§ 33. Mr. EdwardsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to deploy the Territorial Army to assist in combating the foot and mouth outbreak. [156960]
§ Mr. HoonIndividual members of the Territorial Army are already engaged in combating the foot and mouth outbreak in affected parts of the country. This is on a voluntary basis. Generally, their engagement is during their allocated Territorial Army time, that is the weekends and weekday evenings they would ordinarily spend on TA duty.
§ Sir John StanleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) prior to the present outbreak of foot and mouth, what contingency plan his Department had for providing military assistance to the civil power in combating foot and mouth; and when this plan was last updated; [158332]
(2) if, prior to the present outbreak of foot and mouth, his Department had received a request to prepare a contingency plan for providing military assistance to the civil power in combating foot and mouth based on achieving a maximum of 24 hours between detection and slaughter anywhere in the United Kingdom. [158307]
§ Mr. SpellarThere are well-established procedures in place to enable civil authorities to raise requests for military assistance in a wide variety of circumstance. Other Government Departments are aware of these arrangements, and they were implemented rapidly and effectively during the current outbreak of the disease. The procedures ensure that past experience and the current capabilities of the armed forces are drawn upon in order to make the most effective and appropriate contribution to crisis management and (in this case) combating the spread of the disease. In particular, the armed forces are skilled practitioners in a number of important roles such as logistic support and command and control. These skills are exercised on a regular basis and, in the event of a crisis, their high state of readiness can be drawn upon.