51
WY 20. 31
UMILIONI
873
Written Answers 1 DECEMBER 1975 million from that previously
£600 envisaged.
Soldiers Discharged
Mr. McCusker asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether, when appeal- ing to the Defence Council against his discharge, a soldier may request a per- sonal hearing ; and whether someone may accompany him to support his appeal and/or make representations on his behalf.
Mr. Robert C. Brown: A soldier appealing against his discharge docs not have a right to a personal hearing by the Defence Council.
Civilian Employees (Gan)
Mr. Trotter asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilians are to be made redundant in Gan as a result of the closure of the RAF base; what compensation payments are to be made to them; and to what extent these payments are less than those to which they would have been entitled under the United King- dom redundancy payments scheme.
Mr. John: Approximately 980 locally entered Maldivian civilians will be made redundant and about 80 Pakistani wor- kers will not have their contracts renewed Of the Maldivians about 420 work for the MOD and 460 for the Department of the Environment. A further 44 ате employed by NAAFI and 53 privately. Redundancy compensation for locally entered civilians of Her Majesty's Gov- ernment abroad is normally determined by local good employer practice or by local law. As neither of these standards exists in the area the level of redundancy compensation was agreed with the Gov ernment of the Republic of the Maldives and will amount to one weck's pay for each completed year of service. This will be paid to MÓD, DOE and NAAFI Maldivian employees.
Redundant locally entered civilian cm- ployees are not entitled to compensation awarded under the United Kingdom Re- dundancy Payments scheme which is funded by contributions from United Kingdom employers. Under this scheme compensation is assessed at rates rising from a half week's pay to 11 weeks' pay for each reckonable year of service depending on the redundant employee's age. Since records of Maldivian
2 D 2
em-
Written AnswVCES
374
ployees' birth dates are not available, it is not practicable to compare the two levels of compensation.
Personel
Mr. Trotter asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is satished that the reduced level of Service strengths set out in the 1975 Statement on the Defence Estimates is the minimum com- patible with national security and the pro- vision of an effective contribution to NATO.
Mr. Mason: Command 5976 sets out Her Majesty's Government's defence re- view decisions on the general level of defence and balance of forces which Britain should maintain to ensure our security and that of the Alliance. We will continue to maintain modern and effective forces to meet our essential commitments, but no public expenditure programme can he immune from changes in its forward plans.
Hong Kong
Mr. Hooley asked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the size of the garrison in Hong Kong on 1st Janu- ary 1975 and its approximate annual cost ; and what will be the size and annual cost in 1976.
an
Mr. William Rodgers: On 1st January 1975 the Hong Kong garrison comprised five infantry battalions, three of them Gurkha. an artillery regiment, armoured reconnaissance squadron, an engineer squadron, a frigate and patrol craft, and a RAF helicopter squadron. At current prices it costs about £65 mil- lion a year. I announced on 6th Novem- ber--[Vol. 899, c. 270-1.1 --that the garri- son will be reduced in 1976 to four infan- try battalions, three of them Gorkha, on engineer squadron, five naval patrol craft and a RAF helicopter squadron, whose total cost is £424 million a year.
White Paper
Х
Mr. Onslow asked the Secretary of State for Defence when he now expects to pub- lish the next Defence White Paper.
Mr. Mason : 1 have nothing further to ndd to the reply 1 gave to the hon. Member on 20th October 1975.-¡Vol. 898, c. 2.]
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