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14 Dec 2009 : Column 818W—continued
Armed Forces: Deployment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what treaty obligations the UK has to provide military forces overseas. [304451]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
There are over 400 treaties concluded since 1945 of possible relevance to the hon. Member's question. Of these, there are four multilateral treaties which stand out in terms of their importance: the North Atlantic treaty 1949; the treaty on the European Union as amended by the Lisbon Treaty 2007; the treaty of economic, social and cultural collaboration and collective self-defence 1948 as amended by the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954 on the Western European Union; and the Charter of the United Nations 1945. Before the UK were to provide military forces overseas by virtue of relevant provisions in any of these treaties, it would be necessary for a separate decision to be taken by the Government to commit UK armed forces for deployment abroad.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of personnel in each (a) service and (b) corps of the Army are in breach of their harmony guidelines on (i) tour intervals and (ii) individual separated service. [305020]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Each service operates different harmony guidelines. Royal Navy personnel should not exceed 660 days deployed in 36 months, the Army 415 days in 30 months, and the RAF 280 days detached in 24 months. Against these criteria our most recent information is that <l per cent. of the Royal Navy, 10.3 per cent. of the Army and 5 per cent. of RAF personnel are operating above harmony guidelines.
The information on tour intervals and corps of the Army is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Health
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel in each armed service were classified as (a) unfit for duty, (b) fit for limited deployability for medical reasons and (c) overweight at the latest date for which information is available. [303124]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The MOD is currently in the process of modifying the criteria against which it collates management information on the medical fitness of Service personnel. Whereas previously we have measured the medical "fitness for task" of Service personnel, we are now moving to a process of measuring the numbers who are medically "fully deployable", "limited deployable" and "non-deployable". This should help us to focus our efforts on maximising the numbers available to deploy on operations.
The single Services and DASA have been working on the collection and validation of figures recorded against the new criteria, using data obtained from the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. The aim is to provide reliable, validated data by spring 2010.
A new Armed Forces Weight Management Policy came into force on 1 October 2009, which provides policy for the measurement of body composition and the management of Service personnel who demonstrate increased risk of ill health and inadequate physical fitness owing to their weight. The policy requires each Service to provide annual body composition measurement (BCM) for all personnel, in order to identify an individual's level of health risk and encourage maintenance of a healthy body weight.
Each of the single Services is implementing the policy. The Naval Service Fitness Information Software System (FISS) is currently undergoing user testing and will go live during January 2010, with the first full reporting period being completed 12 months later.
The Army FISS began on 1 April 2009, but roll-out is still in progress and data for a full annual reporting period are not yet available.
The RAF FISS began on 1 October 2007. However, the provision of the data by individuals is voluntary, and prior to the introduction of the revised policy on 1 October 2009 around half of RAF personnel had chosen not to do so. We are therefore unable to supply comprehensive data until a full annual reporting period completes in October 2010.
Armed Forces: Health Services
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of veterans resident in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland who have a health condition related to their service. [304779]
Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 7 December 2009]: The information is not held centrally or in the format requested.
It is only possible to identify veterans who have a health condition related to their service if they have made a claim and received an award under the relevant compensation scheme. The War Pensions Scheme (WPS) provides no-fault compensation for all ex-service personnel where illness, injury or death is caused by service before 6 April 2005. The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) which came into force on 6 April 2005, provides no-fault compensation for injury, illness or death caused by service on or after that date.
The following tables provide details of those veterans living in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who were receiving a pension, compensation or both between 2003 and 2009 for a health condition related to their service. The data provided here differ from earlier responses as the level of detail supplied is only available from 2003 onwards.
| Veterans receiving a war pension between 2003 and 2009 | ||||
| Country | All | Ongoing war pension as at 30 June 2009 | Gratuity award 1 January 2003 to 30 September 2009 | Nil award 1 January 2003 to 30 September 2009 |
| Veterans receiving compensation through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme between 2003 and 2009 | |
| Country | Awarded under AFCS |
| Veterans receiving both a war pension and compensation through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme between 2003 and 2009 | |
| Country | Awarded under both schemes |
| (1) Represents a value of fewer than five. Notes: 1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five 2. Due to rounding, totals may not equal the sum of their parts. 3. May include personnel who have returned to service. | |
The 'Great Britain' category refers to individuals that have been identified as residing within Great Britain, but due to invalid address data, cannot be allocated to a particular country.
Due to the time period given and the age profile of the recipients, it is possible that some may have died.
Armed Forces: Manpower
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) trained requirement, (b) trained strength and (c) fit for duty strength is of each service in the armed forces. [305017]
Bill Rammell: The latest trained requirement and strength of each service is provided in the following table.
| Trained requirement | Trained strength | Percentage requirement | |
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