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2 Mar 2010 : Column 1076W—continued
Probation: Wales
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the management structure will be of the All-Wales Probation Trust. [319839]
Maria Eagle: An interim management structure has been implemented in preparation for transition to trust status, which is as follows. This is based on the proposed structure put forward in the application for trust status. The final structure would be a matter for the trust's board and its chief executive when appointed.
Chief Executive
Director for Interventions and Business; Development Director for Resources; Director for Local Delivery
10 Local Delivery Unit Heads.
Women and Equality
Departmental Energy
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps the Government Equalities Office plans to take to participate in the Earth Hour event on 27 March 2010. [319104]
Michael Jabez Foster: GEO's offices are in a Communities and Local Government building and will be subject to any response CLG makes to Earth Hour.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many designs for its website the Government Equalities Office has commissioned since its inception. [318639]
Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office has commissioned two designs for its website since its inception in October 2007.
Departmental Sick Leave
David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many staff in the (a) Government Equalities Office and (b) Equality and Human Rights Commission have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last three years. [316451] [Official Report, 15 March 2010, Vol. 507, c. 19-20MC.]
Michael Jabez Foster: The Government Equalities Office does not hold information on sickness absence from before October 2007. Since October 2008, no staff in the Government Equalities Office have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days.
Four staff in the Equality and Human Rights Commission have had five or more periods of sickness absence of less than five days in two or more of the last three years.
Public Meetings
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many public meetings the Government Equalities Office has held in each year since its inception. [319348]
Michael Jabez Foster: No annual figures are kept but since its establishment in October 2007, the GEO has held the following public meetings:
consultations on the Equality Bill (8);
Women in Focus events, which promoted the use of the gender equality duty and aimed to improved outcomes for women offenders (10);
events that form part of the campaign to promote public appointments (29);
the Black And Minority Ethnic Women Councillor's Taskforce events (16); and
roundtable events to discuss the National Equality Framework (5).
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what reports have been received of the names of the 27 civilians killed by NATO action in Uruzgan province on 21 February 2010; [319237]
(2) what reports have been received of the names of the five civilians killed by NATO action in Kandahar on 15 February 2010; [319238]
(3) what reports have been received of the names of the 12 civilians killed by NATO action in Marjah on 14 February 2010 during Operation Moshtarak. [319239]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The International Security Assistance Force, of which the UK are an integral part, is deeply saddened by any incident involving civilian deaths. However, these incidents occurred outside of the UK area of operations and no UK forces were involved. In light of this, and the ongoing investigations into the incidents, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further.
Armed Forces
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which (a) hon. Members and (b) Members of the House of Lords responded in writing to the inquiry into national recognition of the armed forces undertaken by the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford. [318667]
Mr. Kevan Jones: All those who were officially consulted by the inquiry team into National Recognition of the Armed Forces are named in the final report, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Given that all other contributions were provided voluntarily by individuals on the understanding that they would be treated in confidence, it would be inappropriate for the Government to release their names.
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost in 2009-10 to his Department of the changes to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme announced on 10 February 2010. [318027]
Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 22 February 2010]: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) accounts for the liabilities arising from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme on an accruals basis, which means that the full life-time value of awards is set aside in the year in which the injury, illness or death occurred, even though payments may be made through the Guaranteed Income Payments over an individual's lifetime. Details of the existing liabilities can be found in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme resource accounts which are placed in the Library of the House.
The MOD has estimated that the additional liabilities arising from the changes proposed in the review would be between around £30 million and £40 million per annum. These liabilities would be met from within existing provision in the Defence budget.
The liabilities (or cost) in 2009-10 do not arise until the necessary legislative amendments to the scheme are
actually in place. The accounts in the financial year in which the legislation is made will reflect the change in liabilities arising from the review.
Armed Forces: Leave
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving members of the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force have taken (i) maternity and (ii) paternity leave in the last 12 months. [319724]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The number of armed forces personnel who have taken either maternity or paternity leave, during the period 25 February 2009 until 24 February 2010, broken down by service is detailed in the following table:
| Absence type | Army | RAF | Navy | Grand total |
| Note: When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Due to the rounding the sum of the component parts may not equal the total. | ||||
Armed Forces: Pensions
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) eligible and (b) likely to file cases for review under the revised arrangements for the Armed Forces Pension Compensation scheme. [319455]
Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 1 March 2010]: All those personnel in receipt of an award under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (some 5,500 as at September 2009) will have their cases reviewed to ensure their awards reflect the recommendations made by Lord Boyce's review, which the Government have agreed to implement in full. There will therefore be no need for individuals to file their cases for review as the MOD will automatically conduct case reviews and contact all previous claimants to inform them of the increased benefits they will receive. We are committed to implementing the legislative changes arising from the review of the scheme within a year. Individual awards will be re-examined once the new legislation is in place. All new claimants under the scheme will, of course, benefit from the improvements being made in the same way.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) complaints and (b) requests for clarification on the taxation of war pensions his Department has received from former service personnel in the last two years. [319944]
Mr. Kevan Jones: War disablement pensions are not taxable and recipients of war disablement pensions are not affected by the recent issuing, by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, of incorrect tax code notices to recipients of attributable pensions under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme.
Information on the number of complaints and requests for clarification made to the Ministry of Defence on the tax code issue is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Training
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many graduates there were from Royal Air Force college Cranwell in each of the last 10 years; and how many of them are still employed within the RAF. [319243]
Bill Rammell: In 2005, the Initial Officer Training (IOT) course was restructured and a new data system was introduced. Retrieving data from pre-2006 would require a manual search of paper records and so this information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The number of Officer graduates from the Royal Air Force College Cranwell, by year, were:
| Number | |
The figures for 2006 are incomplete as the data collection did not commence until July, with the first graduation of the restructured IOT course. The increased output between 2007 and 2008 is due to an increase in RAF recruitment to meet the increasing demand in manpower establishment.
The number of graduates still employed within the RAF is not held centrally and could only be provided by manual searches through the Joint Personnel Administration database at disproportionate cost.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many graduates there were from Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in each of the last 10 years; and how many of them are still employed within the Royal Marines. [319244]
Bill Rammell: The number of Royal Marines personnel to pass out of Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) in each of the last 10 years is as follows:
| Commando Training Centre Royal Marines | ||||||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| (1) The All Arms Commando Course (AACC) is conducted primarily to train personnel who will serve either with or support of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines and is undertaken by service personnel from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. (2) The Royal Marine Reserve, Reserve Forces Commando Course (RMR RFCC) is undertaken by Royal Marine Reserve candidates prior to full Commando Training. | ||||||||||
In order to provide the figures prior to 2001 for Royal Marine officers and before 2004 for AACC and RMR RFCC would require a manual search of records which could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information on how many of these graduates are still employed within the Royal Marines is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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