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Column 523
1992
Nationality |January |February |March |April |May |June |July |August
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
European Community<1>
Belgium |4 |2 |- |1 |3 |- |2 |1
Denmark |1 |1 |- |- |1 |1 |- |-
France |4 |3 |5 |6 |12 |5 |10 |12
Germany |- |1 |- |- |- |- |- |-
Greece |- |1 |- |- |1 |- |- |1
Italy |1 |- |- |3 |1 |- |1 |2
Luxembourg |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Netherlands |3 |2 |1 |1 |1 |2 |4 |2
Portugal |4 |2 |- |7 |3 |4 |2 |9
Spain |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Commonwealth
Australia |21 |21 |23 |27 |21 |21 |18 |18
Bangladesh |35 |46 |64 |26 |32 |30 |32 |19
Barbados |1 |3 |4 |3 |3 |4 |2 |2
Canada |11 |8 |11 |9 |20 |10 |13 |6
Cyprus |6 |4 |5 |7 |2 |6 |4 |10
Ghana |33 |40 |25 |19 |35 |35 |33 |38
Guyana |1 |6 |2 |6 |3 |7 |2 |3
Hong Kong |16 |12 |6 |17 |6 |16 |14 |12
India |28 |26 |31 |27 |40 |23 |26 |26
Jamaica |31 |32 |37 |36 |29 |33 |37 |27
Kenya |18 |20 |14 |9 |20 |12 |19 |20
Malaysia |21 |16 |33 |39 |50 |22 |39 |16
Malta |1 |1 |- |- |- |2 |5 |-
Mauritius |16 |11 |19 |14 |13 |9 |18 |15
New Zealand |8 |14 |11 |18 |16 |6 |14 |11
Nigeria |121 |119 |91 |85 |55 |62 |67 |96
Pakistan |25 |30 |18 |22 |32 |28 |20 |37
Sierra Leone |25 |23 |22 |22 |15 |20 |36 |37
Singapore |4 |5 |4 |7 |5 |- |3 |2
Sri Lanka |11 |6 |1 |1 |18 |5 |8 |14
Tanzania |6 |8 |8 |9 |11 |12 |13 |5
Trinidad and Tobago |5 |6 |2 |5 |4 |4 |5 |8
Uganda |2 |5 |2 |4 |4 |- |2 |5
Zambia |6 |2 |3 |5 |9 |7 |5 |4
Zimbabwe |16 |11 |5 |9 |7 |10 |8 |9
British Overseas Citizens |2 |- |1 |5 |2 |4 |3 |3
Other Commonwealth |41 |35 |42 |34 |23 |33 |25 |42
Other foreign
Algeria |29 |20 |11 |11 |14 |20 |20 |17
Argentina |8 |- |11 |5 |7 |6 |9 |6
Austria |3 |5 |7 |4 |11 |12 |9 |2
Brazil |44 |39 |46 |46 |46 |44 |41 |45
Bulgaria |5 |1 |3 |1 |1 |3 |4 |3
Chile |2 |1 |7 |4 |3 |7 |4 |3
China |- |5 |8 |2 |6 |5 |- |7
Colombia |30 |24 |48 |26 |30 |37 |24 |30
Cuba |- |1 |- |1 |1 |- |- |1
Czechoslovakia |12 |12 |19 |25 |15 |43 |84 |30
Egypt |- |5 |3 |1 |5 |1 |2 |2
Ethiopia |2 |2 |3 |4 |- |3 |4 |4
Finland |2 |4 |5 |4 |6 |4 |6 |4
Hungary |18 |7 |11 |15 |10 |20 |14 |14
Indonesia |- |1 |- |1 |4 |1 |2 |1
Iran |18 |17 |23 |4 |13 |9 |16 |25
Iraq |8 |- |1 |4 |3 |- |1 |-
Israel |7 |8 |8 |15 |12 |8 |11 |14
Japan |10 |10 |14 |10 |11 |16 |13 |16
Jordan |1 |1 |- |2 |- |3 |3 |1
Kuwait |1 |1 |- |1 |- |1 |- |-
Lebanon |11 |9 |6 |2 |10 |4 |20 |44
Libya |3 |2 |1 |- |1 |- |6 |4
Mexico |4 |9 |3 |7 |2 |9 |11 |14
Morocco |7 |5 |9 |11 |9 |8 |5 |16
Norway |4 |7 |2 |3 |3 |5 |1 |6
Peru |4 |3 |3 |12 |12 |9 |10 |9
Philippines |6 |13 |6 |6 |8 |9 |12 |22
Poland |6 |4 |7 |3 |16 |8 |235 |139
Romania |6 |5 |5 |5 |3 |13 |21 |8
Saudi Arabia |1 |- |1 |1 |1 |1 |1 |6
Somalia |7 |8 |4 |- |- |3 |4 |1
South Africa |26 |25 |38 |38 |37 |46 |31 |42
Sudan |1 |- |2 |1 |2 |1 |1 |-
Sweden |9 |3 |6 |9 |12 |19 |14 |12
Switzerland |7 |5 |11 |7 |5 |3 |6 |5
Syria |1 |2 |2 |2 |- |6 |1 |2
Thailand |1 |6 |4 |4 |2 |10 |2 |3
Tunisia |4 |1 |2 |4 |3 |1 |2 |2
Turkey |19 |22 |16 |18 |20 |17 |18 |20
USA |78 |71 |79 |89 |82 |80 |84 |68
USSR |9 |2 |15 |6 |3 |7 |12 |27
Uraguay |1 |- |1 |1 |- |3 |6 |1
Venezuela |3 |1 |1 |4 |3 |- |4 |3
Yugoslavia |74 |48 |59 |51 |77 |58 |49 |8
Other foreign countries |96 |78 |73 |81 |73 |83 |73 |97
Stateless |95 |109 |88 |82 |83 |73 |132 |107
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
All nationalities |1,211 |109 |1,124 |88 |1,161 |82 |1,116 |83 |1,162 |73 |1,152 |132 |1,518 |107 |1,403
<1> Persons claiming to be EC nationals.
Prison Service
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 26 October, Official Report, column 453, what assessment he has made of the change in costs of catering in prisons resulting from the introduction of contracts with commercial companies.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The dietary allowances for inmates are the same in all prisons including those where catering has been contracted out. Catering has only been contracted out in new prisons, therefore for these prisons there is no historical data on which to assess changes in other costs associated with catering. Future assessments of different methods of providing catering will balance the quality of the service against the costs.
Banknotes
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will make a statement on forgeries of banknotes ;
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(2) how many forged (a) £5, (b) £10, (c) £20 and (d) £50 banknotes he estimates have been released in the United Kingdom during the past 12 months.Mr. Charles Wardle : It is not possible to estimate accurately the number of forged notes of different denominations in circulation, but it is unlikely to exceed a small fraction of 1 per cent. of the total number of bank notes in circulation.
The national criminal intelligence service works with the police both to seize the forgeries before they circulate and to identify and bring to justice those who are responsible for this criminal activity.
Asylum
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many asylum seekers (a) came to the United Kingdom, (b) wilfully destroyed their documentation and (c) arrived with inadequate documentation in the last year for which figures are available ;
(2) what percentage of asylum applicants apply at the port of entry ; and of those what percentage have been seen to destroy their nationality documents ;
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(3) how many of those who claim asylum enter the United Kingdom (a) without documents, (b) as visitors, (c) students and (d) pre-entry cleared asylum seekers.Mr. Charles Wardle : For information on the total asylum applications to the United Kingdom by location, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 20 October 1992 at columns 261-62.
In the first half of 1992, 26 per cent. of all asylum applications to the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, were made at ports. Available information on these cases, as a percentage of total port asylum applications is given in table A.
About 75 per cent. of all applications were made in-country. Available information on these cases is given in table B.
Table A
Applications made at ports for asylum in the United Kingdom,
excluding dependants, January to June 1992
Percentages
|Percentage of total
|port applicants
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With genuine documents |33
With forged documents |15
With mutilated documents |3
With no documents |48
Table B
Applications made in country<1> for asylum in the United Kingdom,
excluding dependants, January to June 1992
Percentages
|Percentage of total in-country applicants
Applicants who were admitted to the
United Kingdom as visitors<2> |53
Applicants who were admitted to the
United Kingdom as students<2> |5
Other in-country applicants<1><3> |43
<1> Includes also a small number of applications recorded as made overseas; this number may be underrecorded.
<2> Includes those who applied after their leave as a visitor or student had expired.
<3> Includes also, inter alia, applications made by illegal entrants, cases with no documents, and cases where the immigration status is not known or not yet recorded.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 October, Official Report, columns 261-62, what proportion of the figures quoted in respect of exceptional leave to remain represent second or subsequent applications for (a) extension of leave and (b) upgrade to asylum.
Mr. Charles Wardle : The figures referred to are just of first grants of exceptional leave following determination of the asylum application. They exclude decisions on applications for subsequent extensions of exceptional leave or for upgrading to asylum.
Court Escort Service
Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in selecting a contractor to operate the court escort service in Humberside and the east midlands.
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Mr. Kenneth Clarke : On 5 February my right hon. Friend the then Home Secretary announced that invitations to tender for the provision of the court escort service in Humberside and the east midlands, under provisions contained within the Criminal Justice Act 1991, had been issued to 12 private sector contractors. The contract will cover all prisoner movements to and from court except for those of high security prisoners.
After carefully considering all the proposals submitted, the Government today signed a contract with Group 4 Court Services Ltd. for the operation of the court escort service within the designated area. The signing follows a three-month development phase, during which representatives of Group 4 have visited prisons, police stations and court premises in the area to familiarise themselves with all the agencies concerned and their requirements from the service to be provided.
The new service is due to start in April 1993 using staff who are statutorily and contractually required to be properly trained and vetted. It will free up prison and police officers to concentrate on duties more appropriate to their particular skills and training. The Government will, in due course, consider extending the contracting out of court escorting to other areas of the country.
Consultants
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all of the reports his Department has commissioned from external consultants in each of the past three years ; for each of the past three years, how many reports from external consultants to his department led to further consultancy work being commissioned, stating for each of these who were the original and subsequent consultants and briefly describing the subject matter of the consultancy work ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Information on reports produced by external consultants working in the Home Office during the past three years could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Channel Islands
Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will now provide a substantive answer to the written question of 22 October from the hon. Member for Walsall, North regarding when the documents relating to the wartime Nazi occupation of the Channel islands will now be released ;
(2) when he now intends to release into the public domain the present classified document relating to the Nazi occupation of the Channel islands.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answers 5 November 1992 and 22 October 1992] : The review of Home Office records relating to the wartime Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands should be completed shortly. I will make a statement about the results of the review later this month.
European Community
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of civil servants in his Department whose main task is work related wholly or mainly to the European Community.
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Mr. Kenneth Clarke [holding answer 3 November 1992] : Approximately 60 officials spend all or most of their time on work within the European Community or between the member states. A number of others spend smaller proportions of their time engaged in this area of work.
DEFENCE
Press Releases
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make available on request to hon. Members his departmental press releases on the day of release.
Mr. Rifkind : The main method of distributing the MOD's and other Government Departments' press releases is through the Central Office of Information's electronic news distribution service. This ensures that material becomes available to hon. Members and noble Lords through the computerised parliamentary on-line information system (POLIS) at the same time that it is released to the media. In addition, my Department sends press releases to the House of Commons Library by facsimile as soon as practicable after electronic distribution. Copies are also sent direct to Opposition defence spokesmen and to the Clerk of the Select Committee on Defence. I believe that these are the most cost-effective means of keeping each House informed of press announcements.
Nuclear Warheads
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom experience of the disposal of fissile nuclear materials recovered from dismantled nuclear warheads.
Mr. Aitken : The United Kingdom has the appropriate facilities for, and extensive experience in, the dismantling of redundant nuclear warheads. Fissile material recovered is re-used where this is necessary and possible ; otherwise, the material is stored in safe and secure facilities.
United States Military Bases
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what United Kingdom health, safety and environmental legislation applies to United States military bases and storage depots in Wales.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : All relevant United Kingdom health, safety and environmental legislation applies to United States military bases in Wales.
Atomic Weapons Establishments
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current status of the A91 building at AWE Aldermaston ; and on what date it is expected that this building will become operational.
Mr. Aitken : A project definition study into the scope of the work needed to overcome the corrosion problem is under way, and is due to report by the end of March 1993. This study will confirm the date on which the building will become fully operational.
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Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the present status of the programme to appoint a contractor to operate the atomic weapons establishments.
Mr. Aitken : Three tenders were received on 1 September 1992 and are being evaluated. We expect to announce the successful tenderer in early 1993.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the distinction made by his Department between the separate buildings of the A90 complex at AWE Aldermaston ; when each of these will be fully operational ; what buildings and facilities at AWE Aldermaston will be superseded by the A90 complex ; and which of these buildings and facilities will be demolished.
Mr. Aitken : A90 is the designation of the new plutonium processing building at AWE Aldermaston and its immediate support facilities. The plutonium processing laboratories in A90 and their support systems are currently going through a comprehensive commissioning process prior to becoming operational. A90 will replace Aldermaston's existing plutonium processing facilities, which will them be progressively decommissioned and, if necessary, demolished.
Departmental Vehicles
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State For Defence what was the cost of the truck cargo heavy duty vehicles recently delivered to his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Aitken : Around £11 million.
Nuclear Installations Inspectorate
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which facilities owned or operated by his Department are inspected by the nuclear installations inspectorate ; and from which areas in these facilities the nuclear installations inspectorate inspectors are excluded.
Mr. Aitken : The only facilities falling into this category are the royal dockyards at Devonport and Rosyth which are owned by my Department but operated by contractors. These are licensed sites under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 and are therefore subject to inspection by the nuclear installations inspectorate. Arrangements for such inspections are a matter for the contractors and the inspectorate who may have access to all facilities covered by the licence.
RAF Greenham Common
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future use of RAF Greenham Common.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : In the wake of the United States Air Force's decision to withdraw from RAF Greenham Common, alternative defence uses for the station are being investigated. It is not yet possible to say whether the station will be retained or declared surplus to defence requirements although I expect firm decisions to be announced shortly.
Imber
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will reconsider his Department's requirement for the village of Imber and the lands that surround it.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : The level of training in the United Kingdom is likely to increase as a result of the return of combat units from Germany. The Department's requirement for the Salisbury Plain training area including Imber village and surrounding lands is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Experiments on Primates
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many scientific procedures have been carried out on primates in laboratories under the control of his Department in each of the last 10 years.
Mr. Aitken : This is a matter delegated to the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment under its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Letter from G. Pearson to Mr. Harry Cohen, dated 6 November 1992 :
1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking how many scientific procedures have been carried out on primates in laboratories under the control of his Department in each of the last 10 years (Questions 16, Order Paper 29 October 1992) has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
2. As information on the number of scientific procedures carried out on primates can assist a potential aggressor in assessing the current state of development of our medical countermeasures against the threat of attack by chemical or biological weapons, it is not in the national interest to provide such information.
3. It is important to consider the use of animals in scientific procedures in the context of the role and function of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment. Our role is to carry out research to ensure that the Servicemen and Servicewomen of our Armed Forces are provided with adequate protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. The United Kingdom does not possess chemical or biological weapons and all work related to such weapons ceased in the late 1950's. Nevertheless, we do have to recognise that other countries still produce and maintain considerable stocks of chemical weapons ; they were possessed by Iraq during the Gulf war. It is vital that the protective measures provided for our Service personnel should have been developed and tested to ensure that they are effective and safe. Such work, which may involve the use of animals for experimental purposes is of considerable importance to the nation.
4. The number of experiments carried out in any one year at CBDE is relatively small and is less than one half of one per cent. of all animal experiments carried out in the United Kingdom. No animal experiments are carried out in order to improve weapons or ammunition or to practice surgery.
5. Animal experiments are only carried out after careful consideration has been given to alternatives. Where none are found to be an adequate substitute, it is essential to carry out some experiments involving animals ; the majority involve mice, rats or guinea-pigs. It is important to select an animal that is representative of man and for some studies the marmoset or monkey is the most appropriate animal. Such studies with marmosets or primates are particularly important in evaluating a proposed new medical countermeasure prior to assessment of its acceptability in man. We have also been active in the area of environmental enrichment as this is very beneficial to the animals concerned.
6. All experiments involving the use of animals at CBDE fully meet the spirit and the letter of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. CBDE is a registered place under the Act and all experiments are done under Home Office approved project licences by staff holding a personal licence. Unannounced visits are made by the Home Office Inspectors to satisfy themselves that the requirements of the Act are met.
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Our aim is to provide the Armed Forces with medical countermeasures that meet the same standards of safety as the drugs supplied to the public.Nuclear Waste
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what category of nuclear waste are glove boxes that have been used for handling plutonium at Aldermaston and Burghfield atomic weapons establishments ; and if he will make a statement on the means by which glove boxes that have been used for handling plutonium at AWE Aldermaston and AWE Burghfield are disposed of.
Mr. Aitken : Decommissioned glove boxes which have been used for handling plutonium are categorised as intermediate level waste (ILW). Such waste is currently stored on site at AWE in special containers and buildings, pending decisions on a national disposal method for ILW.
Nuclear-Powered Warships Safety Committee
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual budget of the nuclear-powered warships safety committee.
Nuclear Weapons (Safety)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he make a statement on his Department's progress in implementing the recommendations contained in the Oxburgh report on nuclear weapons safety.
Mr. Aitken : The Minister of Defence has accepted all the recommendations of the Oxburgh report and is proceeding with their implementation.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual budget of the nuclear weapons safety committee.
Nuclear Plant (Decommissioning)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the expenditure by his Department, in current and in then-year prices, since 1979, on the decommissioning of nuclear and nuclear-related plant and installations of his Department ; and from which subheads of which votes this expenditure was accounted.
Mr. Aitken : I will write to the hon. Member.
Nuclear Strategic Force
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the expenditure by his Department on the nuclear strategic force in current and in then-year prices, for each year since 1979.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Estimated costs--in millions of pounds--of the nuclear strategic force from 1979-80 to 1992-93 are shown in the table. Figures for years up to and including 1991-92 are derived from tables published in the statistical volume of the annual statement on the Defence Estimates prior to 1992. The estimate for the current year is the product of an ad hoc exercise to identify the capital and operating costs associated directly with the strategic deterrent.
Column 533
|Outturn at outturn |At 1992-93 prices<1>
|prices<1>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979-80 |126 |318
1980-81 |165 |354
1981-82 |269 |519
1982-83 |327 |585
1983-84 |382 |645
1984-85 |384 |610
1985-86 |509 |770
1986-87 |658 |949
1987-88 |82 |1,205
1988-89 |1,072 |1,385
1989-90 |1,158 |1,415
1990-91 |1,480 |1,683
1991-92 |<2>1,445 |1,510
1992-93 |- |1,245
<1> Outturn prices have been uprated using defence specific deflators.
<2> The 1991-92 figures are based on a breakdown using 1991 Supply Estimates.
Nuclear Accident Response Organisation
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the role and function of the Nuclear Accident Response Organisation ; what is its annual budget ; how many personnel are assigned to it ; in what year it was first established ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The role and function of the Nuclear Accident Response Organisation is to ensure, in conjunction with the appropriate civil agencies, an effective response to safeguard the general public and MOD personnel in the unlikely event of an emergency involving defence nuclear materials. In addition to a small full-time staff in MOD Headquarters, it would draw upon the skills of a range of teams and personnel from units and establishments across the armed forces and the MOD to respond to the particular circumstances of an incident. Contingency arrangements to deal with a range of accidents have existed for as long as the MOD has used nuclear material. The annual cost of the seven full-time MOD staff in MOD HQ is some £230,000. Details of costs and numbers for the specialist teams and personnel which might be called upon, and who are largely involved in other duties in normal circumstances, are not held centrally.
Trident
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the designation of the warhead used for the British Trident programme.
Mr. Aitken : The Trident warhead has no special designation.
Nuclear Weapons (Transport)
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent information his Department has received about the consequences of a possible accident between a nuclear weapons convoy and a petrochemical transporter on the M25, M1, M6, M4 or A1 ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : Nuclear weapons are transported by road only in specialised military vehicles and are always carried in containers that are designed and tested to resist the effects of severe impact and prolonged fuel fire, such as could occur in the situation mentioned. A fire tender always accompanies nuclear weapon convoys. The recent review of nuclear weapon safety conducted by my Department's chief scientific adviser confirmed that these arrangements
"give a high degree of confidence in the safety and security of the load even in the case of a severe accident",
and confirmed that internal containment and protection are satisfactory. A copy of this review is in the Library of the House.
Precision Cleaning
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to reduce the level of solvent used by the armed forces for precision cleaning.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : MOD is investigating possible alternatives to ozone-depleting chlorinated solvents currently used for the precision cleaning of delicate instruments, surfaces made of metal, plastic or glass or combinations of materials where cleanliness is of critical importance. Alternative cleaning agents will be introduced into service as soon as their technical suitability has been determined. The amount of ozone- depleting solvents being procured is being reduced by this Department in line with the requirements of the Montreal protocol.
Gibraltar
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those buildings in Gibraltar, in the ownership of his Ministry, of historic or architectural interest, which will now be surplus to requirements when "Options for Change" is fully implemented.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The future disposition of our remaining forces in Gibraltar is currently under review, as is the extent of the estate necessary to support those forces. Meanwhile, the Gibraltar Heritage Trust, formed in 1989 by the Government of Gibraltar, is carrying out a revision of the buildings it has listed as being of architectural or historic interest. It is, therefore, not yet possible to predict which historic buildings in MOD ownership will be surplus to our requirements.
RAF Chilmark
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) service and (b) civilian jobs are affected by the proposed closure of RAF Chilmark ; what are the principal tasks carried out there ; where they will be carried out in future ; what net savings are anticipated over the next 10 years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : This is a matter for the RAF Maintenance Group Defence Support Agency under its chief executive, Air Vice-Marshal French. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from N. Carter to Mr. John Home Robertson, dated 5 November 1992 :
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1. In the absence on duty of the Maintenance Group Defence Support Agency Chief Executive, Air Vice-Marshal French, I am responding to your recent Parliamentary Question, Number 7307F. 2. The principal tasks of RAF Chilmark are the storage and maintenance of RAF non- guided aircraft weapons and ammunition, together with the bulk storage of RAF packed petroleum products. Following the closure of RAF Chilmark, the weapons and ammunition storage and maintenance task will be transferred to Army Department Ammunition Storage Depots in the UK, whilst the petroleum stores task will be transferred to an RAF Equipment Supply Depot--either at RAF Quedgeley, RAF Carlisle or RAF Stafford. The outcome of current studies will determine which depot this will be.3. Fourteen Service and 250 civilian jobs will be affected by the closure of RAF Chilmark. The Conventional Armament Study Team's report estimated the net savings accruing from the closure of RAF Chilmark as £44 million over 10 years.
Plymouth Urban Development Corporation
Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 27 October, Official Report, columns 612-13, from what vote and subhead it is proposed to find the £20 million to be transferred to the proposed Plymouth urban development corporation ; what are the normal financial channels for transfer of his Ministry's funds to such a corporation ; on what previous occasions funds have been transferred from his Department to an urban development corporation or local authority ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is currently intended that MOD funding for the proposed Plymouth urban development corporation (UDC) is made available by means of four annual transfers of funds to the DOE effected as part of the public expenditure survey (PES) process. The funding required will be deducted from the Department's overall PES settlement rather than charged to specific MOD vote sub-items. There is no record of funds being transferred from the MOD for a similar purpose in the past to either other UDCs or local authorities.
RAF Ground Training
Mr. Temple-Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals there are for the rationalisation of ground training in the Royal Air Force.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : As part of our programme to create a more efficient structure for the RAF under "Defence for the 90s", a comprehensive study into the RAF's ground training organisation has been carried out. The aim of the study is to eliminate spare capacity and maximise efficiency by meeting future requirements for trained manpower in the most cost-effective way.
The proposals resulting from the study involve concentrating aircraft engineering training at RAF Cosford ; recruit and administration training at RAF Halton ; and, subject to further review, ground communications training at RAF Locking. It is proposed to close RAF Swinderby by July 1993 ; RAF Hereford by July 1994 ; and to reduce RAF Newton to an enclave by March 1995. It is also proposed wherever practicable to market test support services at the remaining stations.
The proposed future organisation will provide better value for money in terms of cost savings and suitability to meet our future training requirements.
All possible measures will be taken to minimise civilian redundancies at the locations concerned. Any staff leaving prematurely under voluntary or compulsory redundancy terms would receive appropriate compensation and be eligible for the services provided by the MOD redundancy counselling and outplacement service. These proposals are subject to consultation with trade unions and a final decision will be taken in the light of any representations. A consultative document has been passed to the trade unions and is being made available to all members of staff at the stations concerned today. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
Chile
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which defence research agency or other defence establishments have been used in the past 10 years by the armed forces in Chile.
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