§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the costs of basic training of the crews of armoured vehicles are; what the costs were in each of the last three years; how many people Were trained in each of the last three years; how many staff were employed to do this training; and if he will make a statement. [155805]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 27 March 2001]: Basic and advanced training of armoured fighting vehicle crewmen is undertaken at Armour Centre, Bovington by 620W a combination of military, Ministry of Defence civilian and contractor's staff. Neither numbers of staff nor costs can be broken down between these categories; the following information is therefore provided.
1998–99 1999–2000 2000–011 Personnel trained Basic trainees (Phase 2) 709 847 823 Advanced trainees (Phase 3) 1,671 1,897 1,842 Staff employed Military staff 279 270 310 MOD civilian staff 139 139 137 Contractor's staff circa 300 circa 300 circa 300 Total running costs (£ million) 25.047 25.219 27.451 1Projected for financial year 2000–01