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Ministry of Defence;Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

Answer

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people in the UK served at (a) Porton Down and (b) other chemical and biological warfare establishments; how many of these are suffering illnesses that they claim are attributable to exposure to chemical and biological warfare experiments; how many are in receipt of pensions for these illnesses; how many of these are in Scotland; and what the total expenditure is on these in Scotland. [131590] Dr. Moonie: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member. Letter from Sir John Chisholm to Mr. Alex Salmond, dated 25 July 2000: I am replying to your question about CBW experiments as the Chemical and Biological Defence sector at Porton Down is now part of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. Since 1916, establishments based at Porton Down have been involved in the research and development that has underpinned the UK's chemical and biological defence capability. Throughout Porton Down's history, volunteers from the services have been a vital part of the research programme. Over 20,000 individuals have participated in projects aimed at developing protection against and treatment for the effect of chemical and biological agents. The majority have had no complaint about their attendance at Porton Down. We are, however, aware that there are some former volunteers who believe that they have suffered ill-health as a result of the trials in which they took part. I am afraid we are unable to provide the exact number of complainants as they have made their representations through a number of different channels. Since 1 March 1998, we have responded to 42 enquiries from the War Pensions Agency concerning claims arising from taking part in the service volunteer programme at Porton Down. In each case, we have provided information about the particular trials in which an individual participated but we have not been informed whether these claims have been successful. We are, therefore, unable to answer your specific questions about the number of pensions and expenditure on them in Scotland. We are not aware of any other establishments in the UK that have carried out chemical and biological defence research involving service volunteers. I hope this explains the position.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

354 c554W;354 c549-50W; 131590

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Compensation Chemical and biological warfare Health Expenditure Health hazards Pensions Scotland Research War pensions Chemical Defence Establishment Human experiments

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk