§ Harry CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the coalition's estimate is of the number of deaths of Iraqi military personnel as a consequence of the war. [123428]
§ Mr. IngramWe have no means of ascertaining the numbers of military or civilian lives lost during decisive military operations in Iraq, and have therefore made no such estimate.
§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money has been paid to UK forces personnel who have served on Operation Telic in respect of Local Overseas Allowance and Longer Separated Service Allowance payments. [123548]
§ Mr. IngramThe majority of personnel deployed on Operation Telic benefited from the Operational Welfare Package (OWP), as opposed to LOA, and were also paid either the Longer Service Separated Allowance (LSSA) or in the case of Royal Navy personnel the Longer Service at Sea Bonus (LSSB). The current tiered rates of LSSA, are Basic rate £5.39, Middle rate £8.43 and Higher rate £11.49 per qualified person per day, taxable. The current tiered rates of LSSB are £4.05, £7.74 and £10.32 per qualified person per day, taxable. LSSB has different qualifying criteria and hence the different tiered rates.
Full rates of LOA are not paid when personnel are in receipt of the OWP. However, those individuals deployed from permanent overseas bases which attract LOA (such as Germany) retained residual rates of LOA for their permanent duty station throughout the operational deployment. The specific rates of residual LOA paid to each entitled Serviceman or woman are based on his/her rank, marital status and permanent overseas duty station.
Accurate total cost data is not held centrally in a readily available format and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the contraction, spread and treatment of(a) severe diarrhoea and (b) cholera among the troops in Iraq. [123595]
§ Mr. CaplinThere have been no cases of cholera among United Kingdom personnel in Iraq. Diarrhoeal diseases have occurred at a level commensurate with a large-scale deployment to a country such as Iraq. Most incidents have been viral and caused by a number of factors such as flies, personnel living in close proximity to each other and lapses in individual personal hygiene. Systems are in place to ensure food safety and to promote personal hygiene.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action he is taking to ensure that evidence of human rights abuses in Iraq during Saddam's regime is(a) protected and (b) collected. [114319]
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§ Mr. IngramThe United Kingdom Government continue to believe that those who have been responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Iraq should be brought to justice.
UK forces have been tasked with securing and protecting evidence of legacy crimes as they encounter it; to hand over to the relevant prosecuting authority at the appropriate time. The forum for these prosecutions has yet to be determined.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the(a) provisional budget in September 2002, (b) the finalised budget and (c) final expenditure of the Defence Logistics Organisation for Operation Telic was; and if he will make a statement. [122043]
§ Mr. IngramThere was no budget set for the Defence Logistic Organisation for operations in Iraq.
It will be some time before we are able to assess fully the condition of all the equipment used and the consequent need for repair and overhaul, and so ascertain the full logistic expenditure.