House of Commons Hansard Debates for 7 Jul 1993

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The precise allocation of these new funds is yet to be decided, but they will be directed towards those parts of the country where the need is greatest. Details of how the scheme will operate in the United Kingdom will be made available by the end of July.

DEFENCE

Dockyards

Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those dockyard facilities in the United Kingdom owned and operated by his Department, indicating the type of work undertaken and the numbers of people directly employed.

Mr. Aitken : My Department's only such facility is the Fleet Maintenance and Repair Organisation at Portsmouth, which undertakes ship repair, maintenance and enhancement work. It employs 2,100 civilians and 550 naval personnel.

Residential Property

Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what average purchase price has been obtained for surplus Ministry housing, for one- bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom accommodation within the Plymouth city council area and each of the six Cornish districts, for the six-month period October 1992 to March 1993 ; and what were the comparable figures for the previous six months.

Mr. Hanley : My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.

Ms Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many residential properties in the London borough of Lewisham are owned by his Department ; and if he will publish a list of such residential properties which are currently empty, giving the type of accommodation available, the length of time each property has been vacant and the intended future use.

Mr. Hanley : The Ministry of Defence currently owns 18 residential properties, all flats, situated in two locations in the London borough of Lewisham. Five dwellings are currently vacant. These properties have been vacant for three months awaiting new service occupants who are expected to arrive by September.

The answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Mr. Hamilton) to the hon. Member on 15 July 1992 at column 615 did not include six properties that had been incorrectly attributed to the neighbouring borough of Greenwich.

Satellite Centre, Spain

Sir Dudley Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the progress being made by the Western European Union satellite centre at Torrejon, Spain ; and what additional efforts he is making to further this project.

Mr. Hanley : Good progress is being made in the development of the WEU satellite centre at Torrejon. The centre has been established for a three year experimental period, and its formal inauguration, attended by my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom

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and Ewell (Mr. Hamilton), took place in April this year. The United Kingdom contribution to the cost of the experimental phase is some £4,600,000 over three years. In addition, the United Kingdom is playing a full part in the activities of the centre. The contract for the provision of technical equipment was awarded to a United Kingdom-led consortium and the staff of the centre currently includes a number of United Kingdom personnel.

Desert Storm Syndrome

Dr. David Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will seek information from (a) the United States authorities and (b) other sources on Desert Storm syndrome and on the effect on service men of the use of uranium-depleted shells.

Mr. Hanley : My Department is liaising with the United States authorities and is already in receipt of United States information which indicates that depleted uranium has not caused the unexplained symptoms associated with the so called Desert Storm syndrome. As with any other possible threat to the health of service personnel, my Department continues to monitor the full range of information on the alleged syndrome from all available sources.

Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has received any correspondence from hon. Members on behalf of constituents who allege they are suffering from unexplained illnesses that they put down to their service with the armed forces in the Gulf during Operation t of order yesterday at column 185. This letter merely provided the name of a constituent and listed some of the health problems he was experiencing. There was no mention of his address or other identifying information or details of his military service or corroborating medical evidence. I have therefore written to the hon. Member for Hemsworth advising that his constituent consult his GP and that if the GP wished to refer the case to the MOD as being one where there were unexplained symptoms which could be attributable to service in the Gulf I would be more than happy to ensure that the matter was fully investigated. This advice applies to all hon. and right hon. Members who may have constituents in similar situations.

Maralinga Nuclear Test Site

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 24 June, Official Report, columns 276-77, if he has now heard from the

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Australian Government in regard to the proposals made by Her Majesty's Government as to additional financial compensation for the clean-up of the Maralinga nuclear test site.

Mr. Hanley : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow (Dr. Godman) on 30 June at columns 548 -49.

F3 Tornados

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral statement of 17 June, Official Report, column 1082, whether legal proceedings have now been instituted against Airwork in respect of the collateral damage to F3 Tornados ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Aitken : No. My Department intends to claim against Airwork for the cost of rectifying the damage for which they are responsible and other consequential costs. It would be inappropriate in present circumstances for me to say anything about potential

proceedings--whether legal or arbitral--between the Secretary of State and Airwork Ltd.

Rosyth Dockyard

Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the names of the nuclear submarines and surface ships which have been refitted at the Rosyth dockyard in the last 10 years ; and if he will give details of the man weeks taken to complete the refit work on each vessel.

Mr. Aitken : I will write to the hon. Member.

Tigerfish Torpedo

Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what difficulties have arisen with respect to the development of the depth automatic test equipment required for the Tigerfish torpedo ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Aitken : The development of replacement auto-matic test equipment for the Tigerfish torpedo has presented a significant challenge, partly due to the difficulty of integrating the old technology of the torpedo and the associated test specification with the current technology of modern test equipment. There have been some programme delays and the Ministry of Defence is currently working with the contractor to bring the equipment into service as quickly as possible.

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