Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with UK mobile telephone operators about waiving mobile roaming charges for military personnel deployed to the Caribbean following the recent hurricanes that have affected the region.

No such discussions have taken place. A Deployed Welfare Package is usually put in place on operations to ensure Service personnel can stay in communications with those at home. Due to the short duration of this operation, in lieu of a Deployed Welfare Package, all of those deployed have been paid a Local Overseas Allowance. This contributes towards the necessary additional local cost of day-to-day living when Service personnel are required to serve overseas. In this deployment, this allowance was paid in addition to that given to Service personnel who were living under 'field conditions', where their food and accommodation charges are waived.