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30 Mar 2009 : Column 873W—continued
Defence Training Review
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent estimate is of the cost of the Defence Training Review contract. [267197]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The current estimate of the cost of the Defence Training Review Package 1 Project is £12 billion. This represents the cost for the provision of the construction of new facilities at St. Athan and the whole operating costs for the entire 30 year life of the project. These operating costs include staff, catering and maintenance costs, the majority of which we already carry today.
Afghanistan and Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy personnel were engaged on land in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq on the latest date for which figures are available. [267791]
Mr. Hutton: The endorsed size of the force committed to Operation HERRICK 9 is just over 8,000. As announced by the Prime Minister on 15 December 2008, Official Report, column 816, the number of British troops deployed to Afghanistan has temporarily been increased to around 8,300, of which more than 2,000 are currently drawn from the Royal Navy including the Royal Marines. This figure will decrease over the coming weeks, as 19 Light Brigade replace 3 Commando Brigade as the core of the Helmand taskforce.
There are currently some 4,100 members of the UK armed forces deployed on land in southern Iraq under Operation TELIC 13, just under 200 of which are members of the Royal Navy.
The precise number of personnel in each theatre at any one time fluctuates very significantly and on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including mid-tour rest and recuperation, temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement of forces and visits. We do not therefore publish actual figures for personnel deployed in theatre.
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average number of UK (a) service personnel and (b) civilian staff stationed in Afghanistan was in each financial year from 2001-02 to 2007-08. [258867]
Mr. Hutton: Information on the average number of service and Ministry of Defence civilian personnel stationed in Afghanistan in each financial year from 2001-02 to 2007-08 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The number of personnel in theatre at any one time fluctuates significantly on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including mid-tour rest and recuperation, temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement of forces and visits.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops have served in Afghanistan since 2001. [259499]
Mr. Hutton: Due to continuing validation of data from Legacy Service Personnel Administrative systems and the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) 'Move & Track' system, data on the total numbers of deployed personnel to Afghanistan since 2001 are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
As at 1 February 2009 there were 31,500 serving members of the UK armed forces who have been deployed to Afghanistan since 2003. This figure does not include personnel deployed to Afghanistan between the periods 1 January 2003 and 14 October 2005 or those who had left the armed forces by 31 January 2009.
Dr. Fox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) precision-guided munitions and (b)
gravity bombs of each type have been dropped in Afghanistan by British (i) fixed-wing aircraft and (ii) unmanned aerial vehicles in each year since 2005. [266938]
Mr. Hutton: The number of precision-guided munitions and free fall weapons dropped in Afghanistan since 2005 are provided in the tables.
| Fixed wing | ||||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009( 1) | ||
| (1) Up to 24March 2009 | ||||||
| UAV | |||
| 2008 | 2009( 1) | ||
| (1) Up to 24 March 2009 | |||
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Gibraltarian troops are serving in Afghanistan. [267099]
Mr. Hutton: At present there are no members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment serving in Afghanistan.
Air Force: Deployment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) average and (b) highest number of days detached duty was for each Royal Air Force trade in the last 12 months. [266943]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Detached duty is absence from the normal place of work whether operational or training. The average and highest number of days detached duty for each Royal Air Force trade in the last 12 months is provided in the following table.
| Branch/trade | Average number of days on detached duty | Highest number of days detached |
Any trade with less than 10 days have been excluded from the table so that the average figure is based on a reasonable representative sample.
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