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6 Jan 2010 : Column 436W—continued

Armed Forces: Bomb Disposal

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many explosive ordnance disposal officers there are in the armed forces; [308626]

(2) how many armed forces personnel are trained to operate TALON bomb disposal robots. [308630]

Bill Rammell: Explosive ordnance disposal officers are highly skilled and specialised members of the armed forces and are employed operationally both in the United Kingdom and overseas. I am withholding the information on the numbers of personnel and those trained to
6 Jan 2010 : Column 437W
operate TALON bomb disposal robots as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Armed Forces: Catering

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many chefs in uniform there were in (a) the Royal Navy, (b) the Army and (c) the Royal Air Force in each year since 1997. [308761]

Bill Rammell: The following table shows numbers of regular serving chefs in the naval service, Army and Royal Air Force, each year, since 1997.

1 April each year Naval service Army Royal Air Force

1997

1,640

2,360

850

1998

1,550

2,420

770

1999

1,450

2,500

710

2000

1,350

2,380

670

2001

1,350

2,380

630

2002

1,180

2,250

600

2003

1,170

2,180

630

2004

1,170

2,240

680

2005

1,060

2,320

760

2006

1,120

2,400

730

2007

1,170

2,420

690

2008

1,120

2,380

680

2009

1,070

2,420

660

Notes:
1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
2. Numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Armed Forces: Food

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the average cost of providing a meal to a member of the armed forces when on duty in the latest period for which figures are available. [309011]

Mr. Kevan Jones: The current daily budget allowance for feeding armed forces personnel on operations, known as the Operational Daily Messing Rate (ODMR) is £3.45. To provision three meals a day, the cash value of the ODMR is allocated to meals on the following percentage basis:

Percentage

Breakfast

15

Main meal

50

Third meal

35


Armed Forces: Health Services

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many service personnel resident in (a) Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, (b) the Highlands and (c) Scotland his Department has purchased accelerated access to (i) NHS and (ii) private treatment in each of the last five years. [304646]


6 Jan 2010 : Column 438W

Mr. Kevan Jones: Accelerated access is a term used by the MOD in the context of physical illnesses and injuries. It is separate to the specific "fast track" arrangements for orthopaedic treatment and separate provision is also made for access to in-patient care for mental health conditions.

Secondary health care accelerated access for service personnel is commissioned through the NHS. In England, contracts have been established with six selected NHS Trusts (located in areas of significant military population) to purchase accelerated access for elective referrals in a faster time scale than NHS standard target times, when this is necessary to meet operational requirements. There are no such formal arrangements with private sector providers for physical conditions.

If these routes would not produce timely access to treatment, then the MOD would pay for accelerated access to care from facilities in Scotland on a case-by-case basis. Cases where this has been done are not recorded centrally, and details could be obtained only from an individual search of medical records, which could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The most common medical conditions in military patients are musculo-skeletal disorders. Since April 2004, for patients with these conditions, we have arranged rapid access to diagnosis and, for the minority who are then found to need it, surgery in NHS facilities, thus enabling the services to respond to the current high operational tempo and return personnel to full fitness for task when this is clinically deliverable. In Scotland, patients will usually be assessed first by the military Regional Rehabilitation Unit (RRU) in Edinburgh, from where they will be referred if necessary for "fast track" orthopaedic surgery. Numbers of referrals are readily available only from 1 October 2005. The following table shows the number of referrals for "fast track" orthopaedic surgery made by RRU Edinburgh, 1 October 2005 to 10 December 2009.

Date Referrals

1 October to 31 December 2005

30

1 January to 31 December 2006

90

1 January to 31 December 2007

62

1 January to 31 December 2008

69

1 January to 10 December 2009

88


Referrals between October 2005 and September 2008 would have been to the Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit, Northallerton. Referrals after September 2008 to date have been to the Nuffield Hospital in Glasgow.

Armed Forces: Housing

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate he has made of the number of accommodation units of each (a) type and (b) number of bedrooms his Department will require for service personnel based at HM Naval Base Clyde and their families in each of the next 10 years; [309326]

(2) what plans his Department has to build new accommodation units at each location of each (a) type and (b) number of bedrooms in the Argyll and Bute constituency in each of the next 10 years; [309327]

(3) what plans his Department has to (a) renovate and (b) dispose of accommodation units in Argyll and Bute constituency. [309328]


6 Jan 2010 : Column 439W

Mr. Kevan Jones: Following the announcement on 6 May 2009 of the Maritime Change Programme, an assessment study is under way to identify the future accommodation requirements of the Royal Navy. Until this work is completed, the future of all accommodation at HM Naval Base Clyde has yet to be decided, including decisions on renovation and disposal of living accommodation.

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many accommodation units at each location of each (a) type and (b) number of bedrooms his Department owns in Argyll and Bute constituency; and whether each unit is occupied. [309355]

Mr. Kevan Jones: There are currently 2,260 single living accommodation bedspaces at HMNB Clyde. However, records are not kept centrally to indicate whether a bedspace is occupied at any point in time.

There are a total of 515 service family accommodation properties at HMNB Clyde, broken down as follows:

Type Number of bedrooms Total Occupied Void

Officers

II (Rear Admiral, Commodore)

2 x double and 2/3 x single

5

5

0

III (Captain RN, Commander)

2 x double and 2 x single

38

21

17

IV (Lt. Commander)

2 x double and 2 x single

16

8

8

V (Lieutenant and below)

2 x double and 1 x single

30

19

11

Other ranks

D

3 x double and 1 x single

36

29

7

C

2 x double and 1 x single

244

162

82

B

2 x double

146

85

61


In addition, there are a further 80 temporarily unused maisonettes at Rhu.

As announced on 6 May 2009, Official Report, column 16WS, as part of the Maritime Change Programme it has been decided that HM Naval Base Clyde will become the main operating base for all classes of submarine, including the future classes such as the replacement for the Vanguard Class, as well as for eight Sandown Class Mine Countermeasure Vessels. The future use of accommodation at HM Naval Base Clyde is being considered as part of an assessment study to identify the best way to deliver the future accommodation requirements of the Royal Navy. Until this work is completed, no decisions have been made about the future of living accommodation at the naval base, including renovation and disposal options.

Armed Forces: Manpower

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2009, Official Report, columns 522-24, on armed forces: manpower, how many personnel in each infantry battalion were unfit for combat duty on the latest date for which figures are available. [309277]


6 Jan 2010 : Column 440W

Bill Rammell: The Ministry of Defence does not categorise service personnel according to their "fitness for combat duty". We can, however, provide information on the number of personnel who are, for whatever reason, currently either not considered deployable or only deployable in a limited range of roles. This information is reflected in the following table.

These figures include individuals who are non-deployable for both medical and non-medical reasons. Some of those classified as having limited deployability may be able to perform in combat roles, provided suitable medical support is available in theatre.

Non-medical reasons for non-deployability include soldiers under age 18 and compassionate or disciplinary cases.

The figures given include personnel filling all roles within each battalion, not just infantrymen.

As at 1 October 2009, the figures were:


6 Jan 2010 : Column 441W
Division Unit Number not fully deployable

Guards

1 Grenadier Guards

127

1 Coldstream Guards

130

1 Scots Guards

166

1 Irish Guards

137

1 Welsh Guards

172

Scots

1 Scots

137

2 Scots

118

3 Scots

135

4 Scots

117

5 Scots

82

Queens

1 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment

167

2 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment

106

1 Royal Regt Fusiliers

127

2 Royal Regt Fusiliers

147

1 Royal Anglian

110

2 Royal Anglian

134

Kings

1 Lancs

149

2 Lancs

78

1 Yorks including Gurkha Reinforcement Company 3

133

2 Yorks

145

3 Yorks

136

Prince of Wales

1 Mercian including Gurkha Reinforcement Company 2

91

2 Mercian

121

3 Mercian

142

1 Royal Welsh

95

2 Royal Welsh

179

Rifles

1 Rifles

148

2 Rifles

183

3 Rifles

130

4 Rifles

191

5 Rifles

165

Royal Irish

1 Royal Irish

113

Para

2 Para

131

3 Para

110

Royal Gurkha Rifles

1 Royal Gurkha Rifles

76

2 Royal Gurkha Rifles

89


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