§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Prime Minister if she is satisfied with the co-ordination between the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health and Social Security with regard to estimating the number of Service men who have been disabled as a result of the Falklands conflict; and if she will seek to expedite the provision of details of the categories of injuries sustained.
§ The Prime MinisterIt is not possible at this stage to make a reliable estimate of the number of Service personnel who will be found to have been permanently disabled as a result of recent operations in the South618W Atlantic. Numbers will depend upon clinical developments in individual cases. No one has yet been discharged from the Services as a result of injuries sustained in the Falklands operations, and all those who received such injuries are still in receipt of full pay. Details of Service personnel who sustained serious injuries were given to the House by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Melton (Mr. Latham) on 8 July, and to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe on 28 July. The Ministry of Defence will complete the compilation of detailed statistics on the nature of injuries received as soon as possible. I am satisfied with these arrangements.