§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases and what categories of offence have been dealt with by the civilian court established in West Germany to deal with cases of the dependents of soldiers serving with the British Army of the Rhine, in each quarter since the establishment of the court.
§ Mr. WigginThe standing civilian court is not, of course, confined to West Germany, nor does it deal only with dependants of soldiers of the British Army of the Rhine.
The areas in which the Secretary of State has, under section 6(3) of the Armed Forces Act 1976, ordered that trials by standing civilian court may be directed (Standing Civilian Courts (Areas) Order 1977, SI 1977 No. 89) are:
Area 1 The Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands;Area 2 Berlin.The same court sits in both areas and in the following tables the overall figures shown include Berlin trials.The court's jurisdiction covers all persons to whom part II of the Army or Air Force Acts of 1955 are applied by section 209 of those Acts. This includes not only the dependants of soldiers (and airmen) in the designated areas, but all United Kingdom-based civilians working with the forces (civil servants, teachers, employees of such organisations as NAAFI, BFBS, SKC and welfare organisations, etc, etc.) and also their dependants.
The quarterly figures shown in the tables represent the number of cases received in the Judge Advocate General's London office during the quarter in question, which is the statistical basis on which records are kept. Statistics based on actual trial dates are not maintained, but trials would normally have taken place 6–8 weeks before the proceedings reach London.
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Table B Types of Offences Tried by Standing Civilian Courts (Overall Numbers of Charges in Each Quarter) Year Qtr. Burglary, House-breaking Cheque Offences Common Assault Damaging Property Disobedience Forging, Uttering Drugs Indecent Assault on Males 1977 4 — — — — — — — — 1978 1 1 — 2 — — — — 3 2 1 — — — 4 2 — — 3 2 — 1 — 4 — — — 4 5 — 2 5 2 — — — 1979 1 — — — 2 1 — — — 2 — — — — — 1 — — 3 1 — 4 2 — — 4 — 4 — 1 — — — 1 — — 1980 1 3 — 2 5 — 1 — — 2 — — 6 — 1 2 — — 3 11 — 4 2 1 1 — 1 57W
Table A Number of Persons Tried (Broken down into dependants of Army personnel, dependants of RAF personnel and others (including dependants of civilians)) Year 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1977 Army 1 RAF 4 Others 0 — 5 — 1978 Army 3 19 10 17 RAF 6 1 4 9 Others 0 0 3 1 — — — — 9 20 17 27 — — — — 1979 Army 19 10 24 9 RAF 14 4 3 3 Others 6 0 2 1 — — — — 39 14 29 13 — — — — 1980 Army 12 11 23 5 RAF 8 1 24 9 Others 1 2 6 1 — — — — 21 14 53 15 — — — — 1981 Army 29 12 11 10 RAF 7 0 10 1 Others 5 0 1 11 — — — — 41 12 22 22 — — — — 1982 Army 18 * * * RAF 2 * * * Others 1 * * * — 21 — * Figures not available.
Year Qtr. Burglary, House-breaking Cheque Offences Common Assault Damaging Property Disobedience Forging, Uttering Drugs Indecent Assault on Males 4 9 — 1 1 — — — — 1981 1 5 — 4 5 2 2 — 1 2 1 — 1 — — — 1 — 3 1 — 5 1 2 2 2 — 4 — — 2 1 7 1 2 — 1982* 1 3 1 — — 2 1 — — * Further figures not yet available.
Year Qtr. Indecent Assault on Females Theft Road Traffic Robbery Unlawful Wounding, AOABH Wounding with Intent Misc. Civil Misc. Military 1977 4 7 9 — — — — — — 1978 1 — 3 — — — — — — 2 2 10 4 — 1 — — — 3 1 13 1 — 3 — — — 4 — 20 3 — 1 — — — 1979 1 2 48 1 — 3 — — — 2 — 8 — — 2 — 3 1 3 1 20 1 — 3 — — 5 4 — 7 1 — 1 — — — 1980 1 — 6 1 — 1 — 1 — 2 — 5 4 — 3 — 5 — 3 — 43 3 — 8 1 3 1 4 — 27 1 — 1 1 2 — 1981 1 — 47 1 — 3 — 1 1 2 2 13 — — 1 — — — 3 1 18 2 3 1 — 7 — 4 2 24 3 — 1 — 1 — 1982* 1 — 13 1 — 1 — — — * Further figures not yet available.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will list in the Official Report the paramedical facilities provided for families of soldiers serving with the British Army of the Rhine; what the ratio is, per head, that each facility represents; and how this compares with such services in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. WigginA full range of primary and secondary medical care facilities is provided by the Army Medical Service for Service men and civilians serving with the British Army of the Rhine and for their families.
Primary health care if provided for families by 42 medical centres, 4 medical reception stations, 24 quarters clinics and 14 barrack clinics. Consultations with doctors, family planning and 'well-women' clinics, antenatal and `well-baby' clinics are available in these primary care centres. Full dental facilities are also available to families.
There are six doctors employed as school medical officers in British Army of the Rhine who work in conjunction with the primary health care service.
There are five military hospitals in Germany at which Service men's families are also treated. The hospitals provide a full range of specialities, and have fully-qualified staff in all relevant disciplines including those catering for the needs of women and children.
I regret it has not been possible in the time available to calculate what ratios per head these various facilities represent. Meaningful comparisons with the medical services in the United Kingdom would be difficult to make because of the differing circumstances in each country and the different kinds of population at risk.
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§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the infant mortality rate for wives of soldiers serving with the British Army of the Rhine for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. WigginThe number of deaths of children under one year born to wives of Service men and civilians whilst serving with the British Forces in Germany was:
Year Births Deaths Rate per thousand live births 1977 4,092 68 16.6 1978 3,974 69 17.4 1979 4,097 70 17.1 1980 4,389 69 15.7 1981 4,476 80 17.9