European Security and Defence Policy. This includes keeping the key principle of unanimity for ESDP decision making. The Lisbon Treaty clearly states that the provisions
“do not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of the member states”.
Helicopters
12. Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many helicopters are operational across all three services; and how many are expected to be operational in 2020. [210801]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The number of operational helicopters available to the three services, known as the ‘Forward Fleet’, is 357. Of these, 117 are in the Royal Navy, 154 in the Army Air Corps, and 86 in the Royal Air Force.
It is not possible to predict with any certainty the number of helicopters in the Forward Fleet at 12 years distance. Forward Fleet numbers will fluctuate in response to changes in operational requirements, the equipment programme and depth maintenance schedules.
Afghanistan
13. Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of progress made by troops in Afghanistan towards securing their objectives. [210802]
Des Browne:
The International Security Assistance Force continues to make good progress in terms of defeating the threat posed by the Taliban, enhancing the authority of the Government of Afghanistan and improving the capabilities of the Afghan Security Forces. However, military action alone cannot solve the many long-term problems facing Afghanistan and ISAF forces work closely with the Government of Afghanistan,
civilian organisations and coalition partners to ensure that we continue to make progress in our reconstruction and development efforts.
18. Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Afghanistan. [210807]
Des Browne: The security situation in Afghanistan is stable, if fragile in places. The Afghan National Army and troops from the 40-nation International Security Assistance Force have achieved significant tactical success against the Taliban in 2007 and early 2008.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Afghanistan. [210799]
Des Browne: The security situation in Afghanistan is stable, if fragile in places. The Afghan National Army and troops from the 40-nation International Security Assistance Force have achieved significant tactical success against the Taliban in 2007 and early 2008.
Royal British Legion
14. Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last met representatives of the Royal British Legion; and what matters were discussed. [210803]
Derek Twigg: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met the director general and the chairman of the Royal British Legion on 17 January to welcome Chris Simpkins on his appointment and discuss issues of mutual interest; these ranged from conditions of service for members of the armed forces to funding for the armed forces memorial. He also spoke to the Royal British Legion annual conference on 17 May.
Armed Forces: Service Provision
17. Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made on improving co-ordination with the devolved Administrations on the provision of services for armed forces personnel and their families. [210806]
Derek Twigg: We are already working closely at ministerial and official level to deliver individual initiatives. We will be publishing a major Command Paper on a cross-Government strategy for improving support to regular and serving members of the UK armed forces, their families, veterans and widow(er)s when it is ready. Many areas of this support are devolved responsibilities which can only be implemented by the devolved Administrations.
I am committed to ensuring the entire UK delivers the best possible level of support to our armed forces.
Headley Court
19. Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding his Department is providing to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court in 2008-09. [210808]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence funds the full operating costs of the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court and is constantly investing in new staff, facilities, patient welfare and treatment. For the financial year 2008-09, the operating costs of the unit are expected to be over £16 million.
This year we are also constructing a 58-bed accommodation block for non-ward patients and staff, at a cost of around £4 million. In addition, we shall be spending some £3.5 million on other infrastructure work at Headley Court, including initial work for the major site development programme for which around £24 million has been allocated over the next four years (to upgrade clinical facilities and living accommodation) that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 6 May.
For many years the Headley Court estate, which is owned by a charitable trust, has also benefited from additional funding of projects by that trust and other charities, and I am happy to place on record my thanks to them for their continuing support.
Commissioned Officers
20. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will review the arrangements for the promotion of commissioned officers in the Army. [210809]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Army keeps promotion arrangements for all types of commissioned officers under constant review, and amends them when appropriate. However, there are no immediate plans to conduct a wholesale review of current promotion rules.
Veterans: Health Services
22. Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent improvements have been made to health services for veterans. [210811]
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made in improving health services for service veterans. [210805]
Derek Twigg: All veterans will benefit from the decision last November to extend priority health treatment to all veterans in Great Britain whose condition is considered by their GP to be due to service. The Department is also working with the four UK Health Departments and Combat Stress in piloting a new expert mental health care service for veterans in six NHS trusts across the UK. Following two years' evaluation, best practice will be identified and rolled out across the UK.
Aircraft Carriers
23. Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to sign the final contract for new aircraft carriers. [210812]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
As we announced on 20 May, we stand ready to sign the manufacture contracts for the new aircraft carriers once the Joint Venture between
BAE Systems and VT Group completes. We welcome the announcement made by the companies last week that they have reached final agreement on the formation of this joint venture and that, subject to approval by VTs shareholders, they expect the new company to begin operations at the start of July 2008.
Ammunition: International Cooperation
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role the Government have played in securing international agreement on the banning of cluster munitions. [210792]
Des Browne: In November 2006, HMG made the decision to take the lead, internationally, in addressing the humanitarian concerns posed by certain types of cluster munitions.
Since this date the UK has been actively engaged with the convention on conventional weapons (CCW) and in February 2007 decided also to join the ‘Oslo' process to drive this issue forward and secure the best possible humanitarian effect.
In March 2007 the UK took the initiative and withdrew from service two types of cluster munition believed to inflict ‘unacceptable harm'—the first country to do so after the Oslo conference.
Consistently HMG's position on this issue has been made clear and was conveyed in the Prime Minister's speech in the Mansion House in November 2007 and his statement during the ‘Oslo' process conference in Dublin on 28 May 2008.
As one of 46 nations to support the ‘Oslo' process from the outset, HMG is delighted with the outcome of the Dublin Conference. A joint FCO, MOD and DfID team has worked very hard to secure a strong convention that addressed the key humanitarian concerns.
In advance of the convention entering into force the UK has once again led by example by ceasing use of cluster munitions with immediate effect and starting the programme to have them removed from service.
While this has resulted in some additional capability risk, this has been assessed as manageable and acceptable against the benefit in delivering both a strong humanitarian effect and legitimacy within the convention.
Armed Forces
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Government plan to publish the Command Paper on service personnel. [209729]
Derek Twigg: We will publish a Command Paper outlining a cross-Government strategy for the provision of support to members of the armed forces, their families, veterans and widow(er)s when it is ready.
Armed Forces: Conditions of Employment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) total expenditure and (b) expenditure per person was for telephone allowances as part of the deployment welfare package in the (i) first six and (ii) last six months of 2007-08. [210649]
Derek Twigg: The total expenditure on telephone allowances as part of the Deployment Welfare Package for the first six months of financial year 2007-08 was £9,232,564, and for the last six months was £10,358,096. The expenditure per person for the first six months was £504.34, and for the last six months was £579.76.
Armed Forces: Council Tax Benefits
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel are deployed on operations and qualify for council tax rebate, broken down by council tax band. [210650]
Derek Twigg: It is estimated that some 13,000 service personnel will currently be eligible for MOD’s council tax relief payment. This is paid as a flat rate and therefore does not vary by council tax band.
Armed Forces: Deployment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK personnel were deployed on operations in each location at the most recent date for which information is available. [210675]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following table shows the number of UK service personnel deployed on operations by location at 2 June 2008. The number of personnel in theatre will naturally fluctuate on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including leave (rest and recuperation), temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement of forces and other factors.
| Location | Number |
| (1) Figures for Iraq and Afghanistan have been rounded to the nearest 100 for operational security reasons. Other figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Due to rounding methods used, the total may not equal the sum of the individual locations. (2) Figures for Kuwait are artificially high due to a current Operation Telic Relief In Place (RIP) operation. Note: 1. Countries with 10 or more personnel are shown separately. Other countries with fewer than 10 personnel per country include Georgia, Nepal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia. | |
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