Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many UK (a) military and (b) civilian personnel are currently in West Africa assisting with the Ebola epidemic; and what steps have been taken to ensure that those people are given the maximum possible protection against that virus.

Over 800 Ministry of Defence personnel have been deployed to Western Africa. As of 12 December there are 58 NHS volunteers in Sierra Leone and over 125 UK civilian Government personnel based in Sierra Leone. The safety of all UK staff is paramount and to that end, all medical staff deploying to Sierra Leone receive specialist pre-deployment training as well as further training and mentoring in-country to ensure safety procedures are followed at all times.