To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 13 December 2006, Official Report, column 1096W, on letters of condolence, how many letters of condolence have been sent by his Department to the next of kin of personnel who died in service in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002 and (iii) January to July 2003. (114393)

Letters of condolence have always been sent to the next of kin of deceased service personnel by commanders. Prior to the formation of the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre in April 2004, no central record was kept of all condolence letters sent by the Department and to collect this information retrospectively would incur disproportionate costs.