Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The Museum of Army Transport is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The chairman of the council of the National Army Museum is ex-officio the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The council of the National Army Museum is currently engaged in a strategic review of the museum's requirements over the coming four years which will include all parts of its collection, including the collection currently housed at the Museum of Army Transport in Beverley.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The National Army Museum operates no facilities north of Watford. However, it supports a number of museums north of Watford through its pastoral care role to regimental and corps museums and has actively assisted 11 museums through the loan of its collections. It has also helped 12 museums north of Watford with major re-display projects, with National Lottery funded work and with staff training.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: A call-out order has been made under section 56 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 to permit members of the reserve forces to be called out for service with the UN monitoring and observer forces in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Only a small number are expected to be called out, as and when suitable posts arise, and all will be volunteers for this work.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The latest available statistics give the total strength of the Army Cadet Forces as 42,550. The three Army Cadet Force contingents that are strongest numerically are: Humberside and South Yorkshire 17,079 Yorkshire North and West 14,016 Leicestershire and Northamptonshire 13,051 The three Army Cadet Force contingents that are weakest numerically, excluding the Isle of Man,...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: There are well-established procedures between the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence for calling on military support for relief work in overseas humanitarian emergencies. These procedures are reviewed as a matter of routine following every operation.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Her Majesty's Government reaffirm their high regard for the work of the Services Cotswold Centre on behalf of Army families. The Centre is, however, under-utilised and a working group has recently been set up to explore alternative means of providing the service and to identify a solution that offers better value for money. The centre will not be closed until an appropriate alternative...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: There are no widows in receipt of both a Forces Family Pension and an attributable Forces Family Pension. A widow may receive either a Forces Family Pension or an attributable Forces Family Pension from the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, but not both. A widow of a serviceman who dies for reasons attributable to service may receive a family pension from the AFPS and a War Widow's Pension from...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The supply of food to our Armed Forces is contracted out to "3663". The MoD does not specify the source from which our contractor should obtain meat (or any other products) but expects them to seek the best market price, consistent with meeting our quality standards; indeed to do otherwise would contravene European law. I am as keen, however, on seeing our servicemen and women eating British...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The current edition of the Staff Officers' Handbook is not a classified document. However, its conditions of release make clear that it should only be issued to those persons who need to know its contents in the course of their official duties and that it is subject to the provisions of the Official Secrets Act 1911-1989.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: About 76,000 widows and widowers are currently being paid pensions from the Armed Forces Pensions Scheme. Our records do not break this figure down by year of retirement or between widows/widowers whose husbands retired before and after 1973. To attempt to do so would require a manual search of all 76,000 pensions files, and that would incur disproportionate cost. Some 2,500 attributable...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We have received no request for the use of RAF Menwith Hill in the context of the proposed US national missile defence system. Her Majesty's Government granted permission in March 1997 for the European relay ground station of the US-based infra-red system (SBIRS) to be sited at RAF Menwith Hill. SBIRS is regarded as necessary irrespective of any decision the US may take on deployment of a...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The total number of rifles on issue to HM Armed Forces is 306,413. This covers the following rifle types: Rifle 0.22in No 8 Mk1 Rifle 0.338in L115A1 Rifle 0.50in M82A1 Rifle 5.56mm L85A1 (SA 80) Rifle 5.56mm L98A1 (Cadet Rifle) Rifle 5.56mm M16A2 Rifle 7.62mm L81A2 (Cadet Target Rifle) Rifle 7.62mm L96A1 Rifle 7.62mm PM/PMS Rifle 7.62mm L100A1/L100A I am withholding a detailed breakdown of...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: An initial cost estimate of about £2 million was provided to the Department for International Development in accordance with the principles of Government Accounting, under which we recover the additional cost of any goods or services provided to other government departments. As these principles are well established between departments, neither the Prime Minister nor the Chancellor of the...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Year on year Band D civil servants (previously known as Executive Officers) will prove cheaper than Non Regular Permanent Staff in Finance and Systems Administrators posts.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The cost of accommodation, which is arranged on an individual basis, and the travelling and subsistence costs of civil servants training to become Finance and Systems Administrators will depend on each individual's personal circumstances. It is estimated that the average cost for each of the 65 new FSAs will be in the region of £9,000.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The training of civil servants to become Finance and Systems Administrators is being carried out at the School of Employment Training at Worthy Down. There will be a requirement for the current incumbent to brief the incoming civil servant on issues specific to the unit in question, as is the case whenever a post holder changes. This handover will be treated as sympathetically as possible in...
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: Employment tribunals do not have jurisdiction to hear unfair dismissal claims brought by members of the Armed Forces.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The need, role and function of the Finance and Systems Administrator in a Territorial Army unit have not been changed by the Strategic Defence Review. Examination of the manpower establishments of TA units did establish, however, that the function could be carried out more cost effectively in the long term by an appropriately trained civil servant.