§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the operational name, location and strength of all operations under way by UK armed forces overseas; and if he will make a statement. [9987]
§ Mr. IngramAs of 23 October 2001, the operational deployments of UK Service personnel are as shown in the table.
allocated with respect to this index and other measures of relative geographic deprivation; and if he will make a statement. [8940]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 25 October 2001]: The Ministry of Defence allocates defence expenditure in order to improve operational effectiveness and achieve value for money. Since 1999 the MOD has used the Index of Multiple Deprivation, along with other measures of social conditions, to inform decisions such as unit moves, site rationalisations and investment decisions on new facilities. The MOD does not, however, allocate expenditure with sole reference or respect to the Index of Multiple Deprivation or other measures of relative geographic deprivation.
Although the MOD does not solely allocate expenditure with respect to measures of geographic deprivation, a number of the activities we sponsor do assist areas of high deprivation. The 'Skill Force' programme, for example, is helping 47 schools in 11 areas, all of which are in areas that are among the most deprived in the UK. Skill Force is a MOD sponsored programme that uses retired military instructors to deliver a range of vocational skills training to young people.