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Farm Animals (Welfare)
27. Mr. Dunn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps are being taken to obtain equal standards of farm animal welfare throughout the EC.
Mr. Maclean : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Minister to my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Mr. Burns).
Fishing Industry
28. Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from fishermen in the north-west of England in the last month about the prospects for the fishing industry.
Mr. Curry : Fishermen, including fishermen in the north-west of England, make representations on a wide range of subjects every month.
Horses
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further measures he is taking to consider the reclassification of the horse as an agricultural animal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The horse is an agricultural animal when it is engaged in agricultural activities. The Department takes the lead role on EC legislation covering animal health questions concerning horses, zootechnics and competitions. It is for other Departments to take the lead on matters that relate to their responsibilities.
Departmental Properties
Mr. Soley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many residential properties owned by the Ministry are (a) empty, (b) for sale on the open market, (c) intended for sale on the open market and (d) for sale to housing associations, in terms of numbers and percentage of stock.
Mr. Curry : The information requested is set out :
(a) 11 representing 7.6 per cent.
(b) 3 representing 2.0 per cent.
(c) 4 representing 2.7 per cent.
(d) Nil.
EC Surplus Foodstuffs
Mr. Cox : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list EC surplus foodstuffs held in storage in the United Kingdom and the tonnage of such surplus as at 31 January.
Mr. Curry : Tables showing current levels of surplus produce in store within the EC and the United Kingdom are deposited in the Library of the House at monthly intervals. The latest tables were deposited on 13 February.
Farmers (Public Relations)
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he intends to take to assist farmers to improve relations with the public and to reduce problems arising from trespass and vandalism.
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Mr. Gummer : My Department have today agreed with Groundwork to provide pump priming funding for a project to be known as Farmlink. This project aims to help children to understand and respect the countryside and farming and to create beneficial links between farmers and local urban communities. The scheme will result in the creation of approximately 180 links between individual farms and schools over three years in seven Groundwork trust areas. These are expected to be St. Helens, East Durham, Rossendale, Wakefield, Erewash, West Cumbria and Kerrier. The total cost of the project will be £170,000 spread over the three-year period.Food Safety
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has in the food safety area.
Mr. Maclean : On behalf of the Agriculture and Health Ministers I have today issued for consultation to interested organisations a draft food safety and consumer protection programme setting out the Government's plans in this area in 1992. It applies the principles of information, consultation and accountability set out in the citizens charter published last year. I am sure the publication of this programme will be welcomed and I look forward to the response to it. I am placing a copy of the document in the Library of the House.
Badgers
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has on mortality rates amongst badgers caused by (a) licensed killing and (b) motor vehicles in each of the past three years.
Mr. Maclean : In the past three years only two badgers have been killed under licence under the Badgers Act 1973, both in order to protect poultry. Out of a population of 250,000 adult badgers, we estimate that at least 20,000 are killed each year on our roads.
Milk
Mr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure adequate supplies of home-produced milk for processing.
Mr. Curry : The changes to milk marketing in the United Kingdom must give higher priority to the production of value added dairy products.
DEFENCE
Reserve Forces
Mr. Butcher : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he plans any changes in the role of the reserve forces in the future.
Mr. Tom King : I have recently received proposals arising from a major study on the future mix of regular and reserve forces in the longer term and I am publishing today a consultative open government document "The Future of Britain's Reserve Forces" which seeks views on the key proposals arising from this study. I am placing copies of this document in the Vote Office and in the Library of the House.
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Aircraft Noise
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his policy of purchasing any dwelling in the vicinity of a military airfield found to be subjected to noise levels greater than 125 dB (A) from military aircraft also applies to civil airfields where military jet aircraft regularly carry out practice approach and overshoot movements.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : No. Military jet aircraft carry out practice manoeuvres at civil airfields on very few occasions. Evidence of noise surveys carried out at 42 military airfields covering a range of manoeuvres by a variety of aircraft types indicates no likelihood of maximum noise levels of 125 dB (A) being reached in the proximity of dwellings contiguous to civil airfields.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the results of the measurements made of noise levels of F15, F16 and F111 aircraft during Exercise Luce Belle in June 1990.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The results of the measurements of the noise levels of F15 and F16 aircraft participating in Exercise Luce Belle were published in the National Physical Laboratory report RSA (Ext.) 16, dated February 1991. The F111 aircraft did not participate in the exercise.
Fast Jet Activity
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the purpose of the fast jet activity which has been taking place between West Freugh airfield and the Carsphairn-New Galloway area since 18 November ; how many and what types of aircraft are taking part ; what is the minimum permitted height during these operations ; and what increase there has been in the level of such activity.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Since 18 November 1991 the following groups of fast jet aircraft have operated from West Freugh and flown in the Carsphairn-New Galloway area :
P
Date |Aircraft |Purpose of activity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18-22 November 1991 |6 RAF Harriers
|6 RAF Tornados |Routine training
3-7 February 1992 |5 RN Sea Harriers |Routine training
10-21 February 1992 |2 RAF Tornados
|3 RAF Harriers
|I RAF Jaguar |Trials
All aircraft were authorised to fly to a minimum permitted height of 250 ft. The three sets of activity were not related.
Low Flying
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the statistics obtained during the survey of low flying by RAF strike command in early 1989.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : A representative sample of the statistics obtained from the survey of low flying begun by RAF strike command in 1989 will be provided to the Select Committee on Defence later this year.
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Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will prohibit the use of fixed low-flying routes in the United Kingdom by front-line strike/attack/reconnaissance units.Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration has been given to providing continuation training at 100 ft for RAF Tornado crews while deployed to the Gulf region.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Detailed arrangements for future deployments of RAF aircraft to the Gulf for training exercises will be the subject of discussions with the host nations concerned.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Royal Air Force's Harrier GR7s commenced night low-level training ; and what decisions have been taken on the location of such training.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Harrier GR7 squadrons have not yet commenced night low-level training. This training will be distributed throughout the United Kingdom night low flying system and we expect to carry out some training overseas.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures are being taken to monitor the selection of fixed low-level routes over the United Kingdom by front-line
strike/attack/reconnaissance units.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Air crew use standard routes as little as possible. Where this is unavoidable, routes are varied as much as possible and standard routes are in any case replaced at regular intervals.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facilities are made available in Turkey for RAF Jaguar crews deployed to Incirlik to maintain their qualifications to fly at 100 ft above ground level.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the maximum permitted speeds between initial point and simulated target, or during mock interceptions, while flying in the United Kingdom at 100 ft above ground level, for (a) Tornado aircraft, (b) Jaguar aircraft, (c) Harrier aircraft, (d) Hawk aircraft, (e) F4 aircraft and (f) Buccaneer aircraft ; on what date these speed limits were introduced ; which information channels or documents are used to communicate these speed limits to Royal Air Force pilots ; and what advice has been given to the low flying complaints office concerning the communication of information on the new limits to the public.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : For the aircraft listed, the maximum permitted speeds between initial point and simulated target, or during mock interceptions, while flying in the United Kingdom at not less than 100 ft above ground level are as follows :
|Kts
--------------------------
(a) Tornado |500
(b) Jaguar |520
(c) Harrier GR5/7 |420
(d) Hawk |480
There is no routine requirement for the F4 and Buccaneer aircraft to fly below 250 feet in the United Kingdom low-flying system.
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Speed restrictions for most of those aircraft concerned were introduced in January 1991 and are stated in the United Kingdom Military Low Flying Handbook. The advice given to the low flying complaints office on the communication of information related to low flying in the United Kingdom is a matter for my Department.Exercise Red Flag
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to which location the eight RAF Tornados which took part in Exercise Red Flag 92-2 flew following completion of that exercise ; and what training tasks were allocated to the aircraft following participation in Red Flag.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : On completion of Exercise Red Flag 92-2 eight RAF Tornados were recovered to Goose Bay, Canada. Following a period of maintenance the aircraft will undertake tactical training from 2 to 7 April prior to deployment to Alaska for Exercise Distant Frontier 92.
Air Misses
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the air miss between a military aircraft and a civilian Cessna aircraft near Lockerbie on 8 November 1991.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : No such air miss has been reported.
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the air miss incident between two RAF Tornados and a Spanish airliner off Gibraltar on 29 January.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Two RAF Tornado F3 aircraft participating in a naval air defence exercise in a notified exercise area, some 45 nautical miles south of Malaga, were directed by the Royal Navy vessel controlling them to identify an unknown aircraft transiting the exercise area. The RAF aircraft carried out a standard approach to identify the aircraft and, having established that it was a civil airliner, returned to their exercise task. The approach and visual identification were conducted in accordance with normal procedures in international airspace and within the notified exercise area. No air miss report has been received from the Spanish authorities.
Hydrazine Incident, Yeovilton
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the hydrazine incident involving a Dutch air force F16 aircraft at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton on 2 October 1991.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The incident on 2 October 1991 occurred after a Dutch F16 aircraft operating in the vicinity of Yeovilton suffered a generator failure and was diverted to the airfield for a precautionary landing. The aircraft's emergency power unit had been engaged and in line with standard procedure a safety check was conducted to ensure that there had been no hydrazine fuel leak. On this occasion the unit had functioned correctly and there was no leak.
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RAF Machrihanish
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the number of unidentified supersonic radar contacts detected in the vicinity of RAF Machrihanish since January.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : There have been no unidentified supersonic radar contacts detected in the vicinity of RAF Machrihanish since January.
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the recent hypersonic flights from RAF Machrihanish ; whether consent for such flights by United States aircraft is required from his Department ; and what assessment he has made of the effects that might be experienced by people on the ground as a result of flights at Mach 3.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There have been no such flights from RAF Machrihanish.
Loch Trool
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the nature, purpose and title of the military exercise centred on Loch Trool, Galloway, in the week commencing 16 February ; how many troops and aircraft took part ; how many low-level sorties were carried out ; and what information about the exercise was given to local Members of Parliament and the press.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Exercise Hardcore took place from 10 to 21 February and was a small-scale squadron training exercise involving attacks against targets on the ground together with intercepts by air defence aircraft. The exercise involved up to 120 men and 16 aircraft. Some 140 low -level sorties were flown during the exercise ; some of these involved operational low flying which was notified to Members of Parliament in the normal way.
Luce Bay Weapons Range
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when evening opening hours of the Luce Bay weapons range were last extended ; and for what purpose.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Research Agency and I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.
RAF Training (Alaska)
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all RAF training deployments to Alaska since 1988, stating, for each deployment, (a) the number and type of aircraft, (b) the location of the deployment, (c) the title of the exercise, (d) the types of training carried out during the deployment, (e) the number of sorties flown and (f) the additional cost of providing the training in Alaska rather than Europe or Labrador.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Four Tornado GR1 deployed to Eielson air force base for Exercise Distant Frontier in June 1990. The aircraft carried out tactical flying training and weapon practice. Forty-one sorties were flown. The information requested on additional costs is not readily indentifiable.
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Tornado Crew Training
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the requirement for RAF air defence Tornado crews to be trained at Goose Bay, Canada ; and what is the additional cost of providing the training at that location.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : A number of air defence crews will deploy from time to time to Goose Bay to carry out tactical training in association with RAF and other allied aircraft undertaking low-flying training at the base. The additional cost of providing air defence training for crews at Goose Bay cannot readily be identified.
Exercise Luce Belle
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which airfield the US Air Force F-15 aircraft operated when participating in the Exercise Luce Belle noise measurement trial in June 1990.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The F-15 aircraft which took part in Exercise Luce Belle were based with the United States Air Force 36 tactical fighter wing, Bitburg, West Germany. Available records do not indicate the use of a United Kingdom airfield for refuelling.
Consultants
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those parts of his Department, including executive agencies, carrying out reviews over the last 12 months into the pay and grading of staff ; and the firm of consultants engaged, where appropriate.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : A review of the pay and grading of civilian staff at the atomic weapons establishment has been undertaken by the management contractor--Hunting-Brae Ltd.--as part of the current AWE management contract. In general, pay and grading structures throughout the Department, including the Department's agencies, are kept under review in accordance with Government policy.
Defence Procurement Budget
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the defence procurement budget was spent during 1990-91 in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I would expect the information the hon. Gentleman requests to be published in the 1992 "Statement on the Defence Estimates".
Departmental Properties
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many residential properties owned by his Department are (a) empty, (b) for sale on the open market, (c) intended for sale on the open market and (d) for sale to housing associations, in terms of numbers and percentage of stock.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : As at 31 December 1991, the latest date for which figures are available, 9,817 properties, representing 13.4 per cent. of the service married quarter stock, and 139 properties, representing 18.4 per cent. of the
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MOD civilian housing stock, were vacant. Many of these properties were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or modernisation, some were already allotted to service families who were due to move in shortly and more than 600 were being considered for disposal.A futher 2,774 properties, not included in the above and not all vacant, were in the process of sale. Of these, 296--11 per cent.--were for sale on the open market, 295--11 per cent.--were intended for sale on the open market, 1,002--36 per cent.--were for sale to housing associations or local authorities, 423--15 per cent.--were being sold through the services' discount scheme and 758--27 per cent.--were being offered for sale to tenants.
United Nations (Military Staff Committee)
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the actions which have resulted from the meetings of the United Nations Military Staff Committee since 1981, what changes to his policies have resulted from these meetings ; and what proposals he has to change the work of the United Nations Military Staff Committee.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The United Nations military staff committee played a useful role in the Gulf crisis as a forum for informal exchanges on naval deployments to the region. We do not rule out the possibility of using it in other ways to reinforce the valuable and close co-operation that has evolved between the five permanent members of the Security Council. But we do not believe there is a case for the formal activation of the committee under article 47 of the United Nations charter.
Diversification
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many seminars held in Britain on the diversification of defence industries his officials have attended in each quarter of the last two years.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : One in the third quarter of 1990 on defence industry conversion in the former USSR.
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what advice or information his officials have provided to the defence industry about diversification in the last two years.
Mr. Carlisle : None, because decisions affecting the future of a company, including its product lines, are best left to the commercial judgment of its management.
Ex-RAF Pilots
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals he has to increase the number of ex-RAF pilots joining the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and the RAF Volunteer Reserve.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are no proposals to increase the number of ex-RAF pilots joining the Royal Auxiliary Air Force or the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
Operation Granby
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is now in a position to state the additional maintenance costs that were incurred for British military equipment used during Operation Granby.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The additional defence costs of Operation Granby, include an estimated sum of around £550 million for additional maintenance.
Metallurgy
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what records were kept by his Department of the two telephone conversations that took place between Walter Somers Ltd. and his Department's metallurgical expert on 16 and 22 June 1988.
Mr. Carlisle : The metallurgical expert made notes of his telephone conversations.
Housing Task Force
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration was given to setting up a housing task force prior to August 1991.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence referred in the White Paper "Britain's Army for the 90s" to his intention to set up a task group to bring service housing up to date with developments in the community. The housing task force was established shortly thereafter.
Mr. O'Neill : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the terms of reference of the housing task force.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The terms of reference of the task force were to review the arrangements for service housing, building on work already undertaken by the Department and to identify any other practical initiatives which should be taken, with a view to ultimately developing a comprehensive scheme for service housing. To this end, the task force was to :
(a) assess the extra steps which should be taken to help those leaving the services over the next three to four years.
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