PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
Armed Forces: Racial Discrimination
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action the
Government have taken to eradicate racism within the armed forces. [159059]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 22 October 2007]: The Royal Navy, Army and
Royal Air Force have done a great deal in recent years to promote racial equality and continue to work hard to develop an organisational culture that welcomes racial diversity and places the highest priority on tackling racism.
The armed forces respect and value every individual’s unique contribution
regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, gender, social background or sexual
orientation. The goal is to create a working environment free from harassment and unlawful discrimination, in which all have equal opportunity to realise their full potential. From 1997 to 2006, the armed forces worked in formal partnership with the Commission for Racial Equality to improve racial equality.
The MOD published a race equality scheme (RES) in 2003 and subsequent reports
about the scheme detail the range of measures that the armed forces have
undertaken to improve racial equality. The RES was superseded in June 2006 by
the Department’s overarching equality and diversity scheme. The armed forces
achievements in promoting racial equality were recognised when all three
services finished in the top 10 in Business in the Community’s annual Race for
Opportunity annual benchmarking report for 2006.
Armed Forces: Weapons
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what weapons and
ammunition for which (a) his Department and (b) the armed forces have
responsibility have gone missing in the last two years. [155734]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: In answering this question the term ‘weapons’ is taken to be
firearms and ‘missing’ is taken to include lost and stolen. Separate records are not maintained for other weapons and such information could be provided only at
disproportionate cost. Thefts of weapons are investigated by the Service Police, Ministry of Defence Police or the Home Department Police, either jointly or independently. The MOD holds numerous types of ammunition. Although the loss and theft is recorded the information it is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of each type of armoured vehicle was cannibalised in each of the last 12 months. [157041]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information is not held in the format requested and could
be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Army: Operating Costs
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much it costs to run
an infantry battalion (light role) for one year. [157966]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: This information is not held in the form requested and could
be provided only at disproportionate cost. Expenditure is spread over a variety
of budgets and will vary according to the composition of the infantry battalion,
the tasks in which it is engaged and where it is deployed.
Army: Working Hours
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours
were worked per week on average by regular trained junior ranks in the Army in
2005-06; and whether time on annual leave was included in the calculations for
the figures given on 16 June 2006, Official Report, column 1520W, on army
personnel (working hours). [160249]
Derek Twigg: The Defence Analytical Service Agency (DASA) carry out a continuous sample survey of working patterns providing estimates of the average working
hours per person, per week, for each service. The results of the 2005-06 survey gave an estimate of an average of 45.2 “hours worked” per week for all regular trained junior ranks in the Army. “Hours worked” includes time spent carrying out normal work, secondary duti