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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel have suffered (a) minor injuries and (b) serious or fatal injuries as a result of mines or improvised explosive devices in the last 10 years.

Mark Lancaster

From centrally held data it is not possible to provide the exact numbers and types of injuries to UK Service personnel specifically as a result of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). However, we can provide the numbers of personnel that died or were injured whilst on Operations TELIC or HERRICK where the mechanism was recorded as an explosion. This includes mines, IEDs, unspecified explosives and explosive accidents.

Between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2016, 514 UK Armed Forces personnel sustained a minor injury due to an explosion. Of these, 39 personnel did not have an Initial Notification of Casualty raised and thus we are unable to determine the exact severity of the injury from the centrally held data.

964 personnel sustained a serious or fatal injury due to an explosion, of which 310 had an Incapacitating Injury, 171 were Seriously Injured, 208 were Very Seriously Injured and 275 died.

In these figures, individuals are counted once per injury. If any individual has been injured on multiple events they are counted for each event where the injury reported is not linked to a previous event. Individuals who were injured due to an explosion and later died of their injuries have been included in the number of fatalities, not injuries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many hours UK drones have flown over which countries in each year since 2010.

Penny Mordaunt

Since 2010, the UK’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) have operated in Afghanistan until 2014 and in Iraq and Syria from 2014.

The number of hours flown by RPAS in Afghanistan can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-herrick-afghanistan-aircraft-statistics

Since 2014, Reaper has been flying in support of Op SHADER in Iraq and Syria. It is not possible to breakdown Reaper flying hours by country for Op SHADER. The table below provides the total number of hours flown:

Year	Total Reaper flying hours flown in support of Op Shader
2014	1,653
2015	12,698
2016 (up to and including 31 March 2016)	2,509
Total	16,860

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of active service on the mental health of (a) drone operators and (b) conventional pilots.

Penny Mordaunt

The Government is committed to improving the mental health of our Armed Forces and has long recognised that Service life can cause stress. Support to all personnel (including pilots of Remotely Piloted Air Systems) is continually improving. We provide pre- and post-operational stress management training; a wide range of psychiatric and psychological treatments; and initiatives such as Decompression, Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), and post operational stress management. Measures are in place to increase awareness at all levels of the risk of mental health disorders and indicators to help identify these.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times have mines or improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of UK military bases caused (a) minor injuries and (b) serious or fatal injuries to non-military persons visiting the base in the last 10 years.

Penny Mordaunt

Specific statistics regarding mines and IEDs either detected or causing injuries or fatalities in the vicinity of UK military bases are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to purchase drones to detect mines and improvised explosive devices.

Penny Mordaunt

The merits of the use of drones to detect mines and improvised explosive devices have been recognised by the UK’s Armed Forces and there are a number of ongoing research projects which seek to refine possible techniques.

While a number of technical challenges remain in integrating more complex detectors and sensors onto Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), there is potential for a UAS to be procured in future which could be used to detect mines and improvised explosive devices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times have mines and improvised explosive devices been detected in the vicinity of UK military bases in the last 10 years.

Penny Mordaunt

Specific statistics regarding mines and IEDs either detected or causing injuries or fatalities in the vicinity of UK military bases are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times have mines and improvised explosive devices in the vicinity of UK military bases caused (a) minor injuries and (b) serious or fatal injuries to service personnel in the last 10 years.

Penny Mordaunt

Specific statistics regarding mines and IEDs either detected or causing injuries or fatalities in the vicinity of UK military bases are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to purchase the (a) AeroVironment Raven, (b) AeroVironment Switchable and (c) Uvision Hero 30 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Mr Philip Dunne

There are no current plans to purchase any of the systems listed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many medical staff assisting armed forces personnel with stress and other mental health issues are authorised to deal with personnel at each level of security clearance.

Mark Lancaster

All Ministry of Defence mental health staff have security clearance sufficient to enable them to provide appropriate mental healthcare to any member of the armed forces who requires it. If it were ever assessed that the attendance was required of medical personnel with a specific level of security clearance, arrangements would be made to provide this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kirsten Oswald on 2016-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the options are for the location of 7 Commando Battery Royal Artillery; and by what criteria the location of that regiment will be determined.

Penny Mordaunt

The future basing of 7 Commando Battery Royal Artillery, stationed at Royal Marines Condor in Arbroath, is currently under review.

It is too early to provide details of this review.