§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the current security classifications of the newsletters produced for the staff of(a) the Army Base Repair Organisation, (b) the Army Personnel Centre and (c) the RAF Training Group;, how often each is produced; and when each was first produced. [46815]
§ Mr. SpellarThis is a matter for the Chief Executives of the Agencies concerned. I have asked them to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Jim Drew to Mr. Matthew Taylor, dated 25 June 1998:
567WI am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about newsletters produced by three Defence Agencies. This mater, as far as the Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) is concerned, falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive.The ABRO Newsletter, "ABRO News", is unclassified. It was first produced in August 1994. Until 1997 it was produced every other month. In 1997 three issues were produced and there has been one issue thus far in 1998.Letter from Tony Stables to Mr. Matthew Taylor, dated 25 June 1998:
I am replying to your Question to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence about the production of newsletters, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Training Group Defence Agency.The RAF Training Group does not currently produce an Agency-wide newsletter, but a variety of such publications are issued by our individual units to their own staff, giving up to date information on all matters of interest. They are unclassified and published at varying intervals. The original dates of issue are as varied as the publications themselves; however, most of them have been launched, or relaunched in their present format, since the formation of the Agency in April 1994.Letter from Alex Stevenson to Mr. Matthew Taylor, dated 25 June 1998:
I am replying on behalf of the Chief Executive of the Army Personnel Centre (APC), in his absence on business, to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the security classification and production of an APC newsletter, as this matter falls within the responsibility of this Agency.The APC has produced two types of newsletter, both of which have been published without security classifications to ensure they received the widest possible circulation among the intended readership. Seven issues of an internal newsletter for staff of the APC and its predecessor organisations were published at irregular intervals between April 1996 and September 1997 to report major developments in the APC Implementation Programme. Production of a successor internal newsletter is currently being considered. An external newsletter for APC customers was first produced in December 1997 and has been published quarterly to all Field Army units worldwide. Two issues have been published to date and a third will be published in July.