§ Mr. Roebuckasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will make a financial evaluation of the assistance given by the Forces to civil authorities in the United Kingdom in 1967.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesIt is difficult to make a complete financial evaluation of the assistance given by the armed forces to civil authorities and to members of the civil population. No charge is normally made for assistance which is given in order to save human life. For example, the Royal Air Force search and rescue helicopters frequently assist in the rescue of civilians in distress at sea and no charges are made for this assistance. They rescued 177 civilians in the United Kingdom during 1967 but of course it is not possible to value this in money. The cost to Air Votes is, however, not very great since the helicopters have to be available for rescue of Service personnel when needed.
For other types of assistance charges are made, but in cases of emergency these are usually limited to actual out of pocket expenses. Charges may also be waived or reduced where the assistance given has a training value for the armed forces. It frequently happens that in a major emergency the Government decides to provide assistance and in these cases some of the armed forces' costs may be recovered from the Government Department which is generally responsible for sponsoring the assistance.
In the circumstances the only money figure readily available is the amount actually charged for assistance to civil authorities and in the calendar year 1967 this totalled £27,000. In addition £890,000 is being recovered from the Ministry of 154W Housing and Local Government for assistance given after the "Torrey Canyon" incident and about £50,000 from the Ministry of Agriculture for assistance in the foot-and-mouth epidemic.