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2 Mar 2009 : Column 1373W—continued
Territorial Army: Manpower
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current (a) trained requirement, (b) actual strength and (c) numbers fit for duty is for each infantry battalion of the Territorial Army. [258879]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: As at 1 January 2009, the trained requirement and actual strength of Territorial Army battalions was as follows:
Information on number of ‘fit for duty’ personnel is not recorded for the Territorial Army and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Trident Submarines
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to prevent collisions between Trident submarines and other submarines in the future. [259196]
Mr. Hutton: The MOD takes this incident very seriously and a thorough review is under way. We will act on any lessons that might be identified.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what collisions between Royal Navy submarines and other vessels have taken place since 1997. [259229]
Mr. Hutton: There have been no collisions between Royal Navy submarines and other vessels since 1997 other than the recent incident involving HMS Vanguard and the French submarine Le Triomphant.
War Pensions
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of cases considered by the war pension appeal tribunals resulted in (a) the rejection of an application by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency for an appeal and (b) a settlement in favour of the claimant for each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [258188]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The proportion of cases under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) considered by the Pension Appeal Tribunal/First-tier Tribunal (PAT/FTT) over the last five years which has resulted in a rejected application is 64.4 per cent. and (b) a settlement in favour of the claimant is 34.9 per cent. Table 1 gives a detailed breakdown of rejected and successful appeals by calendar year.
| Table 1: Percentages of rejected and successful appeals by calendar year( 1) | ||
| Percentage of: | ||
| rejected appeals | successful appeals | |
| (1) Percentages of appeals that resulted in a rejected or successful application do not add to 100 per cent. as each year there were a small number of cases where the assessment was reduced by the PAT/FTT. These cases are considered to have been overturned but are not rejected or successful. (2) January to September (3) 2004 to September 2008 | ||
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of decisions on claims made under the (a) war pension and (b) armed forces compensation scheme by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency were overturned (i) at a tribunal and (ii) by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency following a request from the claimant for a review of the decision in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [258189]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Over the past five years—1 January 2004 to 30 September 2008—there have been 86,220 claims with an outcome under the War Pension Scheme (WPS). During the same period there have been 3,925 decisions overturned at a Pension Appeal Tribunal/First-Tier Tribunal (PAT/FTT). However it is not possible to directly associate claims with subsequent appeals on the War Pension Computer System. Therefore, it is not possible to calculate (i) the proportion of decisions on claims made in any one year that are overturned at Tribunal.
Table 1 presents a breakdown of claims with an outcome between 1 January 2004 and 30 September 2008, by calendar year.
| Table 1: Number of claims with an outcome under the WPS between 1 January 2004 and 30 September 2008, by calendar year( 1) | |
| Outcomes | |
| (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Totals may not add due to rounding (2) January to September | |
Table 2 presents a breakdown of overturned appeals between 1 January 2004 and 30 September, by calendar year.
| Table 2: Numbe r of overturned appeals under the WPS between 1 January and 30 September 2008 , by calendar year( 1) | |
| Overturned a ppeals( 2) | |
| (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Totals may not add due to rounding. (2) This includes successful entitlement and allowance appeals, which can be made following first and second claims, and also assessment appeals, where the award can be increased or reduced. (3) January to September | |
Claimants under the WPS have no statutory right to request a review. Therefore it is not possible to provide information on (ii) the proportion of decisions on claims overturned by the Service Personnel and Veterans' Agency (SPVA) following a request for a review from the claimant. However, any decision may be reviewed at any time on any grounds. If a claimant is dissatisfied with their outcome, they may lodge an appeal either with or without having previously requested a review. Information on reviews is not held centrally.
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) was introduced on 6 April 2005 and unlike the WPS includes the right to ask for formal review (known as a reconsideration) of decisions. Between 1 November 2005 and 30 September 2008, there have been 6,000 claims with an outcome under the AFCS.
Any claims with a decision made between 6 April 2005 and 31 October 2005 were recorded on an interim system prior to the introduction of the Compensation and Pension System (CAPS). Data held on the interim system are not compatible with CAPS and therefore it is not possible to analyse this data.
35 decisions on claims under the AFCS have been overturned at Tribunal and 95 decisions on claims under the AFCS have been overturned following a request from the claimant for a reconsideration of the decision.
Table 3 presents a breakdown of claims with an outcome between 1 November 2005 and 30 September 2008, by calendar year.
Table 4 presents a breakdown of appeal and reconsideration decisions overturned at Tribunal between 1 November 2005 and 30 September 2008, by calendar year.
| Table 4: Number of overturned appeals and reconsiderations under the AFCS between 1 November 2005 and 30 September 2008, by calendar year( 1,)( )( 2) | ||
| Overturned appeals( 3) | Overturned reconsiderations | |
| (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest five for data protection purposes,'*' indicates fewer than five but greater than zero,'—' indicates zero. Totals may not add due to rounding. (2) Claims with an outcome during one calendar year may have had an overturned appeal/reconsideration in a later year. Therefore the number of overturned appeals/reconsiderations in a specific year cannot be directly compared with the outcomes in that year. (3) Of the 35 appeals overturned at Tribunal, fewer than five were subsequently overturned again by the Pension Appeal Commissioner/Upper Tribunal (PAC/UT). (4) November to December (5) January to September | ||
Warships
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many tours have been undertaken by each (a) Type-42 destroyer, (b) Type-22 frigate and (c) Type-23 frigate since 2005; where each tour was; what the length of each tour was; and what the length of time was between each tour. [258883]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Listed as follows are deployment details and length of time between each deployment of Type 42, Type 22 and Type 23 units from 2005 to those continuing into 2009.
| Unit | Deployment | Year | Duration in months | Time before next deployment in months |
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