§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether members of Her Majesty's forces who have been contracted out to Royal Ordnance plc in respect of Kuwaiti minefield clearance operations have volunteered for the job; what will be the terms of compensation available in the event of injury or death; and if he will list the occasions on which members of Her Majesty's forces have been contracted out to a commercial company in circumstances where their safety and lives may be at risk.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe men of 21 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron are under military tasking and as such they were not required to volunteer. The squadron's task includes explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) which has been restricted by the MOD to exclude mine clearance, except where it is necessary for the squadron to gain access to specific and agreed EOD task locations. In the event of injury or death, the service men concerned will receive benefits payable by the Department of Social Security and by the Ministry of Defence under the terms of the war pensions scheme and the armed forces pension scheme respectively. The nature of this 661W deployment reflects the unique circumstances that existed in Kuwait following its liberation and the successful immediate post-hostilities work carried out by the Royal Engineers. I am not aware of any precise comparisons but, for example, RAF personnel seconded to British Aerospace served in Saudi Arabia throughout the Gulf war.