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House adjourned at seventeen minutes past nine o'clock.
Written Statements
Wednesday 25 May 2005
25 May 2005 : Column WS11
Iraq: Roulement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
As part of the routine management of UK forces in the Multinational Division (South-East) (MND(SE)) in Iraq, we are conducting a roulement of forces. The lead UK formation, previously 4 Armoured Brigade, will now be provided by 12 Mechanised Brigade. The majority of forces involved in this roulement will complete their deployment by 30 May. The following units are involved
At the end of this process the number of troops in Iraq will be around 8,500—a little over 400 more than at present. The reason for this small increase is in order to allow greater effort to be put into the training, development and mentoring of the Iraqi Security Forces: this will enable them to take on ever greater responsibility for their own security and so pave the way for UK troops to withdraw.
We will continue to consider, with the Iraqi transitional Government and our partners in the multinational force, the levels and dispositions of forces required in Iraq. If we judge that further changes to the UK military contribution would be appropriate, we will of course inform the House at the earliest opportunity.
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RAF: Tornado Aircraft
Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
On 1 November 2004, I informed the House that there would be a series of announcements relating to the defence logistics transformation programme. On 25 November, I set out, in broad terms, the future arrangements for military aircraft support.
As a further development of these arrangements, I am today announcing our plans for the support of the RAF's fleet of Tornado aircraft. It is our intention to reduce the complexity of the Tornado support arrangements by placing, incrementally, where it offers best value for money for defence, contracts with BAe Systems and Rolls-Royce Defence Aerospace, leading to the eventual placement of a single support contract with each company to provide improved platform and engine availability.
This approach has the potential to improve significantly the availability and capability of our front-line aircraft. As the next stage in this process, we are now entering into a period of detailed discussions with the companies concerned to agree acceptable arrangements to deliver these benefits.
Formal and informal consultation with the trades unions will continue as the implementation of this strategy is taken forward.
Armed Forces: Medical and Dental Officers
Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (John Reid) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The supplement to the 2005 report of the Armed Forces' pay review body making recommendations on the pay of service medical and dental officers has been published today. Copies of the supplement are available in the Vote Office and the Library of the House.
The review body's final recommendations are to be accepted in full, with implementation effective from 1 April 2005.
The review body recommends an increase of 3.225 per cent for all regular and reserve defence medical services medical and dental officers. The review body also recommends a pay increase of 3.225 per cent for medical and dental cadets. In addition, the review body recommends that there should be an increase of 3.225 per cent in the values of trainer pay and distinction awards. The review body has also endorsed the introduction of the defence medical clinical excellence award scheme to mirror arrangements already in place in the NHS.
The cost of these recommendations to the defence budget will be some £4.6 million. This will be met within existing departmental expenditure limits.
25 May 2005 : Column WS13
Army: Future Infantry Structure
Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
On 16 December 2004 my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced arrangements for the future army structure (FAS). A significant part of this work regarded the future infantry structure (FIS).
As we work to implement FIS, it is appropriate that we examine whether the supporting infrastructure of regimental headquarters (RHQs) is correctly configured. We need to ensure that the design of the RHQs will support the future infantry. As before, they will give support to our soldiers while making the most effective use of taxpayers' money. RHQs will also continue to fulfil their remit of supporting former members of the Army.
The infantry RHQ review has therefore been commissioned to undertake this work. It will ultimately recommend the most effective and efficient method of delivering the functions of an RHQ in order to support the future infantry. This work is due to report by the end of the year and a final recommendation is not therefore expected until 2006. The review will not include RHQ Royal Irish.
The review will not look into museums. However, where museums are co-located with RHQs, the implications for the museums will have to be determined and weighed in consideration of options.
Defence Analytical Services Agency
Lord Drayson: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Key targets have been set for the chief executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) for the financial year 2005–06. The targets, which build on the already high standards of service provided by the agency since its formation in 1992, are as follows:
1. Meet at least 95 per cent of the timeliness and quality targets in the 53 service level agreements with customers and project agreements for surveys, modelling and other one-off projects.
2. Publish the five key national statistics on time, with no major errors and with no breaches of the pre-release arrangements, and meet 95 per cent of the timeliness and quality targets for other Defence National Statistics publications.
3. Deliver five key new products/services.
4. At least 90 per cent of customers report satisfaction with the overall service they receive from DASA, as reported in the annual customer satisfaction survey.
5. Make sufficient efficiency gains to provide the necessary resources to enable DASA to deliver key target 3.
25 May 2005 : Column WS14
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