§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements have been made to enable servicemen and women from the Gulf to(a) telephone and (b) e-mail home; and what the costs are to the service personnel. [105643]
§ Mr. IngramPersonnel are allowed 20 minutes telephone time per week and open access to e-mail. Both are free of charge. These arrangements have been in place for some time for personnel deployed in support of Operations Resinate and Oracle. For those deployed in support of Operation Telic, we continue to build up all aspects of the Operational Welfare Package as quickly as possible. For the duration of the combat phase, operational security considerations will govern the availability of both telephones and e-mail facilities to troops in a combat role. Any troops unable to use their allowance for operational security reasons will be able to accumulate their allowance for use at a later stage in the operation.