HC Deb 04 November 2003 vol 412 cc621-2W
Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the United Kingdom's commitments to the newly formed NATO response force. [135389]

Mr. Hoon

The NATO Response Force (NRF) was inaugurated on 15 October 2003, some 12 months ahead of schedule, with a limited interim capability.

The NRF is not a standing force and responsibility for providing elements of the force will rotate between nations. The Force Generation and associated force balancing for the NRF is a continuing process which means that both force offers and the subsequent makeup of the force, including the scale of individual national contributions, will change.

As the detailed information on the NRF received from NATO is classified, I am withholding precise details of the United Kingdom and other nations' offers of forces in accordance with Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

However, I can say that the UK has made an initial contribution to NRF1 (October 2003 to January 2004) and NRF2 (January 2004 to July 2004) primarily consisting of maritime and air assets.