§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what personnel in(a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF have been involved in deployments to the Falkland Islands in the last five years; how many of those deployments have been for six months; what the total cost has been to the MOD for the Falkland Islands garrison in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [46666]
(2) what (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) RAF personnel have been involved in deployments to (0 Gibraltar, (ii) Cyprus, (iii) Bosnia and (iv) Kosovo in the last five years; how many of those deployments have been for six months; what the cost has been to the MOD; and if he will make a statement. [46665]
§ Mr. IngramInformation regarding the number of deployments undertaken by UK regular forces is not available in the format requested.
As regards lengths of tours, tours in Bosnia, Kosovo and the Falkland Islands are considered as operational deployments. In the main, Royal Air Force operational deployments are four months in duration, whereas Army and Navy operational deployments are usually for six months. There are exceptions, however, such as those posts identified as continuity posts that require a deployment of 12 months duration. For service personnel posted to Cyprus and Gibraltar, which are garrison deployments, a tour length of 24 months is the norm.
709WThe costs for operational deployments are recorded differently from those for garrison deployments. For costing purposes, the Falkland Islands are treated as a garrison.
The additional expenditure incurred by the Ministry of Defence in Bosnia and Kosovo, beyond normal defence activity, over the last five years is shown in the following table.
£ million Financial year Bosnia Kosovo 1996–97 247 —— 1997–98 196 —— 1998–99 147 14 1999–2000 108 325 2000–01 120 220 The costs incurred by the Commanders British Forces Cyprus, Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands over the same period are as follows:
£ million Financial year Cyprus Gibraltar Falklands garrison 1996–97 170 63 81 1997–98 165 61 76 1998–99 170 52 72 1999–2000 159 54 71 2000–01 160 60 64