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2 Nov 2009 : Column 652W—continued
The Medals Office does not record whether an individual comes from a regular or TA unit when issuing military campaign medals. There is a medal which is specifically issued to TA personnel, the 'Volunteer Reserve Service Medal' which is the equivalent of the 'Long Service and Good Conduct Medal' issued to regular soldiers. However, the work required to cross-reference individual names against units would incur a disproportionate cost.
University Officer Training Corps
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on officer recruitment of changes to funding for the Officer Training Corps. [296267]
Bill Rammell: It is too soon to assess what effect, if any, changes to funding for the University Officer Training Corps may have on Army officer recruitment.
We hope that cadets will continue to make use of the outstanding leadership development opportunities which are available.
Warships
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) destroyers and (b) frigates are available to the fleet at (i) short and (ii) medium notice. [296632]
Bill Rammell: I refer the hon. Member to the letter sent to him on 6 March 2007. Information on the readiness levels of Royal Navy ships is being withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Elections
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many polling stations there will be in Afghanistan in the presidential run-off election on 7 November 2009; how many there were in the first round elections; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that voting is free and fair. [296787]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Around 6,300 polling centres opened on election day on 20 August 2009. Polling centres had on average four polling stations within them-for example a school used as a polling centre might have had four separate classrooms within it, with each classroom designated as a polling station.
The number of polling centres to be used in the second round is currently being reviewed by the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Afghan Ministries responsible for providing election security, taking into account the advice of the Election Complaints Commission (ECC). Any changes to the number of polling stations will take into account the need to provide suitable access to voters, ensure security and mitigate fraud, as well as IEC staffing levels.
We have given £16.5 million to the UN Development Programme, which is responsible for building the capacity of the IEC to enable it to conduct credible elections. We are continuing to work with the UN, the IEC and the Afghan National Security Forces to ensure the second round of the Afghan elections can take place in a credible and secure fashion where fraud is kept to a minimum. Throughout the election process, we have encouraged candidates to adhere to Afghanistan's Electoral Law and follow the process through, respecting the decisions of the IEC and ECC.
Following the first round of voting, the IEC and ECC successfully investigated and excluded thousands of fraudulent ballots. The final round of voting will again be held in challenging circumstances and will be rough and ready in places. Should fraud reoccur, despite international and Afghan efforts to mitigate this, these independent bodies will again work to ensure the result is a true reflection of the will of the Afghan people.
Australia: Foreign Relations
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next expects to meet his Australian counterpart to discuss UK-Australian relations and global issues. [296906]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is expecting to meet his Australian counterpart during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Trinidad and Tobago on 27-29 November 2009.
British Council: Finance
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the monetary cost to the British Council has been of teachers visiting overseas countries in each of the last three years; and how many teachers received funding from the British Council for visits (a) in Europe and (b) outside Europe in each year. [296997]
Chris Bryant: The information requested is not held centrally by the British Council and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2009, Official Report, columns 1516-7W, on the United Nations Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, by what means the fundamental principle on confidentiality of information will be implemented; and what criteria will be used to determine whether certain categories of nuclear material are subject to the provisions of the physical protection regime in the amendment to the Convention published as Cm 7685 in July 2009. [296889]
Mr. Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
The Fundamental Principle on Confidentiality is already implemented in the UK through the provisions on protecting sensitive nuclear information contained in the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003.
The criteria for determining whether information is releasable (and hence not requiring to be protected as sensitive nuclear information) are set out in the "Finding a Balance" document published on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website. The objective of this document is to prevent the disclosure of sensitive nuclear information that could assist a person or group planning theft, blackmail, sabotage and other malevolent or illegal acts.
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