HC Deb 13 March 1997 vol 292 cc335-6W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which organisation will undertake the training of the Military Provost Guard Service with respect to civilian powers of arrest; how such training will be funded; and what estimate he has made of the cost of the training. [19727]

Mr. Soames

The Royal Military Police training school, part of the adjutant general's corps training group, provides instruction to Military Provost Guard Service soldiers on a citizen's powers of arrest as part of the MPGS training course. The training is funded from the adjutant general's budget. The cost of training MPGS soldiers on a citizen's powers of arrest is estimated at some £1,000 for the pilot scheme.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the applications described as firm applications for military local service engagement(a) did not specify a preference for service in their local area and (b) specified a preference for a move from Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom mainland. [19729]

Mr. Soames

Thirty-seven applications have indicated "any site" as a preference, and 38 indicated a willingness to move to a site that was not nearest to their application address to obtain a vacancy. There have been no military provost guard service recruits from Northern Ireland.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the average cost to his Department of travel-to-work expenses incurred by a military local service engagement guard living(a) 21 miles and (b) 10 miles form his or her duty station in the last year for which figures are available. [19724]

Mr. Soames

As the Military Provost Guard Service will not form until April 1997, no historical figures are available.