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20 Apr 2009 : Column 62W—continued
Departmental Standards
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of measuring compliance with its targets under its public service agreements in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [266568]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Department does not distinguish between the costs of monitoring performance against targets under public service agreements and the costs of compliance. Compliance includes activities such as systems audit by Defence Internal Audit and supporting the work of the National Audit Office and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on media training for each Minister in his Department in each of the last three years; how many sessions have been provided; and which organisations provided such training. [268555]
Mr. Hutton: Training is provided to Ministers as necessary in order to carry out their duties effectively under the Ministerial Code.
Erasmus
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the UK is not participating in the Erasmus military officer training programme. [269192]
Mr. Hutton: The European Initiative on the Exchange of Young Officers Inspired by Erasmus, sometimes known as military Erasmus, is focussed on European exchanges at the initial officer level.
The UK’s initial training for officers is conducted at separate single service institutions. These three different courses all last approximately one academic year. The training has a strong focus on UK specific elements such as legal issues and specialist equipment training, with the aim to prepare officers for the next stage in their training on more specialist military courses. It would therefore not be practical to train officers at other nations’ institutions.
The importance of education in international issues is recognised and is included in initial training for junior officers, but is covered in more depth later as officers’ careers begin to include more staff appointments and as they begin to attend staff officer training such as the Intermediate Command and Staff Course, typically undertaken between the ages of 29 and 32. Similarly the higher proportion of, and the opportunity for, exchange training for UK officers comes later in officers’ careers.
While the UK acknowledges the Erasmus initiative as a method of improving the understanding and awareness of other nations’ services and cultures, we do not wish to participate in current circumstances for the practical reasons outlined above.
European Defence Agency
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what joint procurement projects his Department has participated in with the European Defence Agency since 2004; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such partnerships. [269815]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The UK participates in a wide range of activities across the agency. None of the activities we have taken part in has yet generated proposals for collaborative procurement.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding his Department has provided to the European Defence Agency in each year since 2004; what mechanisms are in place to (a) audit such expenditure and (b) monitor the distribution of such funds against objectives; and if he will make a statement. [269816]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The amount paid by the Ministry of Defence to the European Defence Agency (EDA) in each of the financial years since it was established in 2004 is provided in the following table.
| Financial year | £ million |
| (1) Estimated | |
Funds for the agency are allocated annually against a work programme, approved by Defence Ministers at the EDA Steering Board. The accounts of the EDA are audited annually by a College of Auditors whose members are currently drawn from three participating member states.
Ex-servicemen: Compensation
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints about the outcomes of claims for (a) war disablement pension and (b) compensation for injuries or illness incurred during service in the armed forces his Department has received in each year since 2000. [268672]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Complaints about the outcomes of claims under the War Pension Scheme (WPS) are known as appeals. It is not possible to provide information on appeals against outcomes of claims for war disablement pensions for 2000 as electronic records are only held back to 2001. For the period 2001-08, 21,895 appeals were registered under the WPS. A breakdown of appeals registered by calendar year is provided in the following table.
| Appeals( 1, 2) | |
| (1) Appeals include disablement pensioner entitlement appeals and assessment appeals. (2) Figures have been rounded to the nearest five, totals may not add due to rounding. | |
Complaints about the outcomes of claims under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) are known as reconsiderations and appeals. Between the start of
the scheme, 6 April 2005 and 31 December 2008, there have been 855 reconsiderations and 370 appeals made at the First Tier Tribunal under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). A breakdown of reconsiderations and appeals by calendar year is provided in the following table.
| Reconsiderations( 1, 2) | Appeals( 2) | |
| (1) Includes reconsiderations and reconsiderations carried out as part of the appeal process; if an appeal is requested before a reconsideration has taken place, then a reconsideration will automatically be registered on behalf of the claimant. (2) Figures have been rounded to the nearest five, totals may not add due to rounding. | ||
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of unsuccessful claimants for (a) war disablement pensions and (b) compensation for injuries or illness incurred during service in the armed forces made a subsequent claim in each of the last three years. [268673]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Between 2006-08 there were 2,210 unsuccessful war disablement pension claims under the War Pension Scheme (WPS). The percentage of unsuccessful claimants who have subsequently registered a new claim under the WPS by calendar year is provided in the table. It is not possible to identify whether claimants that have made a subsequent claim have claimed for the same condition.
Between 2006-08 there were 2,210 unsuccessful war disablement pension claims under the War Pension Scheme (WPS). The percentage of unsuccessful claimants who have subsequently registered a new claim under the WPS by calendar year is provided in the table. It is not possible to identify whether claimants that have made a subsequent claim have claimed for the same condition.
| Year( 1,)( )( 2) | Percentage |
| (1) Year in which unsuccessful war disablement claim was determined. Subsequent claims may have occurred in a following calendar year; data only available up to 31 December 2008. (2) Claims include current invaliding and first claims. | |
Between 2006-08 there were 2,935 unsuccessful claims for compensation under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). The percentage of unsuccessful claimants who have subsequently registered a new claim under the AFCS by calendar year is provided in the table.
| Year( 1,)( )( 2) | Percentage |
| (1) Year in which unsuccessful claim for compensation was determined. Subsequent claims may have occurred in a following calendar year; data only available up to 31 December 2008. (2) Claims include injury claims and additional claims. | |
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average length of time taken by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency and its predecessors to deal with cases relating to (a) war disablement pensions and (b) compensation for injuries or illness incurred during service in the armed forces was in each year since 2000. [268674]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The average length of time taken to deal with cases relating to war disablement pensions and compensation for injuries or illness incurred during service in the armed forces is provided in the table. The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme began in April 2005 and no performance measurement was made for the first year.
| Number of days for average clearance | ||
| War disablement pension | Armed Forces Compensation Scheme( 1) | |
| (1) Figures for 2008-09 are not yet available. (2) No AFCS performance measurement was made in the first year. | ||
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (a) referred to and (b) received from the Department for Work and Pensions in each year since 2007. [268675]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) via their Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) will offer advice to veterans on possible eligibility to a range of other benefits some from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). VWS monitor the outcome of their advice with DWP.
The number of cases referred to by the VWS to the DWP is provided in the table.
| Number of cases | |
| Note: Figures for March 2009 are not yet available. | |
However, SPVA have no formal process whereby they receive cases from the DWP, and therefore no data can be provided on this issue.
Ex-servicemen: Military Decorations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many errors in the delivery of medals to veterans his Department has recorded in each year since 2003. [269194]
Mr. Kevan Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Ex-servicemen: Tribunals
Mr. Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of his Department’s average expenditure on a tribunal case related to veterans in the last 12 months. [267835]
Mr. Kevan Jones: None. The information is not kept in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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