Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Garden (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Tuesday, 8 May 2007.

Afghanistan: Combat Vehicles

Question: My Lords, we on these Benches join in offering our condolences to the families of the three soldiers killed since we last met. The Minister will be aware that the reports in the press are drawn from the leaked document, Equipment Reverse—SITREPNo. 2, which since the weekend has been in the public domain. It confirms what the Minister said—that the forces are well equipped on operations—but it spells out in detail the difficulty of sustaining that situation. The phrase it uses is ““LAND’s cupboard is bare””: in other words, the cupboard of the headquarters of the Army’s operations is bare. What changes is the Minister making, given his new responsibilities, to ensure that he can sustain the necessary spares, which are lacking; replace the equipment, which is wearing much faster than expected; and change the assumptions on attrition rates?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Garden, highlights exactly the points on which we need to focus. The level of operations with which we are now coping puts pressure on equipment and means that equipment priorities for operations have consequences for the availability of equipment at home base. Dealing with these issues is about investing in more equipment where required. We are addressing the availability of spares. More importantly, the reforms we are putting in place and the way we manage equipment—for example, the whole-fleet management of combat vehicles—is at the heart of improving the availability of vehicles both for operations and back at base. These reform initiatives, which we are putting in place as a result of investment and the proactive approach to reform that comes from bringing together defence equipment and defence support, are at the heart of these issues.

Secondary information