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Dioxin
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department intends to issue guidelines to local people in the area surrounding the Coalite plant in Derbyshire on eating home grown vegetables ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : It is unlikely that vegetables would pose any hazard to consumers provided that they are washed or peeled as appropriate in the normal manner. The Department does not therefore propose to issue any guidelines.
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action his Ministry intends to take following the findings concerning the level of dioxin found in the blood of one of the farming families living near the Coalite plant in Derbyshire.
Mr. Sackville : I have been asked to reply.
Department of Health representatives, together with the local consultant in communicable disease control from North Derbyshire health authority, have already visited the family involved to give them the results and explain their significance.
Although the level of dioxins are higher than normal background levels, they are most unlikely to cause adverse health effects. The family is no longer exposed to the source of the dioxins as they no longer consume their own farm milk, and their blood dioxin levels are expected to decline in the future.
Sheep Dipping
Mr. Mills : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made on the extent to which sheep dipping will continue after the removal of the statutory requirement ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Soames : We anticipate that unnecessary dipping will cease. It is impossible to estimate future dipping patterns.
Agriculture Council
Mr. Whittingdale : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held on 13 and 14 July ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I chaired this meeting of the Council. My hon. Friend the Minister of State and my noble Friend the Parliamentary Secretary in my Department represented the United Kingdom.
Decisions were taken on a number of proposals relating to food quality, forest protection, veterinary checks, prevention against Newcastle disease and organic farming. The food quality proposal had been extensively amended to remove its undesirable features and was accordingly acceptable to the United Kingdom.
The Council had a first discussion on the very important draft regulation specifying how member states should ensure that the reformed CAP is properly
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controlled. This is important in terms of preventing fraud, and work will be taken forward urgently during the United Kingdom presidency.European Agriculture Council
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what matters arising from the decisions taken at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development are due to be discussed at the European Agriculture Council on 13 and 14 July.
Mr. Curry : None at this Council. However, the integration of environmental considerations into agricultural policy will be a priority for the United Kingdom presidency in line with UNCED conclusions.
Fishery Protection
Mr. John Home Robertson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 25 June, Official Report, column 387, if he will set out the information available to his Ministry on the performance by private-contracted vessels of the maritime fishery protection service in Scotland.
Mr. Curry : Surface fishery protection duties in Scotland are carried out partly by the Royal Navy and partly by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) using civilian vessels. The SFPA will shortly publish its first annual report. This will analyse performance and the effectiveness of the fisheries protection services provided. A key indicator of fisheries protection performance is the number of boardings achieved. The number of boardings of fishing vessels by civilian-manned vessels of the SFPA has increased from 1,125 in 1985-86 to 2,100 in 1991- 92.
Surplus Food
Mr. Whittingale : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the invitation to organisations to participate in the 1992 surplus food scheme in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Pursuant to my written answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester, South and Maldon on 10 July 1992, Official Report, column 395 , I am placing a revised list of organisations designated under the EC surplus food scheme in the Libraries.
Farmers' Returns
Mr. Marland : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what terms the June returns from individual farmers are made available to public or private sector organisations ; if he will list the organisations ; and what distinction is made between returns of members of the Tenant Farmers' Association and others.
Mr. Curry : June agricultural and horticultural census returns from individual farmers are protected by the Agricultural Statistics Act 1979. Census forms can be released to a public or private sector organisation only with the prior written consent of the person by whom the information was furnished, and any other person with a financial interest in the holding. No distinction is made between respondents.
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Fish (Ozone Depletion)
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment his Department has made on the effect of ozone depletion on fish yields.
Mr. Curry : I have been asked to reply.
The effect, if any, of changes in ozone levels may well fall within the wide range of natural fluctuations in fish populations. The Government monitor ozone levels and we are keeping the matter under review.
DEFENCE
Armoured Vehicles
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's requirement for new tracked and wheeled light tactical combat armoured vehicles ; which currently operated vehicles are to be replaced ; how many of these vehicles are currently in service ; when he proposes to brief industry on the requirement ; what are the approximate costs of the new requirement ; over what time scale new vehicles are to be procured ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : The future requirement for new tracked and wheeled tactical combat armoured vehicles is under review. We plan to replace the majority of the tracked combat vehicle reconnaissance--CVR(T)--with a new vehicle in the early years of the next century ; exact quantities will depend upon the results of a feasibility study and developing concept work. An industrial briefing on the new vehicle will be held on 16 September and the project is likely to cost around £2 billion. In addition, we are considering the replacement of the remaining CVR(T), FV430 series' vehicles and the combat engineer tractor (CET) early in the next century. The numbers of these vehicles currently held are :
|Number
---------------------------
FV430 series |2,536
CVR(T) |1,701
CET |140
Trident
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals his Department has received in regard to establishing the Trident refitting facility project--RD 57--at the Rosyth royal dockyard ; and when he expects to take a decision on the project.
Mr. Aitken : The RD 57 project at Rosyth royal dockyard is designed to accommodate refits to Vanguard class and other nuclear submarines. Work on the project commenced in October 1987. It is now in the preparatory phase for the main design and build phase. Babcock Thorn Ltd., the management company at Rosyth royal dockyard, has recently put forward proposals for reducing the costs of the facility. These proposals will be considered as part of the current review of future requirements for fleet support, decisions on which are expected later this year.
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Rosyth Dockyard
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what period of time he expects cores removed from nuclear-powered submarines to be stored at the Rosyth royal dockyard.
Mr. Aitken : It is normal practice for nuclear submarine used fuel cores to be held in the dockyards for a few months prior to their earliest practicable dispatch to BNFL Sellafield. These cores will continue to be held safely at the dockyards, in storage facilities approved by the nuclear installations inspectorate, until a licensed mode of transport is available. Our aim is to achieve this as quickly as possible.
European Year of the Elderly
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for his Department to celebrate in 1993 the European Year of the Elderly ; and if he wlll make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister on 13 July, Official Report , columns 430-31 . Participation by the Ministry of Defence is not planned.
Nuclear Contamination, Australia
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer on 29 June to the hon. Member for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (Mr. Foulkes), Official Report , columns 417-18 , what current participation scientists from his Department have in the Anglo-Australian technical assessment group monitoring the former nuclear test sites at Maralinga, Emu Fields and Monte Bello in Australia.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : None. The Anglo-Australian technical assessment group has completed its work, and its report was published in November 1990. It has now been disbanded.
CIS Forces
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is Her Majesty's Government's estimate of the number of Commonwealth of Independent States or Russian forces currently stationed in each of the countries, excluding the CIS, of the former Warsaw pact.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are currently estimated to be some 195, 000 Russian forces in Germany, 18,000 in Poland, 116,000 in the Baltic republics and 49,000 in Georgia.
United States Air Bases
Mr. Cann : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the United States of America air force bases Woodbridge and Bentwaters in Suffolk will revert to his Department's control.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : On current plans the United States Air Force will return RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge to full Ministry of Defence control by September 1993.
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Britannia
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to offering Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia for use as a hospital ship in support of humanitarian aid to the former Yugoslavia.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the annual cost of maintaining Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia for each of the last 10 years ; and from which subheads of which votes these costs are taken.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The annual cost of maintaining Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is as follows :
|£ million at
|outturn prices
---------------------------------------------
1983-84 |8.905
1984-85 |5.843
1985-86 |6.943
1986-87 |4.749
1987-88 |2.364
1988-89 |9.542
1989-90 |6.998
1990-91 |9.272
1991-92 |11.466
1992-93<1> |8.602
<1> Estimate.
Expenditure falls mainly to subheads 1A, 1G, 1H, 2F4 and 5A3.
Royal Family
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost borne by his Department for the transport of members of the royal family for each of the last 10 years ; and from which subheads of which votes these costs are taken.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The tranport costs for members of the royal family are not kept centrally and could not be provided without disproportionate cost and effort.
WE177 Bomb
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department intends to do with the fissile material retrieved from the dismantling of WE177 now declared to be surplus to requirements.
Mr. Aitken : Fissile material recovered from dismantled WE177 warheads will be retained for defence purposes.
Defence Statistics
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will reconsider his decision to issue "Defence Statistics" as a non- parliamentary paper.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No. "Defence Statistics" has been established to provide for the regular publication of statistical information on defence matters. As an independent Government Statistical Service publication it is not appropriate to produce it as a parliamentary paper. Copies of the 1992 edition of "Defence Statistics" are available in the Library of the House, and through Her Majesty's Stationery Office, on the same basis as other Government Statistical Service publications.
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Royal Tournament
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to take additional measures to ensure that off-duty service men and service women in London for the royal tournament do not get involved in violent conflicts with the local civilian population.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Service personnel are fully aware of the high standard of behaviour that is expected of them at all times, on duty or off duty, in attending the royal tournament and elsewhere. Any breaches of discipline that may occur are investigated and action is taken against individuals whenever there is evidence of an offence. No additional measures are necessary.
Nuclear Weapons
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what circumstances British nuclear weapons are declared to (a) the Western European Union, (b) the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, (c) the North Atlantic Co-operation Council, (d) the Conference on Security and Co- operation in Europe and (e) the United Nations.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : British nuclear weapons are declared to NATO. The final decision on their use would in all circumstances rest with the British Government.
Low Frequency Raido Transmission
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his United States counterpart on the use of United States extremely low frequency radio transmission systems for communicating with British submarines.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : As part of normal information exchanges officials from my Department have discussed the capabilities of such a system.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which submarines in the service of his Department are capable of receiving extremely low frequency radio signals.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I have nothing to add to my answer of 15 February 1991, Official Report, column 592, to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro).
Porton Down
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many scientific procedures have been carried out on animals at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Aitken : This is a matter for the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive of CBDE to write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the site of special scientific interest agreement with English Nature in relation to Porton Down.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : This is a matter for the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive of the CBDE to reply direct to the hon. Member.
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Queen's Flight
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the annual cost of maintaining the Queen's flight for each of the last 10 years ; and from which subheads of which votes these costs are taken.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The annual cost of maintaining the Queen's flight is as follows :
|£ million at
|outturn prices
---------------------------------------------
1983-84 |4.763
1984-85 |4.770
1985-86 |4.776
1986-87 |4.752
1987-88 |5.507
1988-89 |5.952
1989-90 |6.229
1990-91 |6.745
196.863
1992-93<1> |7.316
<1> Estimate.
Expenditure falls mainly to subheads 1C, 1D, 1E, 1H and 2M.
Public Record Office
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 22 June, Official Report, column 71, how many papers withdrawn by his Department from the Public Record Office in the last five years have been retained by his Department.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the achievements of his Department and his policies in helping small businesses over the last 12 months relative to the previous 12 months ; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
Mr. Aitken : Further to the reply given to my hon. Friend on 24 July 1991, at column 452, I can inform him that our new suppliers service has given marketing advice to about 2,500 companies over the past 12 months. Dealings are by post or telephone and at various seminars, exhibitions and meet-the-buyer events around the country. In February 1992, the MOD introduced a new, fortnightly contracts bulletin setting out works services opportunities for property management and construction. This has been very well received by the construction industry and is proving to be an invaluable aid to small companies which might otherwise be unaware of the MOD's requirements in this sector.
During 1991-92, about 35 defence research contracts, with a total value of £966,000, were placed under our small firms research initiative. Details of other payments made to small firms during 1991-92 are not yet available, but during 1990-91, 6,109 small companies secured headquarters contracts valued at a total of £1.15 billion, of which about half was paid to companies with fewer than 50 employees. In the same period, Ministry of Defence establishments awarded 226,173 local purchase orders, valued at around £103 million, to small companies.
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Prisoners of War
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has been given from sources in Seoul and Panmunjom about British prisoners seen in prisoner of war camps during the Korean conflict but not after the cessation of hostilities.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Information was received from these sources at the time of the post-hostilities repatriations of British prisoners of war. We have not received any further information recently and have seen no evidence to support claims that British prisoners of war were detained in Korea or elsewhere after the post-armistice repatriations.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the information he has received from the United States Senate relating to British prisoners of war captured during the Korean war ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : To date we have received no material from the United States Senate on this subject.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the accounting procedure guidelines by which missing men, or known prisoners of war from the Korean war, are declared dead.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.
Scientific Instruments
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to offer ships and aircraft as platforms for scientific instruments.
Mr. Aitken : Under the "Joining Forces for the Environment" initiative launched by my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence on 1 July, Her Majesty's ships and aircraft could be made available as platforms for scientific instruments provided that the request for assistance has been endorsed by the Natural Environment Research Council, involves no additional costs to MOD and is compatible with operational training requirements.
Departmental Land
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what scientific study Her Majesty's Government are making of Ministry of Defence land which has not for many years been ploughed, sprayed or artificially fertilised.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : No scientific studies are currently being undertaken. Where possible, and subject to operational requirements, the Ministry of Defence is prepared to make such land available for scientific studies.
Aerial Photography (Research)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what aerial photography and hydrographic readings are to be made available for research.
Mr. Aitken : Provided there are no security or copyright restrictions, aerial photographs and associated material
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can be obtained from the RAF film library at RAF Brampton and hydrographic readings from the Hydrographic Office's data centre in Taunton. Charges are made according to the type of request.Disciplinary Proceedings (Documents)
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether he has any plans to amend Royal Air Force service rules to allow documents used in any proceedings against service personnel to be made available to any person nominated by him other than a solicitor ;
(2) if he will list those proceedings against members of the Royal Air Force where documents involved in those proceedings cannot be disclosed to anyone other than the officer involved and his solicitors.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In the case of disciplinary proceedings, disclosure of documents involved is made to the defence as part of current criminal law practice. In the case of administrative proceedings, disclosure of special narrative reports made under certain of the Queen's Regulations for the RAF is restricted to the subject, officer or airman, or to another member of the RAF selected by the subject or to his solicitor, to assist the subject to prepare a statement in reply to the report.
There are no plans to extend the facility to anyone else.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received about the disclosure of documents used in any proceedings brought against RAF service personnel to persons other than solicitors.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : I am not aware of any recent representations other than those from the hon. Member.
Radiation Doses
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish figures for the annual individual radiation dose equivalents for 1991 and the cumulative radiation dose equivalents for personnel at Devonport dockyard, Rosyth dockyard, HMS Defiance, HMS Vulcan, Clyde submarine base, Devonport naval base and combined figures for the naval nuclear propulsion programme and for all of his Department's personnel, except the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Mr. Aitken : I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 25 June 1992 to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Mr. Bennett), Official Report, column 297.
Departmental Objectives
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the objectives of each division and branch of his Department.
Mr. Aitken : The Department's objectives were set out in its 1992 departmental report, Cm 1901, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. These top-level objectives are broken down into subsidiary objectives in the internal management plans of several hundred budget holders within the Department, each of whom may control several divisions and branches. It would involve disproportionate time and effort to collate them. However, the objectives of agencies are set out in their framework documents, obtainable from the chief executive. Additional to those addresses given in Cm 1901 are :
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Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation DSARoyal Naval Yard Fleetlands
Gosport
Hants PO13 O8W.
Duke of York's Military School
Dover
Kent CT15 5EQ.
Queen Victoria School
Dunblane
Perthshire
SK15 OJ7.
Defence Postal and Courier Service DSA
Inglis Barracks
Mill Hill
London NW7 1PX
Defence Operational Analysis Centre DSA
Broadoaks
Parvis Road
West Byfleet
Surrey KT14 6LY.
Defence Analytical Services Agency DSA
Room 307
First Avenue House
High Holborn
London WC1V 6HE.
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