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1 Sep 2009 : Column 1789W—continued

Departmental Training

Mr. Hands: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answers of 3 November 2008, Official Report, column 22W, and 29 October 2008, Official Report, column 1020W, on departmental training, what personal training courses at public expense other Ministers in (a) her Department and (b) the Leader of the House's Office have undertaken since 1 January 2008. [251320]

Tessa Jowell: Training is provided to Ministers as necessary in order to carry out their duties effectively under the "Ministerial Code".

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Ministers: Gifts and Endowments

Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what criteria are used to ascertain whether a Minister has received a gift or hospitality in a private capacity for the purposes of declarations under the Ministerial Code. [287250]

Tessa Jowell: Guidance on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality is set out in paragraphs 7.20-7.24 of the "Ministerial Code".

Public Appointments Unit

Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2009, Official Report, column 1464W, on public appointments, what financial saving was attributed to the closure of the Public Appointments Unit when it was counted as a Gershon efficiency saving; and what assessment has been made of the effect of the closure on the costs of other Government departments. [287282]

Tessa Jowell: The Cabinet Office Public Appointments Unit was disbanded in July 2007 in response to recommendations arising from the 2006 Capability Review of the Cabinet Office, rather than as a result of the Gershon Review, and its responsibilities transferred elsewhere within the Department.

Costs would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Defence

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many rounds have been fired by British forces in each Brigade rotation in Afghanistan since Herrick 6, broken down by type of ammunition used. [232644]

Mr. Hutton: Officials are collating and validating the data needed to answer this question and this is taking longer than anticipated. I will therefore write to the hon. Member when this work is complete and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the answer of 3 November 2008, Official Report, column 1518W, how many rounds of (a) 0.338 ammunition of all natures, (b) 12 bore shotgun ammunition, (c) 30 mm armoured fighting vehicle ammunition of all natures, (d) 30 mm attack helicopter ammunition of all natures and (e) 105 mm ammunition of all natures were used in Operation Herrick 7. [268012]

Mr. Hutton: Officials are collating and validating the data needed and this is taking longer than anticipated. I will write to the hon. Member when this work is complete and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

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Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many rounds of (a) 51 mm and (b) 81 mm mortar ammunition of all natures were used in Operation (i) Herrick 4, (ii) Herrick 5, (iii) Herrick 6 and (iv) Herrick 7. [268210]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 1 April 2009]: Officials are collating and validating the data needed and this is taking longer than anticipated. I will write to the hon. Member when this work is complete.

Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Adam Holloway:

I am writing to provide you with the information promised in mine and my predecessor's holding replies to your Parliamentary Questions regarding ammunition expenditure in Afghanistan on
1 Sep 2009 : Column 1792W
20 April 2009 (Official Report, column 46W); 31 March 2009 (Official Report, column 1034W) and 26 November 2008 (Official Report, column 1518W).

The Ministry of Defence has recently completed a review of the data on ammunition usage required to answer this question, and has revised the manner in which we classify and present data to ensure consistency. The table below shows all ammunition expenditure for UK forces in Afghanistan from the beginning of retained records (August 2006) to the end of Operation HERRICK 9 (October 2008-April 2009), in April of this year.

You will note that, unfortunately, this review has resulted in corrections to the ammunition figures previously issued for the HERRICK 6 (April 2007-October 2007) and HERRICK 7 (October 2007-April 2008) roulements. These figures have been found to be incorrect due inconsistency of tour dates taken, inconsistency of inclusion of training rounds and a failure to include all variations of ammunition in all cases.

Ammunition type	Herrick 4 (13 August 2006-October 20 06)( 1)	Herrick 5 ( October 2006-April 2007 )	Herrick 6 ( April 2007-October 2007 )	Herrick 7 ( October 2007-April 2008 )	Herrick 8 ( April 2008-Oct ober 2008 )	Herrick 9 ( October 2008-April 20 09 )
7.62 mm all variants	210,000	520,000	1,300,000	1,380,000	700,000	908,400
5.56 mm all variants	235,000	615,000	1,490,000	1,390,000	1,000,000	1,080,000
0.5 inch all variants	25,000	90,000	200,000	180,000	113,000	196,000
12.7 mm all variants	2,400	350	4,800	21,000	13,000	10,600
9 mm all variants	10,000	69,000	30,000	69,000	71,700	61,400
0.338 inch all variants	200	1,700	5,600	7,300	8,200	12,100
12 bore shotgun all variants	5	45	660	15,100	300	525
105 mm all variants	8,600	4,300	12,100	12,400	5,600	11,200
30 mm armd fighting veh rounds	1,200	5,000	3,600	2,800	745	4,500
30 mm Attack helicopter rounds	29,800	21,000	27,800	15,700	34,400	34,200
(1) Accounting records exist only from 13 August 2006-mid Herrick 4. Note s : 1. All tour dates are taken from the Transfer of Authority from one Brigade to the next. 2. All figures rounded to nearest 10,000, 1,000 or 100.

Ammunition expenditure is shown for the whole of Afghanistan, rather than just Helmand Province as the information is collated centrally for UK forces in Afghanistan. The data include all training rounds used and all variants of each ammunition type. They are collated by each HERRICK roulement, at the end of which the data are finalised for records.

All data shown above are data based on information derived from a number of sources and can only be an estimate, not least because of the difficulties in ensuring a consistent interpretation of the basis for collating statistics in a complex fast-moving multinational operational environment.

I hope that the above information addresses your concerns on this matter.

I will place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many rounds of ammunition have been discharged by British forces in Afghanistan in each rotation since 2006. [251707]

Mr. Hutton: Officials are collating and validating the data needed and this is taking longer than anticipated. I will write to the hon. Member when this work is complete and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many rounds of ammunition have been discharged in Helmand province by British forces in each roulement since June 2006, broken down by ammunition type. [257687]

Mr. Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 February 2009, Official Report, column 1993W.

Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Liam Fox:

I am writing to provide you with the information promised in my predecessor's holding reply to your Parliamentary Questions regarding ammunition expenditure in Afghanistan on 11 February 2009, (Official Report, column 1992W), and 26 February 2009, (Official Report, column 1050W).

The Ministry of Defence has recently completed a review of the data on ammunition usage required to answer this question, and has revised the manner in which we classify and present data to ensure consistency. The table below shows all ammunition expenditure for UK forces in Afghanistan from the beginning of retained records (August 2006) to the end of Operation HERRICK 9 (October 2008- April 2009), in April of this year.

You will note that, unfortunately, this review has resulted in corrections to the ammunition figures previously issued for the HERRICK 6 (April 2007 - October 2007) and HERRICK 7 (October 2007 - April 2008) roulements. These figures have been found to be incorrect due inconsistency of tour dates taken, inconsistency of inclusion of training rounds and a failure to include all variations of ammunition in all cases.

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1 Sep 2009 : Column 1794W

Ammunition type	HERRICK 4 (13 August 2006 - October 2006)( 1)	HERRICK 5 (October 2006 - April 2007)	HERRICK 6 (April 2007 -October 2007)	HERRICK 7 (October 2007 - April 2008)	HERRICK 8 (April 2008 - October 2008)	HERRICK 9 (October 2008 - April 2009)
7.62mm all variants	210,000	520,000	1,300,000	1,380,000	700,000	908,400
5.56mm all variants	235,000	615,000	1,490,000	1,390,000	1,000,000	1,080,000
0.5 inch all variants	25,000	90,000	200,000	180,000	113,000	196,000
12.7mm all variants	2,400	350	4,800	21,000	13,000	10,600
9mm all variants	10,000	69,000	30,000	69,000	71,700	61,400
0.338 inch all variants	200	1,700	5,600	7,300	8,200	12,100
12 bore shotgun all variants	5	45	660	15,100	300	525
105mm all variants	8,600	4,300	12,100	12,400	5,600	11,200
30mm armd fighting veh rounds	1,200	5,000	3,600	2,800	745	4,500
30mm Attack helicopter rounds	29,800	21,000	27,800	15,700	34,400	34,200
(1) Accounting records exist only from 13 August 2006 - mid HERRICK 4 Notes: All tour dates are taken from the Transfer of Authority from one Brigade to the next. All figures rounded to nearest 10,000, 1000 or 100.

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