Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library (a) a copy of the risk assessment carried out by his Department in relation to the choice of Bassingbourn camp for the general purpose training of Libyan soldiers and (b) the steps taken to address each of the risks identified; and if he will make a statement.

I have placed a copy of the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Human Rights Assessment for General Purpose Force Training in the Library of the House. Risks specific to the UK locations assessed for that training are not recorded on a single document but were considered within the risks of training in the UK. These risks were managed before and after the training programme and supplemented by the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Human Rights Assessment.

Bassingbourn offered the required facilities for training and did not affect wider UK military training. As part of the preparation of Bassingbourn for training, security improvements were carried out, such as fencing off areas of the camp from local residences. The Army also held rehearsal meetings at Bassingbourn to identify and coordinate the mitigation of risks, including with the Home Office and the police.

The overall process of managing risks associated with General Purpose Force training was conducted through meetings of officials between Whitehall departments on a very regular basis, in which risk was a specific item on the agenda. This included consultation with subject matter experts in each department, the police, the Libyan Government through the UK and Libya embassies and the UK Defence Advisory and Training Team.