Following the end of combat operations in Iraq in 2009, the Army Honours and Distinctions Committee reviewed the campaign to assess the awarding of honours. Having considered that assessment, the Army decided that the campaign post TELIC 1 did not, in its view, qualify for honours. To date, the Army has not asked the Committee to review the campaign in Afghanistan.

Pte Barlett’s death on 16 July 2001 was subject to a coroner’s inquest and was ruled an accidental death caused by acute poisoning. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not conducting any further investigation into the circumstances of his death at this time. My deepest sympathy goes out to Pte Bartlett’s family and all those affected by this tragic accident.

The Minister for the Armed Forces set the Terms of Reference for an independent review: ‘The Deepcut Review’. This review was launched on 22 March 2004 and was led by Sir Nicholas Blake QC. The terms of reference were to investigate the deaths of four soldiers by gunshot wounds at Princess Royal Barracks Deepcut between 1995-2002. Within those terms, the scope of the Review and the matters to be examined, were a matter for Sir Nicholas Blake QC to decide. The MOD co-operated fully with the Review into the Deepcut deaths and made documentation available to it.

Surrey Police had complete jurisdiction for the investigation into Pte Bartlett’s death, with assistance offered by the Royal Military Police where requested. There is an agreement between the civil and service police which clearly states that the local Home Office Police Force will lead all investigations involving death or very serious injury that occurs on MOD property in the United Kingdom.

Pte Barlett’s death on 16 July 2001 was subject to a coroner’s inquest and was ruled an accidental death caused by acute poisoning. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not conducting any further investigation into the circumstances of his death at this time. My deepest sympathy goes out to Pte Bartlett’s family and all those affected by this tragic accident.

The Minister for the Armed Forces set the Terms of Reference for an independent review: ‘The Deepcut Review’. This review was launched on 22 March 2004 and was led by Sir Nicholas Blake QC. The terms of reference were to investigate the deaths of four soldiers by gunshot wounds at Princess Royal Barracks Deepcut between 1995-2002. Within those terms, the scope of the Review and the matters to be examined, were a matter for Sir Nicholas Blake QC to decide. The MOD co-operated fully with the Review into the Deepcut deaths and made documentation available to it.

Surrey Police had complete jurisdiction for the investigation into Pte Bartlett’s death, with assistance offered by the Royal Military Police where requested. There is an agreement between the civil and service police which clearly states that the local Home Office Police Force will lead all investigations involving death or very serious injury that occurs on MOD property in the United Kingdom.

Pte Barlett’s death on 16 July 2001 was subject to a coroner’s inquest and was ruled an accidental death caused by acute poisoning. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not conducting any further investigation into the circumstances of his death at this time. My deepest sympathy goes out to Pte Bartlett’s family and all those affected by this tragic accident.

The Minister for the Armed Forces set the Terms of Reference for an independent review: ‘The Deepcut Review’. This review was launched on 22 March 2004 and was led by Sir Nicholas Blake QC. The terms of reference were to investigate the deaths of four soldiers by gunshot wounds at Princess Royal Barracks Deepcut between 1995-2002. Within those terms, the scope of the Review and the matters to be examined, were a matter for Sir Nicholas Blake QC to decide. The MOD co-operated fully with the Review into the Deepcut deaths and made documentation available to it.

Surrey Police had complete jurisdiction for the investigation into Pte Bartlett’s death, with assistance offered by the Royal Military Police where requested. There is an agreement between the civil and service police which clearly states that the local Home Office Police Force will lead all investigations involving death or very serious injury that occurs on MOD property in the United Kingdom.

Regular COVID-19 testing of exercising troops deployed to British Army Training Unit Kenya is taking place, however, in line with other UK government departments and civil authorities, the Ministry of Defence will not be providing a running commentary of case numbers for our personnel.

VEng conversions are made on an offer-and-accept basis following an assessment of the Service's need and the individual's performance during their employment. There is no application process, however a Service person can request an offer for extension through their Chain of Command Regimental Career Management Officer.

Service personnel can seek advice on requesting an extension through their Regimental Career Manager. If the service person feels that they should have been made an offer of extension but were not, they can submit a Service Complaint (in accordance with JSP 831) through their Chain of Command.

There is no notice period for those personnel who do not convert to VEng(Full) as they are not being compulsorily discharged; they are just not being offered a longer engagement than they currently possess.

At the point of 24 months to End of Engagement, the Service person will be contacted by a Resettlement Officer (in accordance with JSP 534) to discuss options for employment outside of the Army. Discussions with the Service Personnel Unit Admin and Regimental Career Manager will be ongoing during that period to ensure that the individual leaves the service as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Offers of extension can be made up until the end of the extant engagement. The service person can enter resettlement and if offered and accept extension, resettlement entitlements may be reset so as not to disadvantage the soldier at their future End of Engagement date. This is subject to the length of extension offered.

Within the Army there are currently 62 Regular and Reserve Officers serving at two star, three star and four star ranks. Of these, where record of school attended is held centrally*, we can confirm that 30 were privately educated. A breakdown by rank is provided below:

* Records are held centrally for 50 of the 62 Generals.

• These figures are single Service estimates and are not official statistics produced by Defence Statistics.

• For presentational and data protection purposes the figures have been rounded.

• “~” fewer than five.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State for Defence, Lord Howe, to the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, in the House of Lords to Questions HL4639, HL4640 and HL4802.

Steady progress has been made during 2016-17 in order to meet the Army's future manning requirements.

The Army continues to offer exciting opportunities that inspire the best of our young people and is investing in recruitment to attract the diverse and talented workforce it needs now and for the future A new marketing campaign 'This Is Belonging' was launched on 7 January 2017 across multiple platforms, including television.

The Army budget for 2015-16 is around £8 billion. Decisions on the Defence budget in subsequent years will be made as part of the next spending review.

I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement and paper the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), placed in the Library of the House on 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 124WS.

The Army assesses recruiting performance on a regular basis as part of normal internal business. The enlistment targets for reserve forces for the next five years were set out in the paper placed in the Library of the House on 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 124WS.

We are currently taking a number of steps to improve recruiting performance in order to increase the numbers of those entering training in 2014-15 and beyond. These include the major recruiting campaign currently under way for Regular Army and Army Reserve personnel, “More Than Meets The Eye”, designed to highlight the variety of roles and skills available in the Army, an improved offer to Reservists, and a more efficient application and medical assessment process for all candidates.

The Army is in the process of changing to its Army 2020 structure and size. The reduction in trained strength has been taken into account in our manpower planning and the Army remains confident that the infantry and Parachute Regiment will continue to meet their current commitments.

Very few courses are currently running near to full capacity. We expect the position to change in 2014-15.

The code of practice for the prevention and treatment of climactic injuries in the armed forces for land based activities, including training, exercises and operations, is contained in the Joint Service Publication (JSP) 539.

The heat injury/illness sections of the JSP are kept under regular review by the Heat Injuries Working Group: this working group has representatives from all three services as well as subject matter experts.

The JSP was revised fully in 2012 and published in November 2012.