§ Mr. Robert B. Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Defence, for each of the last five years, how many (a) redundancies and (b) compulsory redeployments have taken place in his Department affecting (i) engineers, (ii) administrators and (iii) other clerical grades.
§ Mr. PattieIt is not possible to provide this information precisely in the form requested. The details available are as follows:
§ Mr. StanleyDuring the last 12 months, 23 Hercules transport aircraft flying between the Falkland Islands and Ascension Island have had to turn back short of their destinations, ten because of technical difficulties with the aircraft, six because of in-flight refuelling difficulties, six because of weather conditions at Stanley and one because of a blocked runway at Stanley. This figure represents about 4 per cent. of the total number of Hercules transport flights to and from Port Stanley.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions Her Majesty's Government have had with British Airways and British Caledonian about the development of the new Falkland Islands airport to allow flights by wide-bodied aircraft.
§ Mr. StanleyThe Civil Aviation Authority, acting for the Ministry of Defence as well as covering civil needs, have been in regular discussions with both British Airways and British Caledonian since August 1982 about the runway requirements for operating wide-bodied aircraft in the Falkland Islands.