HC Deb 07 December 1998 vol 322 cc59-60W
Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what extra money he will spend in each of the next three years on(a) additional military attaché posts, (b) enhanced arms control programmes, (c) enhanced outreach programmes and (d) military assistance programmes; [62078]

(2) by how much he will increase over the next three years (a) the Defence Military Assistance Fund and (b) resources dedicated to defence diplomacy; [62056]

(3) how many defence diplomacy scholarships he will introduce for overseas students; at what cost; and at which institutions; [62076]

(4) when he will launch the defence diplomacy post-doctoral research fellowship; how much it will cost; and which British university will be the joint sponsor; [62077]

(5) how many additional military special adviser posts (a) have been created since 1 May 1997 and (b) will be created in each of the next three years; and what is the location of these posts; [62073]

(6) how he will make greater use of short-term training teams; [62074]

(7) what additional courses he is planning for overseas military personnel. [62075]

Mr. George Robertson

As part of our Defence Diplomacy initiative, we intend to increase the Defence Military Assistance Fund by around £5 million in 1999–2000, and by up to £15 million per annum in the two subsequent years. Most of these additional resources will be used for Defence Diplomacy-related activities, including to fund attaché posts, and enhanced arms control, outreach and wider military assistance programmes.

In particular, the initiative has placed new emphasis on the provision of high-quality training and education in Britain for overseas students, for which we already have an excellent reputation. We are therefore launching a dedicated Defence Diplomacy Scholarship Scheme, with the aim of introducing selected overseas officers and officials to the principles of Defence Diplomacy. We are currently considering how best to organise this scheme, including funding arrangements and options for the location of the training. We will then be able to determine the exact number of scholarships we can offer and to whom. In parallel, we are sponsoring a Defence Diplomacy Research Fellowship to help develop a greater understanding of the requirements of the Defence Diplomacy Mission and to enable us better to judge the impact of the specific activities we undertake. I expect to be able to make formal announcements on the details of the Scholarship Scheme and the Research Fellowship in the near future.

Eight Adviser posts have been established with the Defence Ministries and Armed Forces of Central and Eastern European States since 1 May 1997: three are in Romania, two in Lithuania and one each with the NATO de-mining mission in Albania, the Baltic States Battalion and the Baltic States Squadron. Two advisers were sent to the Ukraine in the past 12 months, but these posts were of a specifically short duration and have ceased to exist. On current plans, a civilian planning and finance adviser will take up post with the Hungarian Ministry of Defence in January 1999 and an officer is to join the Staff of the Baltic Defence College. We are also actively pursuing a Slovenian request for an adviser to be attached for six months early next year. We have also offered to provide Advisers for most central and eastern European countries.

Short-Term Training Teams provide a cost-effective way of training overseas military personnel. The creation of the new Defence Diplomacy mission and the allocation of the additional resources to this area that I have announced will enable us to make increased use of such teams. In particular, we will look to use them to assist with the development of the skills and structures needed by modern democratically accountable armed forces, building upon the valuable work of this kind which such teams have carried out in the past in central and eastern Europe and elsewhere.

In addition, approximately 4,000 military personnel from over 100 countries receive training at UK defence establishments each year. We are also considering how to expand on this part of our Defence Diplomacy effort.