§ Mr. Greg KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many civilians in non-war situations have been rescued or aided by the British armed forces(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere in each of the last five years; and what the total cost to public funds was; [129609]
(2) what plans he has to recover all or any of the cost of civilian rescues by the armed forces in non-war situations from (a) those rescued and (b) other third parties. [129610]
§ Mr. IngramThe armed forces can rescue or aid civilians in a very wide range of circumstances, both at home and overseas.
With the exception of the RAF and Royal Navy's Search and Rescue (SAR) effort, information on the numbers of civilians rescued by the armed forces—for example during land-based peace keeping operations, or routine deployments by RN ships at sea—is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Although the military SAR teams' primary purpose is to recover aircrew from crashed military aircraft, over 90 per cent. of callouts each year are to civilian incidents. RAF and Royal Navy SAR units make an essential contribution to the search and rescue effort around the UK, forming part of the national UK SAR coverage throughout the year for air, land and maritime operations.
The following table gives the number of civilians assisted by Armed Forces Search and Rescue Units in the UK and abroad.
Civilians assisted by Armed Forces Search and Rescue Units 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Co-ordinated by UK RCC1 1,137 1,108 1,254 1,134 1,171 Co-ordinated by overseas RCCs1 Cyprus 21 15 11 3 0 Falklands 24 13 15 13 12 Co-ordinated by other overseas units 1 0 0 0 0 1 RCC—Rescue Co-ordination Centre MOD policy on charging is based on Chapter 23 of "Government Accounting" (GA). Goods and services provided to the department or other agency or authority 431W having policy and therefore financial responsibility should be charged for unless there are exceptional circumstances.
In 2001 MOD simplified its charging regime in the UK for MACC assistance, allowing emergency assistance to be given free where there is a danger to life (rather than only "immediate" danger which applied previously), and at full cost once the danger has passed. Emergency MACC is a rapid response by the Services to sudden disaster. Search and rescue tasks in support of the UK Ambulance Authorities for Medevac transfers, attract a charge at the "no-loss cost" rate, that is levied by the MOD to recover its out of pocket expenses. The basis for other charges for search and rescue tasks is currently under review.
It is not possible to provide detailed information on the costs charged for Military Aid to the Civil Community (MACC). Costs of individual operations are by and large reimbursed direct to the budgets which incurred the costs.