HC Deb 03 April 2000 vol 347 cc303-4W
Mr. Matthew Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings officials from the Gulf Veterans' Illnesses Unit held with the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs between 15 October and 31 December 1999, indicating the date and location

(a) Number of people who left in the month of:
August 1999 September 1999 October 1999 November 1999 December 1999 January 2000
Army 1,219 1,355 1,462 1,326 1,063 1,557
Royal Navy 288 425 476 412 370 396
Royal Air Force 387 437 433 352 332 392
Royal Marines 72 144 128 98 91 86
Territorial Army 698 919 863 957 544 1,214
Royal Naval Reserve 50 4 50 63 114 36
Royal Auxiliary Air Force 24 38 49 26 23 21

(b) Number of people who joined in the month of:
August 1999 September 1999 October 1999 November 1999 December 1999 January 2000
Army 1,216 1,908 1,390 1,583 639 2,280
Royal Navy 87 548 320 450 44 413
Royal Air Force 228 406 453 314 289 390
Royal Marines 62 151 106 111 59 101
Territorial Army 471 531 1,779 712 474 607
Royal Naval Reserve 23 33 63 69 94 31
Royal Auxiliary Air Force 13 40 28 37 16 25

of each meeting and the section of the Department of Veterans' Affairs in which the officials who attended each meeting worked. [117092]

Mr. Spellar

During the period 15 October to 31 December 1999, an official from my Department's Gulf Veterans' Illnesses Unit in London attended two meetings at which officials from the US Department of Veterans' Affairs, Veterans Health Administration Section, would have been present. One meeting was on 20 October and the other was on 21 October. Both meetings took place in Washington DC.

In addition to the above, a member of the Gulf Veterans' Illnesses Unit based in Washington DC maintains a continuous dialogue with United States Department of Veterans' Affairs colleagues.