Written question asked by Adam Holloway (Conservative) on Wednesday, 23 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 28 November 2005. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Friday, 2 December 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Postal Services

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the subsidised mail allowance for service personnel serving abroad; and what is the average time taken to deliver mail to troops serving in Iraq.

Answer: Postcards, letters and small packets, up to a maximum weight of 2 kg, can be sent by airmail to any member of HM forces or otherwise entitled persons serving abroad, at a concessionary rate, which is subsidised by the Ministry of Defence. For example, a 2 kg packet can be sent by airmail to a British forces post office address at a cost of £7.16, whereas to send the same packet by the standard Royal Mail airmail tariff to a civilian address in Germany would cost £10.59, and, to a civilian address in world zone 1 (i.e. outside Europe) would cost £37.31.BFPO mail for Iraq is normally despatched six times per week by RAF aircraft. Typically, a letter posted in the United Kingdom could take one to two days to reach the BFPO sorting office in London, and a further two days to reach the British forces post office deployed in Iraq. Final receipt by the addressee is of course dependent on the operational activities of the addressee's unit, and the difficulty of effecting delivery from the forces post office, via the addressee's unit, to the named individual.

Secondary information