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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1531W—continued


26 Nov 2008 : Column 1532W

Visiting dental teams provide a service to more remote or smaller locations on a rotational basis.

All figures are taken from the Joint Personnel Administration system.

Army: North West

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many regiments were based in the North West in each of the last three years; and how many will be based in the North West in the next 12 months. [239451]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The following units have been based in the north-west over the last 22 months:

Serial Unit Location

1

2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (2 YORKS)

Preston—to move to Cyprus in December 2010

2

2nd Battalion The Rifles (2 RIFLES)

Preston (up to August 2007)

3

4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (4 LANCS)

Preston

4

103 (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Royal Artillery (Volunteers) (103 Regt RA(V))

St Helens

5

75 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) (75 Engr Regt (V))

Failsworth, Manchester

6

156 (North West) Transport Regiment The Royal Logistics Corps (156 Tpt Regt RLC (V))

Liverpool

7

33rd (Lancashire and Cheshire) Signal Regiment (Volunteers) (33SigRegt(V))

Liverpool

8

5 General Support Medical Regiment (5 GS Med Regt)

Preston—moving to Catterick in 2009

9

207 Field Hospital (Volunteer) (207FdHosp(V))

Manchester

10

208 Field Hospital (Volunteer) (208FdHosp(V))

Liverpool

11

1st Battalion The Royal Welsh (The Royal Welch Fusiliers) (1 R Welsh)

Chester

12

Liverpool University Officer Training Corps

Liverpool

13

Lancaster University Officer Training Corps

Lancaster

14

Manchester University Officer Training Corps

Manchester


The following units are due to move to the north-west in the next three years:

Serial Unit Location

15

2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (2 LANCS)

Preston (from December 2010)

16

253 General Support Medical Regiment (Volunteers) (253GSMedRegt(V))

Elements will be based in Preston from early 2009

17

254 General Support Medical Regiment (Volunteers) (254GSMedRegt(V))

Elements will be based in Preston from early 2009


Data on the units located in the North West before January 2007 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Recruitment

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many recruits joined the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy, (c) Royal Marines and (d) Royal Air Force in each of the last three years, broken down by region of recruitment. [239452]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Information on recruitment by region is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The total number of personnel that were recruited (intake from civilian life) to the UK regular(1) forces by service for each of the last three financial years is as follows:


26 Nov 2008 : Column 1533W

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08

Royal Navy

(2)2,690

(2)2,640

(2)2,750

Marines

(2)1,240

(2)1,130

(2)1110

Army

(2)12,730

(2)14,300

(2)14,540

Royal Air Force

(2)1,480

(2)1,720

(2)1,930

(1) UK regular forces includes nursing services but excludes full-time reserve service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel.
(2) Denotes provisional and subject to review due to ongoing data validation of the Joint Personnel Administration system (JPA).
Note:
Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

Recruitment (intake from civilian life) figures can be found in table 3 of Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 01: Strength, intake and Outflow of UK Regular Forces. TSP 01 is published monthly. The most recent publication shows figures at 1 September 2008 and can be found at

Army: Weapons

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when the L14A1 side attack mine came into army service; when it was removed from the inventory; and how and when the ordnance's disposal took place; [239848]

(2) what trigger mechanisms were employed for the L14A1 side attack mine while it was in Army service; and whether it was ever fitted with infrared sensors. [239849]

Mr. Quentin Davies: According to our records, the L14A1 side attack mine was not in service with British Armed Forces. Two variants of an off-route anti-tank mine, the L114A1 and the L131A1, are known to have entered military service prior to 1971, but no record can be found of the precise dates. Initiation was either by an operator using a trigger switch or by means of a break-wire stretched across the road. Neither munition was fitted with infrared sensors. They were withdrawn from service in 1994 and were disposed of by burning at the MOD range at Shoeburyness in the mid 1990s.

Christmas

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) lamb, (b) beef, (c) chicken, (d) pork, (e) turkey, (f) other meats, (g) vegetables and (h) fruits to be served by his Department at Christmas functions which will be sourced from British producers. [239723]

Mr. Quentin Davies: The information requested is not collected.

The Government will shortly be publishing a report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and National Offender Management Service (previously HM Prison Service) between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008.

This report will be available on the PSFPI website at:


26 Nov 2008 : Column 1534W

Departmental Absenteeism

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the rate of staff (a) absence and (b) sickness absence was in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997; what the target rates set for his Department are in each case; and if he will make a statement. [238926]

Mr. Kevan Jones: It is not possible to break down the rate of non-sickness absence as there are currently no reliable data available.

Sickness absence rates in MOD for the 12 months ending 31 December 2005, 31 December 2006, 31 December 2007 and 31 March 2008 are shown in the following table:

Sickness absence rates
Full-time equivalent
Year ending Industrial Non industrial Total

31 March 2008

11.54

8.01

8.66

31 December 2007

11.85

8.22

8.90

31 December 2006

12.11

8.04

8.82

31 December 2005

12.54

8.55

9.30

Notes:
1. Data exclude staff in trading funds, the royal fleet auxiliary, and locally engaged civilians for whom sickness absence data are not readily available.
2. Data presented reflect the current Cabinet Office definition, setting a maximum absence of 225 days per person, and exclude data for weekends, annual leave and bank holidays.
3. Rates are calculated by dividing the total working days lost for each period by a weighted 13 month average for the period listed with the first and last month receiving a weighting of 0.5, and all other months a weighting of 1.

Information prior to the 12 months ending 31 December 2005 is compiled on a previous definition for monitoring sickness absence which is incomparable with figures for 1 January to 31 December 2005 onwards.

Sickness absence rates—trading funds
FTE Rates
Year ending Industrial Non Industrial Total

31 March 2008

8.66

Notes:
1. Trading fund personnel cannot be broken down by industrial status.
2. Data presented reflect the current Cabinet Office definition, setting a maximum absence of 225 days per person, and exclude data for weekends, annual leave and bank holidays.
3. Rates are calculated by dividing the total working days lost for each period by a weighted 13 month average for the period listed with the first and last month receiving a weighting of 0.5, and all other months a weighting of 1.

Information prior to the 12 months ending 31 March 2008 is not considered robust enough to provide any meaningful sick absence rates due to data inconsistency within the HR systems used by trading funds to record absences.

Target rates of worker sickness absence for civil servants in the Ministry of Defence

Since the Cabinet Office publication of ‘Working well together in the Public Sector’ in June 1998 the Ministry of Defence have had sickness absence targets included in departmental plan with performance contained in the appropriate departmental report and accounts.


26 Nov 2008 : Column 1535W

Targets have been to reduce sickness absence by cumulatively by 2.5 per cent. each year, although the continual change in methodology means that the actual figures cannot be compared year on year. The target set for financial year 2008-09 is to reduce sickness absence to 8.0 average working days lost (AWDL) per full-time equivalent employee.

Departmental Buildings

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to his Department of provision of office facilities to (a) special advisers and (b) press officers (i) was in the last 12 months and (ii) has been since 1997-98. [232973]


26 Nov 2008 : Column 1536W

Mr. Kevan Jones: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.


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