§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to reply to letters sent to him on 28 August, 5 September and 19 September by Lindis Percy, of Bradford, a constituent of the hon. Member for Bradford, West, concerning military land byelaws and related matters.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State's office replied on the 21st October to the letter of 28 August from Ms Lindis Percy. As to her letters of 5 and 19 September, replies will be sent shortly.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people in each of the last 10 years to date have been(a) arrested, (b) charged, (c) convicted and (d) acquitted of offences relating to military land bylaws.
§ Mr. SoamesBefore 1988 information of this sort was not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. From 1988 the figures, which relate to the number of reported incidents in England and Wales, are as follows:
RAF Alconbury; when the review is due to be completed; when he expects to receive the conclusions of the review; and if he will make a statement.
497W
§ Mr. SoamesMy Department is currently reviewing all military land byelaws. This will include those at HMS Forest Moor, Menwith Hill and RAF Alconbury. Because this is an extensive and legally complex task, I am unable to say when the review will be completed.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total cost to his Department, in each year since 1984, to date, of legal costs relating to military land byelaws; and in how many court proceedings in each of these years relating to military land byelaws the Ministry has been legally represented.
§ Mr. SoamesIt is not possible separately to identify the legal costs relating to military land byelaws from other work carried out by my Department's legal adviser and his staff.
I will write to the hon. Member concerning the number of court proceedings relating to military land byelaws in which the Ministry has been legally represented.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military land byelaws he regards as being invalid; to which sites such byelaws relate; and what steps he has taken to take down byelaw notices displayed at these sites.
§ Mr. SoamesCourt judgments have indicated that there are defects in the military lands byelaws at HMS Forest Moor, Menwith Hill, RAF Alconbury and Greenham Common. Byelaw notices are no longer displayed at these establishments.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to reply to a letter dated 20 August from Lindis Percy of Bradford.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State's office replied to the letter of Ms Lindis Percy on 21 October.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current status of military land byelaws at RAF Molesworth, Lakenheath, Fylingdales, Brawdy, Burghfield and Aldermaston.
§ Mr. SoamesThe military byelaws at those sites remain extant.
£ £ Tornado GR1 (a) Germany 6,617 (b) United Kingdom 6,642 Harrier GR5 (b) Germany 3,720 (b) United Kingdom 3,715 These figures exclude apportionment of stationed fixed costs.