HC Deb 10 April 2002 vol 383 cc24-6W
Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel from the(a)Royal Navy, (b)Royal Air Force and (c)Army are on deployment to (i) NATO Headquarters in Brussels, (ii) NATO Southern Command and (iii) other NATO command centres; and if he will make a statement. [46668]

Mr. Ingram

The information requested is set out in the table.

Command RN RAF Army Total
NATO HQ 16 20 23 59
SHAPE 50 136 161 347
ACE southern region 112 82 85 279
ACE northern region 58 312 323 693
SACLANT (USA) 36 12 3 51
EASTLANT (UK) 116 62 3 181
SOUTHLANT (Portugal) 31 11 0 42
Total 419 635 598 1,652

Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK service personnel from the(a)Army, (b)RAF and (c)Royal Navy have been deployed at SHAPE in the last five years; how many of these have been deployed for a year or less; how many have been deployed between one and two years; how many have been deployed for more than two years; what the total cost is of family support and other benefits to those personnel on deployment; and if he will make a statement. [46647]

Mr. Ingram

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, single service personnel administration systems are not programmed to hold manning figures for more than six months beyond an individual's tenure of a particular appointment; precise figures for the last five years are therefore not available. Data for UK personnel serving at SHAPE on 1 April 2002 are however given in the table, and broadly reflect the service ratio prior to NATO restructuring on I September 1999, when there were 360 UK military personnel at SHAPE.

Service Less than 1 year in post 1–2 years in post More than 2 years in post Total
Army 71 63 27 161
RAF 44 47 45 136
RN 26 18 6 50
Total 141 128 78 347

In financial year 2001–02, the total cost of support for the UK SHAPE contingent, which includes associated UK civilian elements, is £8.907 million. Within that figure the cost of delivering family support to UK service personnel and dependants is estimated at approximately £7.9 million per annum. This figure includes: salaries for support unit staff; utilities; rents; property management and accommodation stores; staff training; administration; stationery and welfare.

Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK military personnel have been deployed to the US over the last three years; how many have been deployed between six months and two years; how many have been deployed for more than two years; how many are accompanied by families; what the total cost in each year for deployment of service personnel in the United States has been; what the cost of families accompanying service personnel has been in each of the last five years while on deployment in the US; and if he will make a statement. [46675]

Mr. Ingram

464 military personnel have been posted to the US over the last three years. 357 of these have been accompanied by their families.

326 military personnel have been posted between six months and two years. 247 of these have been accompanied by their families.

231 military personnel have been posted for more than two years. 185 of these have been accompanied by their families.

The approximate in-country cost for service personnel and their families was:

Financial year £ million
2001–02 14.5
2000–01 12.0
1999–2000 10.5
1998–99 10.0
1997–98 11.5

A breakdown of these costs between service personnel and their dependants could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel from the(a)Army, (b)Royal Navy and (c)RAF have been deployed to work with the EU defence projects in each of the last two years, including the current year; and if he will make a statement. [46671]

Mr. Ingram

The only EU military bodies created under ESDP are the EU Military Committee and the EU Military Staff. The Military Staff comprise fewer than 140 people, of which the UK contributes 16 military personnel—eight Army; four Royal Navy; and four RAF. The UK representative on the EU Military Committee is also our military representative to NATO.

Other military and civilian personnel within the Ministry of Defence will deal with aspects of ESDP within the course of their normal duties.

Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel have been deployed to the US within the military diplomatic system in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [46669]

Mr. Ingram

During the last five years since March 1997 there have been

  • Three Heads of the British Defence Staff.
  • Three Naval Attaches and three Assistant Naval Attaches.
  • Three Military (Army) Attaches and three Assistant Military Attaches.
  • Two Air Attaches and two Assistant Air Attaches.
  • Three Heads of British Defence Intelligence Liaison Services.

There is overlap due to some of the Attaches commencing duty prior to March 1997.

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