Civil Contingencies Reaction Force (Hansard, 28 October 2004)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)
My Lords, the Civil Contingencies Reaction Force (CCRF) achieved full operating capability on 31 December 2003. That means that 14 CCRFs, each able to draw on a pool of around 500 volunteer reserve personnel, are available across the UK to provide assistance to the civil authorities should they need it. The deployment of individual reservists on operations overseas does not affect the overall ability of CCRFs to respond to a request for assistance.

§ Lord Garden
My Lords, I am delighted by the Answer that the Minister has given. As the one dedicated force that the Ministry of Defence is providing for civil contingencies, it is important that it is at full operating capability. Is there a full programme of no-notice exercises where the equipment, readiness and, perhaps most of all, training qualifications of those reservists can be checked on a regular basis?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, I do not always agree with the noble Lord on a number of defence issues. But I pay tribute to his expertise on the Armed Forces in relation to the civil authorities, which I know has been a great concern of his for many years, even when he was in the Ministry of Defence.
Yes, many CCRF training exercises take place. It is important to remember that the role of CCRFs is to enhance other military support that may be necessary. CCRFs are not front line in the sense that the bomb disposal squad might be front line in order to help the civil authorities. However, they are involved in a range of exercises with the civil authorities, which provide the essential training that I think he is talking about for members of the CCRFs and help to develop a common awareness and understanding of the capabilities of the force.

§ Lord Truscott
My Lords, can the Minister elaborate on the role and purpose of the CCRFs and whether, in his view, they have sufficient operating capability?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, that is a very good question. It is some time since we have discussed these matters. Perhaps I may remind the House that the CCRFs were formed as a result of the SDR New Chapter. As I said a moment ago, they are designed to enhance the Armed Forces' ability to support the civil police and other authorities in the regions by drawing on the undoubted skills of the Armed Forces reserves. There are 14 CCRFs available across the UK to assist during emergencies—whether the result of a terrorist attack, an accident or a natural emergency.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, does the Minister's Answer to my noble friend mean that as and when personnel from the CCRFs are deployed overseas, other recruits are taken on to make up the numbers to the original 500?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, I do not think that the noble Lord should be too stuck on the figure of 500. That is 1403 a round figure used for each region. We have had absolutely no difficulty in ensuring that there are sufficient volunteers for the CCRF in each of the regions at the present time.

§ Lord Boyce
My Lords, in that case, what is the minimum viable number for a CCRF unit, given that, first, our reservists are being used on operations away from the country and, secondly, the weariness that is now entering our reservists as they get called forward more often will make them disinclined to remain in the reserves?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, a figure around 500 is the appropriate figure. If there was ever a shortage in a particular region it would be quite possible for volunteers from another region to make up that number. I bear very much in mind what the noble and gallant Lord says about the role that reserves have played overseas. Currently, there are some 1,200 in Iraq. We know that there have been many more until now.
Once again, on behalf of the whole House, perhaps I may take this opportunity to praise and thank the reserves for the incredibly important work that they do.

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, has put his finger on a more important point than the number 500 suggests. I imagine that the volunteers in those units are recruited for specialist skills and that a considerable spectrum of specialist skills is required. The number of particular skills available in any particular unit may be relatively small. Can the Minister give any illustration?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, in fact, the volunteers are not appointed for specialist skills. As I tried to say earlier, the specialist skill would be provided by the Armed Forces called in to deal, for example, with a bomb disposal or activity of that kind. I remind the House that CCRFs are on 24-hours' notice, so they will not be called in immediately something happens but within 24 hours. The general duties that the CCRFs might undertake are reconnaissance, management of displaced persons, giving limited first aid, providing temporary accommodation management, manning water and feeding points and access control. Those are the sort of vital but general roles that are intended for CCRFs.

§ Lord Wallace of Saltaire
My Lords, we are all conscious of the role that the reserves are now playing in Iraq and of the role that many reservists played in Bosnia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia. Given the scale of use of the reserves in those operations in recent years and the double-hatting that the Minister has been talking about in terms of the number of potential roles that they have, do the Government intend revisiting the size of the reserves, which have been cut back on several occasions during the past 15 years? In view of the question asked by the 1404 noble and gallant Lord, Lord Boyce, do they also want to revisit the scale of incentives to become and remain part of the reserves?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, we are always looking at the number of reserves and at their terms and conditions. I remind the noble Lord of the figure I mentioned earlier—approximately 1,200 reserves are currently serving in Iraq, along with others stationed abroad. That can be compared with the current strength of the Territorial Army, which stands at 33,000 at the present time.

§ Lord Garden
My Lords, I was delighted with the Minister's original Answer, but I have become more confused as I listened to his successive responses. He has talked about "around" 500 in each unit. When I was in the Ministry of Defence I remember that we used to talk of "around" 50 frigates, meaning 37 at the time. The White Paper published in December 2003 was very specific on numbers. The real question is: do we have, in every region, 100 per cent of the people needed to do this job?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, I am interested to hear what happened when the noble Lord served in the Ministry of Defence. He will not be surprised to hear me say that that does not happen now, or at least not all the time. However, I can give him the assurance that he seeks.