§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the length of the deployment of the Atlantic Patrol Task (North) to the West Indies was set at nine months. [38947]
§ Mr. IngramThe length of the deployment of the Atlantic Patrol Task (North) is not stipulated as nine months. The Atlantic Patrol Task came into effect on 1 November 1998 to allow greater flexibility on how peacetime deployments to the Caribbean, South Atlantic and West Africa were managed. Since November 1998, the annual average cover by the Atlantic Patrol Task (North) in the Caribbean region has been nine and a half months.