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Duchess of Kent Hospital, Catterick: Staff Redeployment
Lord Vivian asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What will be the future of the staff when the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Catterick is closed.[HL355]
Lord Bach: All service personnel will be redeployed to other posts. Every measure is being taken to ensure that the number of compulsory redundancies of civilian staff is kept to a minimum. Those staff affected by redundancies will be aided in their search for employment by the Ministry of Defence outplacement scheme.
Defence Medical Services: Golden Hello Scheme
Lord Vivian asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What has been the effect of the £50,000 "golden hello" on the recruitment of consultants into the Defence Medical Services.[HL354]
Lord Bach: The Golden Hello scheme is proving to be a very effective means of increasing the recruitment of both consultants in the specialist medical categories which attract a Golden Hello payment and vocationally trained general medical practitioners (GMPs) into the Defence Medical Services.
As of 30 November 2003, 12 months into the scheme, five consultants and six vocationally trained general medical practitioners (GMPs) had joined the Defence Medical Services (DMS) under the Golden Hello scheme. In addition, three consultants and nine vocationally trained GMPs have been accepted into the DMS and will receive their Golden Hello payment once they are commissioned in to their service. One consutant and seven GMPs are awaiting selection interviews. By comparison, in the 12 months prior to the introduction of the Golden Hellos in November 2002, the DMS recruited two consultants into the specialties that attract the additional payment, and four GMPs.
War Widows: Pensions
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the total cost, at current prices, of pensions paid to war widows in each of the past seven years.[HL311]
Lord Bach: Information relating to the total cost, at current prices, of pensions paid to war widows is available only for the past five financial years. The table shows the estimated annual costs of payments under the war pensions scheme:
| Year | Cost (in £ thousands) |
| 1998–99 | 525,343 |
| 1999–2000 | 509,441 |
| 2000–01 | 488,153 |
| 2001–02 | 466,582 |
| 2002–03 | 448,201 |
Gulf War 1990–91: Vaccines
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will now publish in the Official Report the terms in which the then Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Metters, advised the Ministry of Defence of his concerns, and those of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, about combining the anthrax and pertussis vaccines in immunising troops deploying to the 1990–91 Gulf conflict.[HL40]
Lord Bach: I refer my noble friend to my Written Answer on 9 October (Official Report, cols. WA 67–WA 78), specifically, paragraphs 5 to 8 of Annex A reproduced therein. Dr Metter's fax to the MoD said:
- "We have previously discussed the anxieties my experts have about the simultaneous administration of anthrax and pertussis vaccine.
- There are no such studies in humans that I am aware of, but you may wish to see the enclosed fax which I have just received from [name omitted] of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control which reports on animal studies they have carried out.
- I think you [sic] Medical department needs to be aware of these preliminary results".
The "enclosed fax", a letter from the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control to Dr Metters, said:
- "As you will know, we have recently carried out abnormal toxicity testing in laboratory animals on certain batches of B. anthracis and pertussis vaccine. When each of the two vaccines were tested alone they were not associated with an unusual degree of toxicity at single human dose level. However, when combined there was evidence of severe loss of condition and weight loss in animals.
- I would emphasise that these findings are preliminary but they do suggest that if used in man as a combined preparation, an enhanced degree of reactagenicity could occur. The users of these vaccines may wish to take these findings in [sic] consideration."
The texts above were published by the MoD in the paper: Background to the Use of Medical Countermeasures to Protect British forces during the Gulf War dated October 1997, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. This paper is also available on the Internet at: http://www.mod.uk/issues/gulfwar/info/medical/mcm.htm and in hard copy as set out in my Answer of 20 November 2003 (Official Report, col. WA 341).
Armed Forces: Recruitment and Retention
Lord Vivian asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What improvements have been brought about in retention and recruitment in Her Majesty's Armed Forces as a result of the "Learning Forces" initiative and the educational opportunities available to those serving.[HL353]
Lord Bach: Armed Forces recruitment and retention is one of the Government's highest priorities and our aim is to maintain excellent levels of retention through policies that genuinely reflect the priorities of our people and their families. The "Learning Forces" initiative is one of a number of initiatives introduced in recent years to improve both the recruitment and retention of Service personnel. "Learning Forces" is an expansion of educational and vocational training opportunities for Service personnel, including accreditation of Service training and civilian qualifications and learning credits. Taken together these have been effective although it is not possible to isolate the contribution made by any one individual measure.
We believe that the initiative has contributed to a steady year-on-year progression in recruitment. In 2000–01 the Armed Forces achieved 90 per cent of the recruiting target and in 2001–02 the figure was 95 per cent. Furthermore, financial year 2002–03 was an excellent recruiting year. The number of new recruits was 26,220, and comfortably exceeded the target.
Afghanistan: Peace-keeping Troops
The Earl of Sandwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What steps they are taking to encourage more European Union members of NATO to contribute peace-keeping troops to the International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan; and with what results.[HL394]
Lord Bach: Support to continuing stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan was discussed at the recent NATO defence ministerial meeting. All allies were urged to review their contributions to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with a view to fill some identified shortfalls in capabilities. The force generation process for ISAF is conducted by NATO as a whole under the authority of the Secretary General.
In addition to NATO-led efforts the Government, through both the FCO and MoD, discuss support to ISAF in their bilateral meetings with European Union nations. Ten of the 11 EU members of NATO have contributed troops to the ISAF operation.
The Earl of Sandwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many United Kingdom troops are now based with the International Security and Assistance Force and how many are with coalition forces outside Kabul; how many of these belong to a provisional reconstruction team (PRT); and when they intend to create a second PRT outside Kabul.[HL395]
Lord Bach: The United Kingdom currently has around 330 personnel serving with the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul. Around 100 other personnel serve with the coalition, some 90 of whom are with the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in Mazer-e Sharif.
The United Kingdom has no plans to establish a second PRT, although we continue to keep this under review.
RAF Fylingdales: Early Warning Radar
Lord Burlison asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What further progress has been made to implement their agreement to the United States' request to upgrade the early warning radar at RAF Fylingdales for missile defence purposes.[HL578]
Lord Bach: In a Written Statement on 5 February 2003 by my right honourable friend the Defence Secretary (Official Report, Commons, col. 11–12WS) announced in another place that the Government had agreed to a US request to upgrade the early warning radar at RAF Fylingdales as part of the US missile defence programme. The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, has today signed an agreement setting out the management and
financial arrangements and responsibilities for the radar upgrade. This agreement is made under the framework memorandum of understanding on missile defence that the Defence Secretary announced to the House on 12 June 2003 (Official Report, Commons, col. 57WS), and comes into immediate effect. Design work for the upgrade is already in hand, and upgrade work on site is expected to start in spring 2004, lasting for some 30 months, including testing of the upgraded system and removal of old equipment. I am placing in the Library of the House a copy of this agreement, although one section relating to a technical point on the operation of the radar has been withheld at the request of the US authorities. maria
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