HC Deb 16 January 1989 vol 145 cc27-8W
Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel, from which services and of what ranks, have been engaged in operations at Lockerbie, following the Pan Am aircraft crash.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

A total of 7,442 man-days of assistance were provided by the three Services during the operation at Lockerbie up to 12 January. The majority of this effort was directed towards the search for bodies and wreckage. A breakdown by Service is given below:

Service Man-days
Royal Navy 357
Army 2,836
Royal Air Force 4,249

This assistance included a considerable number of formed units; the precise number deployed for each rank is not held. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, up to a dozen RAF and RN helicopters carried out daily salvage and transport tasks. This commitment was subsequently reduced to two helicopters, which continued operations until 12 January. A number of photo-reconnaissance flights have been flown by the RAF to assist in the difficult task of locating the remaining salvage and the Royal Engineers assisted with the removal of the cockpit wreckage. The RAF repair and salvage squadron will continue to support the air accident investigation branch and 100 service men are still assisting with the search for wreckage.

Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional payments are to be made to service personnel engaged in operations at Lockerbie following the Pan Am aircraft crash, specifying the amounts of such additional payments and the ranks to which they are to be paid.

Mr. Neubert

Service personnel are liable for duty at all times and do not receive extra pay for working overtime or on public holidays. The Armed Forces Pay Review Body takes account of this in recommending levels of service pay, which incorparate a 10 per cent. enhancement (9 per cent. in the case of service women) known as the X-factor, in recognition of the disadvantages of service life, including liability for duty at all times without extra pay.

There is, however, provision for a small additional payment to be made where the work undertaken is of an objectionable nature. Those service men who were involved in the recovery of bodies at Lockerbie will be eligible for this payment which is set by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body at 90p a day. In addition, modest welfare payments have been authorised: service men may make free telephone calls up to £2 in value a week and units can claim the equivalent of 50p per man per week to provide recreational facilities.