House of Commons Hansard Debates for 21 May 1992

Mr. Archie Hamilton : In common with other Government Departments, the Ministry of Defence has been consulted on preparatory work for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development but has not been required to make any particular contributions.

Arms Fairs

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the arms and military equipment fairs in which his Department has participated since 1 April 1991 ; what has been the cost of participation in each respective fair ; and what financial or logistical support has been given by his Department to United Kingdom arms and military equipment manufacturers to attend these fairs.

Mr. Aitken : In the period from 1 April 1991, the Defence Export Services Organisation exhibited at the following arms and military equipment exhibitions :


Exhibition                      |Extra cost to MOD                  

                                |£                                  

--------------------------------------------------------------------

DCEE Birmingham                 |10,000                             

Paris Airshow                   |200,000                            

Dubai International             |18,000                             

LIMA, Malaysia                  |7,000                              

Defence Seoul                   |6,000                              

AIDEX, Canberra                 |18,000                             

Asian Aerospace, Singapore      |8,000                              

Defence Services Asia, Malaysia |6,000

In addition the Royal Navy equipment exhibition was held in September 1991. All extra costs incurred in this exhibition were recovered from participating companies.

No financial or logistical support was given by MOD to United Kingdom arms and military equipment manufacturers to enable them to attend these exhibitions.

REME Workshops, Liverpool

Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to reply to the letter of 29 April from the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby, respecting the future of No. 42 command workshops, REME in West Derby, Liverpool.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : I wrote to the hon. Member on 20 May 1992.

Woolwich Arsenal

Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the listed buildings, and their grading, on the Woolwich arsenal site, with the estimated costs of refurbishment.

Column 261

Mr. Aitken : The listed buildings at the Royal Arsenal site together with the gradings are as follows :


                                         |Gradings         

-----------------------------------------------------------

 1. The Brass Foundry (in DOE ownership) |I                

 2. Verbruggens House                    |II               

 3. The Main Guard House                 |II               

 4. Dial Arch Block                      |II               

 5. Riverside Guard Rooms (2 No.)        |II               

 6. Royal Laboratory Pavilions           |II               

 7. Old Military Academy                 |*II              

 8. Officers Block                       |II               

 9. Grand Store complex (4 No.)          |II               

10. Shell Foundry Gatehouse              |II               

11. Middle Gate House (part only)        |II               

12. Royal Carriage Factory               |II               

13. Armstrong Gun Factory                |II               

14. New Laboratory Square                |II

Preliminary estimates of the cost of refurbishing those buildings in MOD ownership to a reasonable standard is likely to be in the order of £12 million.

Army Air Corps

Mr. Home Roberston : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent to date on works at Dishforth to accommodate the Army Air Corps ; what plans he has for Army Air Corps deployment at Dishforth ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : To date, some £39 million has been spent on works to accommodate the Army Air Corps at Dishforth.

Under the plans for restructuring the Army announced in "Britain's Army for the 90s" (Cm 1595) an Army Air Corps Regiment will continue to be based at Dishforth.

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Household Division

Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the review of the performance of public ceremonial duties in London by the Household Division.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : Public duties are not exempt from the reduction in the size of the Army, and we will seek to reduce the manpower bill for such duties wherever it is sensible and practical to do so. There is no question of putting security or major ceremonial occasions at risk.

Ark Royal

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the bombing of the Ark Royal aircraft carrier by a Royal Navy Sea Harrier during a training exercise on 20 April ; what will be the cost of repair to the ship ; and what steps have been taken to avoid a repeat of such an accident.

Mr. Archie Hamilton : During a routine training exercise on 20 April a small practice bomb, released by a Sea Harrier aircraft, struck and penetrated the flight deck of HMS Ark Royal. The exercise involved the practice bombing of a surface target which was being towed some 500 yards astern of Ark Royal.

There were six casualties who suffered injuries, mainly burns ; damage to the ship was minor. Immediate repairs were carried out allowing the ship to proceed with its task ; further repairs are being undertaken during the ship's current stay in Portsmouth. The cost of these repairs is around £60,000.

A board of inquiry was convened and its final report is awaited. The board of inquiry will make recommendations on any action which it considers necessary ; in the interim, as a prudent precaution, all Royal Navy Sea Harrier practice bomb attacks against towed targets have been suspended.

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