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Angling: Sport England Funding

Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:

Baroness Blackstone: Figures for the sum of Exchequer funding invested in coarse and game fishing from Sport England are not available. Sport England

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have granted the following sums of Exchequer funding to the National Federation of Anglers and the Salmon and Trout Association for investment in various angling disciplines for each year since 1997:

Financial YearNational Federation of AnglersSalmon and Trout Association
1996–97£25,000£17,500
1997–98£25,000£17,500
1998–99£25,000£25,000
1999–2000£27,500£27,000
2000–01£45,625£25,000
2001–02£80,500£32,250
2002–03£29,250£29,250
Total£257,875£173,500

Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's Government:

    To what extent has the Sports Council assisted the Handicapped Anglers Trust and the English Disabled Fly Fishers from (a) its lottery monies and (b) its Exchequer Funding for each year since 1997.[HL5897]

Baroness Blackstone: Since 1997 neither the Handicapped Anglers Trust nor the English Disabled Fly Fishers have received either grants from the Lottery Sport Fund or Exchequer funding from Sport England. Exchequer funding is specifically directed to the governing bodies of sport rather than to individual organisations.

In 1996 the Handicapped Anglers Trust received a grant from the Lottery Sports Fund of £20,674 for the purchase of 'wheelyboats' for placement throughout England for the use of disabled anglers.

Army: Non-natural Deaths

Lord Ashley of Stoke asked Her Majesty's Government:

    How many alleged suicides there were in each regiment and barracks in the Army for the past two years, and[HL5831]

    Whether they will investigate if bullying was a factor in any alleged suicide in the Army, and[HL5832]

    What is the investigatory procedure that is carried out when a non-natural death occurs in the Army, and[HL5833]

    Whether they will ensure that those regiments and barracks with the highest number of suicides a year are visited by independent investigators, and that an annual report is made to Parliament on suicides in the Army, and[HL5834]

    Whether they will give a commitment that every non-natural death in the Army will immediately be fully investigated and, in all circumstances, the findings will be given to the family without delay, and[HL5835]

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    Whether they will appoint an ombudsman to whom all suicides and allegations of bullying in the army could be referred.[HL5836]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach): In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, cause of death can only be determined by Her Majesty's coroner and in Scotland by the Procurator Fiscal. Consequently, the Ministry of Defence's official suicide statistics only include those where a suicide verdict has been awarded by a coroner and do not include cases awaiting coroners' inquests or those where other verdicts have been awarded. There were nine suicides of Army personnel in 2000 and five in 2001. The regiments and locations, at time of death, of these personnel are shown in the table below.

YearRegiment Location
2000Intelligence CorpsWarrington
Cheshire RegimentNewport
Blues and RoyalsWindsor
Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersCyprus
Royal ArtilleryScunthorpe
Royal Logistics CorpsKrefeld, Germany
Royal Regiment of FusiliersColchester
Royal Regiment of FusiliersAshington
Staffordshire RegimentCyprus
2001Scots Dragoon GuardsCumbria
Devonshire and Dorset RegimentHounslow
Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of YorkshireStrensall
Duke of Wellington's RegimentOsnabruck, Germany
Royal Corps of SignalsHaverfordwest

Bullying and harassment of any kind will not be tolerated in the Army and any such allegations will be thoroughly investigated, irrespective as to whether such behaviour was allegedly linked to a non-natural death or not. If such allegations are proven, appropriate action will be taken against those involved.


All non-natural deaths in the Army are fully investigated. Primacy for such investigations lies with the local civilian police force, which would usually be supported by the appropriate service police authority or Ministry of Defence police and other agencies as required. Where a death occurs overseas, the military authorities act in accordance with local legal requirements. Families are kept informed of developments either through the civilian police or Army authorities. They are also entitled to receive, on request, a copy of the board of inquiry report into a death, which will be forwarded as soon as possible after completion, subject to any minimum security and disclosure requirements.

The Ministry of Defence currently has no plans to make an annual report to Parliament on suicides in the Army or to appoint an ombudsman to whom all allegations of suicide and bullying could be referred.

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Defence Stores Management

Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:

    What were the objectives and financial benefits of the cancelled Defence Stores Management Solution when the programme was approved.[HL5879]

Lord Bach: The objectives of the Defence Stores Management Solution were to manage the single service inventories as a single defence inventory, to build a single system to replace the existing Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force systems, and to provide a deployed inventory management capability. The £650 million project was suspended on grounds of affordability, against estimated net savings of £650 million over a 10 year period.

Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:

    How the Ministry of Defence will now meet the objectives of the cancelled Defence Stores Management Solution programme.[HL5880]

Lord Bach: Following the suspension of the Defence Stores Management Solution (DSMS) project, the department commissioned a review by McKinsey and Company to examine how it could secure maximum benefit from the Defence Logistics Organisation while safeguarding, or, where possible, enhancing service delivery to the front line. McKinsey identified process changes and short-term efficiencies that will not require the full functionality DSMS but will reduce the consumables and capital spares purchase across defence. Further requirements, including the continuing need for a deployed inventory management capability, will be addressed as part of a wider end-to-end review of the logistics process, involving the Defence Logistics Organisation, front-line commands and industry, which should be completed by mid-2003.

Accidents Involving Police Cars

Lord Campbell of Croy asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Further to the Written Answer by Lord Falconer of Thoroton on 11 July (WA 101), what action they are considering to help reduce the number of accidents involving police cars.[HL5840]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton): We welcome the recognition by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that they must work to reduce the number of accidents involving police vehicles.

Measures already in place include a new police driver training course, introduced in December 2000. An essential element of the course is that officers should recognise the need to give priority to public safety above all other considerations such as attending an incident or apprehending a suspect. Where pursuits are concerned, there is a nationally agreed ACPO pursuit code of practice and it is already police policy to consider continuously the consequences of a pursuit and whether to break it off. Operational measures to

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avoid pursuits or curtail them include the use of helicopters, the early deployment of tyre deflation devices across the carriageway, and tactical pursuit and containment in which a number of police vehicles box in the target vehicle and bring it safely to a halt.

ACPO are working closely with the Police Complaints Authority to identify why there appears to be an upward trend in police vehicle accidents and how this might be avoided. Useful information can be expected from the increasing use by forces of automatic data recorders (ADR) and vehicle accident data recorders (VADR). The ADR and VADR operate in a similar way to aircraft black boxes, providing data on such issues as speed, gear changes, braking, vehicle performance and the use of blue lights.

Forensic Pathology Services

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen asked Her Majesty's Government:

    Whether they have any plan for the provision of forensic pathology services in England and Wales.[HL6087]

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Forensic pathologists play a crucial role in the criminal justice system. Their principal function is the conduct of post-mortem examinations in cases of suspicious or sudden deaths to determine the cause and time of death. This information is critical to homicide investigations.

We have now seen the report of the independent review of the provision of forensic pathology services, which we commissioned last year.

The review recommended that the decline in numbers of forensic pathologists should be reversed through a sustained training programme; improved administrative arrangements should be put in place to monitor service levels and ensure that standards are maintained; and steps should be taken to ensure that there are improved facilities for the conduct of post-mortem examinations.

The Government is considering this report and will reach decisions after the review has been discussed by the Policy Advisory Board on forensic pathology.


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