§ 20. Mr. Ivan HendersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of logistic support to sustain British forces in the Gulf region. [112234]
§ Mr. IngramThe logistic support to our forces in the Gulf has been a remarkable achievement. An assessment of the effectiveness of support to Operation TELIC will be made as part of the normal process of identifying lessons from our deployments. We do, of course, keep the sustainment of on-going operations under constant review and I am confident that this will ensure that forces still in the Gulf will continue to receive an appropriate level of support.
§ 22. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to investigate complaints about the quality of clothing and other equipment supplied to members of HM armed forces serving in the Gulf. [112236]
§ Mr. IngramAs recent operations in Iraq have demonstrated our armed forces are among the best equipped in the world. I can tell the House the reports from theatre indicate that equipment performance overall has been generally impressive. However, we do take any reported defects very seriously. An assessment of the performance of equipment deployed on 33W operations in the Gulf, including clothing and personal equipment, will be undertaken as part of the usual process of identifying lessons from our deployments.
§ 24. Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he is taking in support of widows and partners of Service personnel who died in the Gulf conflict. [112238]
§ Dr. MoonieI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Members for Newark (Patrick Mercer) and for Bexhill and Battle (Gregory Barker).