To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army personnel were mispaid in the May pay run for the Army by Joint Personnel Administration; and if he will make a statement. (139858)

[holding answer 4 June 2007]: 169 Army personnel were mispaid during May. All of these cases related to errors in the payment of allowances and will be corrected in the June pay run.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what amount the operational allowance will be increased for fiscal year 2007-08 to take account of the rate of inflation. (141616)

[holding answer 11 June 2007]: For the financial year 2007-08, the operational allowance for Iraq and Afghanistan will increase by 3.6 per cent. and this will be backdated to 1 April 2007. The allowance is based on the tax and national insurance paid by a private soldier, lower band pay range, level 5, on his/her income and longer separation allowance, while deployed on operations. Therefore, backdated to 1 April 2007, the daily rate of operational allowance will increase from £12.31 to £12.75. Consequently during a six month tour of duty it will increase from £2,240 to £2,320. However, due to the improved security situation in the Balkans, personnel serving in this area will no longer qualify for the operational allowance from 1 September 2007.