§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many staff are employed at defence medal offices, broken down by(a) sex and (b) those employed on a (i) permanent, (ii) fixed-term and (iii) casual basis; [172035]
(2) what assessment he has made of the number of experienced staff who are prepared to transfer from Droitwich Spa to RAF Innsworth after the closure of the Army Medal Office. [172038]
§ Mr. CaplinAs at 10 May 2004, the following staff were employed at the four Defence Medal Offices.
Sex Permanent Fixed term Casual Total Army Medal Office 29 female 52 2 1 55 26 male RAF Medal Office 6 female 12 0 3 15 9 male RM Medal Office 6 female 7 0 0 7 1 male RN Medal Office 11 female 11 0 1 12 1 male — — — 89 The Investment Appraisal assumed nine staff would transfer from Droitwich to Innsworth to build upon the existing cadre of experienced Innsworth based RAF Medal office staff. Until the current staff preference exercise is completed at the end of May, no further assessment can be made as to the number of experienced staff prepared to transfer from Droitwich to Innsworth.
555W
§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the timetable is for the closure of the Army Medal Office in Droitwich Spa; [172039]
(2) if he will make a statement on his plans to minimise disruption in the issuing of medals normally issued by the Army Medal Office in Droitwich Spa during the period of its closure and relocation to RAF Innsworth. [172040]
§ Mr. CaplinMy written statement on 20 April 2004,Official Report, column 12WS, made clear that this will be a phased operation. The phased closure is part of the risk reduction strategy to counter the temporary disruption in the issuing of medals that may occur during the actual move.
Project name ISD Ocean Survey Vessel (HMS SCOTT) June-1997 Skynet 4 Stage II May-1998 PtarmiganMapps (Deployable Trunk Communications System) December-2000 Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility (MSHATF) April-2001 Verticle Launched Anti-tank Munition (Shielder) May-2001 COBLU-RN Communications Electronic Surveillance Measures July-2001 Joint Command System (Logistics) August-2001 Tractor Wheeled Earthmoving Medium August-2001 C-17—Strategic Airlift September-2001 Joint Operations Command System September-2001 CHUB (Classified project) November-2001 High Frequency Broadcast Modernisation December-2001 SCAD 101 (submarine counter-measures acoustic devices) December-2001 SCAD 200 (submarine counter-measures acoustic devices) December-2001 ASRAAM (Advanced Short-Range Air to-Air Missile) January-2002 BOWMAN Personal Role Radio January-2002 Replacement Precision Approach Radar (RPAR) March-2002 RAF Command Control and Information System (RAF CCIS) March-2002 Sea King MK7 March-2002 Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT) May-2002 Lynx Mk 7/9 Aircrew Training Service May-2002 Radar Type 996 May-2002 Sea Dart IR Fuze July-2002 SA80 Modification August-2002 PSC 504—portable sitcom terminal September-2002 Tactical Communications Digitisation Programme November-2002 JTIDS (Joint Tactical Information Distribution System) into the SeaKing (w) Mk 7 December-2002 Area Weapons Effects Simulation (AWES) January-2003 Tornado GR4 Synthetic Training Service (TSTS) January-2003 Range Airborne Instrumented Debriefing System (RAIDS) January-2003 Auxiliary Oiler March-2003 Attack Helicopter Conversion Training (for aircrew, groundcrew and maintenance technicians) April-2003 RORO—Strategic Sealift April-2003 Secure Comms for the RAF April-2003 Man-Portable Chemical Agent Detector (MCAD) May-2003 Typhoon (agile combat aircraft) June-2003 Heavy Equipment Transporter July-2003 Landing Platform Dock (Replacement) July-2003 DLH Offboard Active Decoy September-2003 Survey Vessels (HMS ECHO) September-2003 AH Crew and Special-to-arm collective training November-2003 General Key Management November-2003 Integrated Biological Detection System (IBDS) November-2003 Directional Infra-Red Counter Measures (DIRCM) December-2003 Very Low Frequency Received Signal Service December-2003 Land System Reference Centre—Internet Protocol January-2004 All Terrain Vehicle (Platform)—Viking February-2004 BOWMAN—Tactical Communication system March-2004 Hunt Mid-Life Update—Sonar Type 2193 March-2004 Successor Identification Friend or Foe (SIFF) March-2004