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18 Nov 2008 : Column 412W—continued
Young People
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many 16 to 24 year olds were living in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) London and (c) England in each year since 1997. [237114]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated November 2008 :
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking how many 16 to 24 year olds were living in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) London and (c) England in each year since 1997. (237114)
The table below shows the estimated resident population of persons aged 16 to 24 for the areas requested for mid-1997 to mid-2007, the latest year for which estimates arc available.
| Mid-year population estimates of persons aged 16 to 24, 1997-2007 | |||
| Thousand | |||
| North Yorkshire | London | England | |
Defence
Adjutant Generals Corps
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria govern the selection of Adjutant General Administrative Instruction documents to be made available on the Ministry of Defence website. [236164]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Army General and Administrative Instructions (AGAIs) are internal documents and are not routinely published on the Ministry of Defence website. A decision on publishing a particular AGAI to the MOD website would be based on whether there is any information contained within it which is sensitive in nature, and its perceived usefulness to those outside the Army community.
Afghanistan: Military Aid
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many tonnes of charity clothing have been transported by the Royal Air Force using vacant cargo space on regular sorties to and from Afghanistan. [236996]
Mr. Kevan Jones: We have no record of authorising the transport of charity clothing to Afghanistan on RAF flights.
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of UK armed forces are deployed in (a) Kabul and (b) Helmand province. [235172]
Mr. Hutton: The authorised level for UK forces in Afghanistan is around 8,000, although the actual number of service personnel deployed in theatre can and does vary. Of these, some 500 are based in Kabul, some 2,100 are based at Kandahar airfield and some 5,400 are based in Helmand province.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost has been of the UK's involvement in Afghanistan in each of the last five financial years. [237187]
Mr. Hutton: MOD identifies the costs of Operations in terms of the net additional costs it has incurred, which excludes the costs that the Department would have incurred regardless of the operation taking place, such as wages and salaries. Reduced costs on activities that have not occurred because of the operation—training exercises for example —are also taken into account in arriving at the net figures.
The annual audited cost of operations in Afghanistan for the last five years are set out in the following table:
| £ million | ||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | Total | |
Armed Forces
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many goodwill parcels from the public intended for deployed troops were (a) received by his Department and (b) delivered to troops on service in each year since 2003; and how those not delivered were treated. [236992]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Statistics relating to parcels delivered by the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) to service personnel deployed overseas since 2003 do not differentiate between mail from families and friends and “unsolicited mail” from the general public. Provided it did not contain items that were prohibited, unsolicited mail was delivered to deployed personnel.
Armed Forces: Compensation
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the operation of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme in comparison with (a) compensation arrangements for police officers and (b) other public sector compensation schemes as part of the review of public service injury benefits; and if he will make a statement. [236993]
Mr. Kevan Jones: In conducting the recent review of armed forces compensation scheme tariff levels, we considered a number of other public sector compensation schemes including the police. Comparison is not straightforward as the underlying principles of the schemes are so dissimilar but the armed forces compensation scheme compared favourably with them. Reflecting the special circumstances of service in today's armed forces, the Service Personnel Command Paper announced the Government's intention to double the maximum lump sum award to £570,000. This is in addition to a guaranteed tax-free inflation proof income for life. Following a period of consultation, we are laying this week the necessary legislation to increase the lump sum awards.
Armed Forces: Death
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the decision was made that the Directorate of Army Personnel Strategy Science should attend the scene of all sudden deaths on the military estate; how many incident sites the Directorate has attended in each year since that decision; and in what form and to what body the Directorate reports its findings. [236169]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Directorate of Army Personnel Strategy (DAPS) Science occupational psychologists do not routinely attend the sites of sudden deaths and no decision has been made that they should do so.
DAPS Science does, however, send occupational psychologists to the sites of Army air accidents (with the exception of accidents occurring in conflict situations) in order to conduct a human factors investigation. This is in compliance with Joint Service Publication (JSP) 551 (Military Flight Safety Regulations) Volume 1 (Flight Safety). DAPS also has a responsibility to provide occupational psychology support to boards of inquiry into air accidents, again in compliance with JSP 551.
Armed Forces: Families
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the latest service families continuous attitude survey. [235425]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Copies of the most recent Service Families Continuous Attitude Surveys will be placed in the Library of the House shortly. I shall write to the hon. Member when this has been done.
Armed Forces: Officers
Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of levels of officer retention in the armed forces over the last 10 years. [236453]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Taking the armed forces as a whole, retention rates for officers are relatively stable and we have seen no sudden outflow of personnel in the last 10 years. There is real concern, however, that in some important areas exit rates are too high and appear to be increasing, if only slightly, year on year. These areas are continuously monitored closely and focused action taken to continue to improve recruitment and retention. The recent Command Paper set out over 40 measures aimed at addressing many of the disadvantages of service life while the Government’s response to the Report of Inquiry into National Recognition of our Armed Forces has now been presented to Parliament detailing how we have accepted the majority of recommendations. In addition, a wide range of measures are in place to improve retention including: career management, improvement to conditions of service and work/life balance, commitment bonuses and targeted financial retention initiatives.
Overall officer outflow and voluntary outflow rates from the armed forces are published by the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation and can be found at their website:
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