To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what urgent statements of user requirement were made by commanders in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan in each of the last five years. (138789)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 April 2007, Official Report, columns 154-56W, to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock). I am withholding details of individual Urgent Statements of User Requirements as the information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many days of leave in total have been lost by armed forces personnel due to delays in flights from Afghanistan to the UK in each month since the launch of Operation Herrick; (139768)

[holding answer 4 June 2007]: Post-Operational Leave (POL) is additional to an individual’s annual leave allowance. A period of POL is only considered to have started after an individual has completed the operational tour and returned to the UK, and therefore it would not be diminished due to any flight delays.

Rest and Recuperation (R and R) is also in addition to an individual’s annual leave allowance and is taken in the course of an operational tour. It is a fixed period which includes travel time, and therefore the time spent at home could be diminished where delays occur in travelling. When appropriate, R and R can be extended at the discretion of the commanding officer if time has been lost due to travel delays; this decision will be made on the basis of the current operational tempo and the impact that such an extension might have. Records are not held of the impact delays have had on individuals’ R and R, and the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.