HC Deb 24 July 1989 vol 157 cc555-6W
Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many deaths have occurred to service personnel as a result of controlled explosions of ordnance in the last 10 years for which information is available.

Mr. Neubert

Apart from the three deaths in the tragic accident at Kineton on 17 July this year, which are to be the subject of a board of inquiry, over the past 10 years there have been no fatalities as a result of the controlled demolition of ordnance.

United Kingdom regular forces—rank breakdown by service and sex at 31 March 1989
Royal Navy Royal Marines Army Royal Air Force
Male Female Male Female Male Female
Total strength 53,500 3,450 7,689 149,062 6,505 85,144 6,299
Officers—total 9,080 386 690 16,270 1,040 14,352 1,022
Breakdown by rank—numbers
Field Marshall 1 — — — — 1 —
General 4 — — 8 — 6 —
Lieutenant General 13 — 1 10 — 9 —
Major General 40 — 3 65 — 52 —
Brigadier 28 1 2 239 3 107 2
Colonel 362 5 35 625 16 423 3
Lieutenant Colonel 1,198 14 103 1,838 28 1,361 15
Major 2,400 68 182 5,201 135 3,713 97
Captain 3,149 190 288 4,804 484 5,813 441
Lietenant/2nd Lt. 600 69 — 2,890 350 2,681 435
Officer designate 1,285 39 76 590 24 186 29
Breakdown by rank—percentage
Field Marshal — — — — — — —
General — — — — — — —
Lieutenant General 0.1 — 0.1 0.1 — 0.1 —
Major General 0.4 — 0.4 0.4 — 0.4 —
Brigadier 0.3 0.3 0.3 1.5 0.3 0.7 0.2
Colonel 4.0 1.3 5.1 3.8 1.5 2.9 0.3
Lieutenant Colonel 13.2 3.6 14.9 11.3 2.7 9.5 1.5
Major 26.4 17.6 26.4 32.0 13.0 25.9 9.5
Captain 34.7 49.2 41.7 29.5 46.5 40.5 43.2
Lieutenant/2nd Lt. 6.6 17.9 — 17.8 33.7 18.7 42.6
Officer designate 14.2 10.1 11.0 3.6 2.3 1.3 2.8

Mr. Menzies Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to be able to publish the results of the inquiry into the deaths of three Army personnel at Kineton on 18 July.

Mr. Neubert

A board of inquiry into the incident at Kineton on 17 July will be established, following the submission, as evidence, of the RMP report on the incident, and will be completed as quickly as possible. It is not our practice to publish board of inquiry reports but I will write to the hon. Member once the board's findings are known. Additional precautionary safety guidelines have been issued pending the outcome of the inquiry.