§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of death and serious injury to civilian and military personnel and members of the public have led to compensation payments by the(a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF in each of the last 10 years; what total settlements were made in compensation cases involving death and injury for each year in the same period; and if he will make a statement. [140752]
§ Mr. SpellarCommon law claims against the Ministry of Defence are handled centrally and compensation is paid from central funds. Our claims databases do not, at present, record information in such a way that it can be comprehensively broken down into the categories set out in the question. Additionally, our records do not go back as far as the ten years requested. The following table does, however, set out the total number of claims of all types received, the total number settled and the overall in-year claims expenditure since 1992–93. When reading these figures, it must be borne in mind that claims may not 645W always be settled in the year they are received. There is therefore no direct correlation between the numbers received and settled in any one year.
Year Received Settled Cost (£m) 1992–93 9,652 4,590 25.0 1993–94 9,983 4,709 35.3 1994–95 9,788 4,917 69.6 1995–96 7,927 4,825 52.2 1996–97 7,686 4,811 49.9 1997–98 7,678 5,242 69.2 1998–99 7,328 4,791 75.2 1999–2000 6,739 4,668 75.9
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Crown censures have been issued against the armed forces in each of the last 10 years as a consequence of death and injury cases involving civilian and military personnel and members of the public; and if he will make a statement. [140753]
§ Mr. SpellarOver the last 10 years a total of nine Crown censures have been issued against the armed forces as a consequence of death and injury cases involving civilian and military personnel and members of the public. The details by year, Service and category are as follows:
Year Service Injuries 1990 Navy Injury to MOD civilian 1992 Army Injury to member of the public 1993 Army Death of two children1 1993 Army One death and one injury1 1995 Navy Injury to two MOD civilians 1997 Army Death of child1 1999 Army Injury to MOD civilian 1999 Army Death of MOD civilian 2000 Army Death of Service cadet 1 Members of the public In addition, a Crown censure is currently pending against the Navy, concerning injury to a Serviceman.
The MOD takes its health and safety responsibilities seriously and has acted upon the lessons learned from the Crown censure hearings. In all cases, procedures and control measures have been modified with a view to preventing any reoccurrence of the incidents that led to censure.