To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the incidence of (a) neurological and (b) other illnesses among members of the Black Watch following deployment on Operation Telic. (134536)

Black Watch personnel were included in the comprehensive programme of health surveillance which the MOD commissioned from the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), which has considerable expertise in this field. I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 18 December 2006, Official Report, columns 1478-83W, for the results of this study, published in May 2006, and available to view at www.kcl.ac.uk/kcmhr, which showed that there had been no substantial increase in symptomatic ill health among regular personnel from participation in the operation.