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Armed Forces: Housing

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department may lease properties where the freehold is owned by Annington Homes to civilians; whether the terms of his Department's contract with Annington Homes prevent long-term leases; and what other restrictions there are on the terms upon which his Department may lease such properties to tenants. [218007]

Derek Twigg: Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in the UK is primarily provided to house entitled Service personnel and their families. Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian key staff and some members of the MOD Police also have an entitlement to occupy SFA.

The MOD supports the leasing of temporarily surplus SFA to eligible civilians in accordance with wider Government policies on empty homes, however this can only be done where it does not prejudice the need to provide homes for entitled personnel. The rules on eligibility can be found in the Tri-Service Accommodation Regulations, available online at:

www.defence-estates.mod.uk/publications/jsp

In addition to this, the MOD is currently exploring options regarding the leasing of temporary surplus accommodation.

Where there is no long term requirement for SFA, the properties would be returned to AHL and are normally sold on the open market. The onward sale or disposal of these properties is a matter for the company.

Armed Forces: Manpower

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) requirement and (b) actual number of (i) unit welfare officers and (ii) padres in each service is. [219997]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State gave on 21 April 2008 to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey).

The Royal Navy has a requirement for 70 chaplains and by the end of the financial year will have 65 in post.

The Army has a requirement for 159 chaplains and have 146 in post.

1 Sep 2008 : Column 1446W

The RAF has a requirement for 76 chaplains and currently have 64 in post.

Armed Forces: Olympic Games

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces competed in each Olympic Games for which records are available. [220298]

Derek Twigg: The following tables show the number of personnel from each service who competed in the summer and winter Olympic games for which records are available:

Summer
	Royal Navy	Army	Royal Air Force
1948	(1)—	19	8
1952	1	12	2
1956	0	8	11
1960	0	6	3
1964	0	5	0
1968	2	7	1
1972	2	3	2
1976	2	3	0
1980	1	1	1
1984	2	3	3
1988	1	7	2
1992	0	2	0
1996	0	3	0
2000	1	1	1
2004	0	2	0

Winter
	Royal Navy	Army	Royal Air Force
1964	(1)—	7	1
1968	(1)—	7	3
1972	(1)—	8	2
1976	(1)—	6	0
1980	(1)—	15	0
1984	1	15	2
1988	0	12	3
1992	1	11	0
1994	0	9	0
1998	1	4	1
2002	1	7	3
2006	3	3	2
(1) No record.

Armed Forces: Young People

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people under 18 years old serving in the armed forces have been court-martialled in each of the last five years; and what charges were brought at each court-martial where proceedings have been completed. [220314]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following table shows the number of people under 18 serving in the armed forces who have been court-martialled in each of the last five years; and what charges were brought at each court-martial where proceedings have been completed.

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1 Sep 2008 : Column 1448W

	Number of under-18s who have been court-martialled	Charges
Royal Navy
2003	0	—
2004	0	—
2005	0	—
2006	1	2 x assault by beating
		1 x attempting to unlawfully and maliciously wound
2007	0	—
Army
2003	1	2 x absence without leave
	1	1 x aggravated vehicle taking
	1	1 x assault occasioning actual bodily harm
	1	1 x handling stolen goods
	1	1 x indecent assault on male person
Total	5
2004	1	1 x assault occasioning actual bodily harm
	1	1 x unlawfully inflicting grievous bodily harm
Total	2
2005	1	3 x conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline
	2	Each charged: 1 x assault occasioning actual bodily harm
	1	1 x assault occasioning actual bodily harm and 1 x common assault
	1	1 x battery
	1	1 x unlawful wounding and 1 x assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Total	6
2006	1	1 x absence without leave
	1	1 x affray and doing an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice
	1	1 x assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Total	3
2007	1	2 x absence without leave
	1	2 x fighting
	2	Each charged: 3 x battery
	1	3 x sexual assault
	3	Each charged: 1 x assault occasioning actual bodily harm
	1	1 x battery
	1	1 x harassment
	1	1 x inflicting grievous bodily harm
Total	11

As the table shows, some individuals had more than one charge brought against them.

The number of people under 18-years-old serving in the Royal Air Force who have been court-martialled in the last five years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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