| Previous Section | Home Page |
Large Aircraft
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which is the largest (a) military and (b) civilian aircraft to have landed, or taken off, from each of the airports or aerodromes that his Department owns or controls in Yorkshire and Humberside, other than RAF Finningley.
Mr. Hanley : No records are available for Church Fenton, Dishforth or Topcliffe. The largest military aircraft to have landed at, or taken off from, RAF Leeming is a Lockheed C141 Starlifter ; the largest civilian aircraft to have done so is a Boeing 737. No records are available for civilian aircraft landing at, or taking off from, RAF Linton-on-Ouse ; the largest military aircraft to have done so is a Nimrod MR2.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which is the largest civilian aircraft that could be landed in normal operating conditions from each of the airports or aerodromes that his Department owns or controls in Yorkshire and Humberside, other than RAF Finningley.
Mr. Hanley : Adequate performance data for civilian aircraft is not available in respect of RAF Linton-on-Ouse.
Column 856
The relief landing grounds at Church Fenton, Dishforth and Topcliffe are now suitable only for light aircraft. The largest civilian aircraft that could be landed at RAF Finningley in normal operating conditions is a Boeing 707.RAF Finningley
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money has been spent on improving accommodation assigned to (a) commanding officers, (b) other officers and (c) other ranks in each of the last four years at RAF Finningley ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : Figures are not available prior to 1991 when works management was untied from the Property Services Agency and delegated to local budget areas. Figures from financial year 1991-92, which include both single and married accommodation, is as follows :
Year |Commanding |Other Officers|Other Ranks
|Officer
|£ |£ |£
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1991-92 |Nil |4,800,000 |759,000
1992-93 |Nil |483,000
1993-94 |2,725 |160,000 |135,000
The £4,800,000 was spent over financial years 1991-92 and 1992-93 on a single project for a major refurbishment of officers' married quarters. The other expenditure largely relates to : Food Act improvements and health and safety fire measures in the officers', sergeants' and airmen's messes ; the refurbishment of two barrack blocks for airmen in 1991 and 1992 ; and double-glazing for the commanding officer's residence.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what review there has been into the requirements of (a) RAF Finningley and (b) each other airport or aerodrome in Yorkshire and Humberside for military purposes (i) before and (ii) since the publication of "Options for Change".
Mr. Hanley : No formal review was conducted into the requirements for military purposes of either RAF Finningley or any other RAF airport or aerodrome in Yorkshire and Humberside prior to "Options for Change". Following "Options for Change", the RAF airfield at Church Fenton was declared surplus to requirements and the station was closed in April 1992, although the airfield remains in use as a relief landing ground for RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Currently, the complete RAF flying training requirement is the subject of a review which will include consideration of the use of all flying training airfields within the United Kingdom. More generally, the requirement for all RAF airfields is currently under review as part of the defence costs study "Front Line First".
Accommodation Improvement
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money has been spent on improving accommodation assigned to (a) commanding officers, (b) other officers and (c) other ranks in each of the last four years at airports and aerodromes owned or under his Department's control in Yorkshire and Humberside, other than RAF Finningley ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 857
Mr. Hanley : There is no RAF-maintained accommodation at Church Fenton, Dishforth or Topcliffe. For RAF Linton-on-Ouse, figures are only available for the last two years, as follows :
|Commanding|Other |Other
|Officer |Officers |Ranks
Year |£ |£ |£
-------------------------------------------------------
1992-93 |Nil |Nil |62,727
1993-94 |Nil |105,686 |43,760
For RAF Leeming, figures are available for all four years, as follows :
|Commanding |Other |Other
|Officer |Officers |Ranks
Year |£ |£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1990-91 |2,000 |58,700 |<1>2,033,000
1991-92 |1,700 |122,700 |457,200
1992-93 |2,000 |229,700 |403,800
1993-94 |16,500 |180,200 |281,000
<1>This expenditure includes the completion of new housing.
Runway Capacity
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the airports or aerodromes that his Department owns or controls in Yorkshire and Humberside other than RAF Finningley ; if he will list the length of each airport or aerodrome runway ; and if he will list the annual volume of flights in and out of each location for each of the last four years and the current year to date.
Mr. Hanley : The only airports or aerodromes other than RAF Finningley owned or controlled by the Ministry of Defence in Yorkshire and Humberside are RAF Leeming and RAF Linton-on-Ouse ; RAF Linton-on-Ouse also has the use of the airfield facilities at the former RAF stations of Church Fenton, Dishforth and Topcliffe, which are used as relief landing grounds. Runway lengths are as follows :
Airfield |Length metres
----------------------------------------------------------
RAF Leeming
Only one operational runway |2,292
RAF Linton-on-Ouse
Runway 04/22 |1,835
Runway 10/28 |1,339
Church Fenton
Runway 06/24 |1,759
Runway 16/34 |1,666
Dishforth
Runway 16/34 |1,858
Runway 10/28 |1,362
Topcliffe
Runway 03/21 |1,837
Runway 13/31 |1,262
The number of movements at each airfield, since 1990, is as follows :
I
Movements by Year
Airfield |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 |<1>1994
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAF Leeming |-<2> |36,674 |41,221 |33,793 |6,510
RAF Linton-on-Ouse |71,531 |76,549 |66,382 |56,485 |8,937
Church Fenton |-<2> |-<2> |33,618 |24,602 |5,885
Dishforth |43,035 |43,961 |32,519 |32,277 |5,712
Topcliffe |23,285 |29,141 |14,540 |15,529 |3,332
<1> figures to date
<2> figures not available
World War Two Munitions
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what areas in the Irish sea, northern channel and off the coast of Northern Ireland have been used in the disposal of world war two munitions since 1964 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) how many discarded world war two munition devices have come ashore on the British mainland over the last five years ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if he will make a statement on sea disposal of surplus world war two munitions since 1964 ; if the disposal included chemical weapons and gas canisters ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : There are no records of world war two vintage munitions having been disposed of by sea dumping after 1964. In the last five years Royal Navy clearance diving units have conducted 3, 268 munitions clearance tasks below the highwater mark on the British mainland. Available records do not identify the type, origin or number of devices dealt with.
Low Flying
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish a table giving the number of low-flying sorties conducted over Wales in every year since 1978 (a) in total, (b) below 250 ft and (c) at 100 ft.
Mr. Hanley : Records are not held of low-flying sorties conducted over specific locations or the number of low-flying sorties flown below 250 ft. However, the number of low-flying movements below 250 ft authorised into the central Wales tactical training area in each year since 1979, the earliest year for which figures are available, are set out in the table. Operational low flying may be authorised down to a minimum level of 100 ft, but records do not distinguish between movements flown below 250 ft and at 100 ft.
Number of movements carried out below 250 ft down to a minimum height of 100 ft in the Central Wales Tactical Training Area Year |Number --------------------- 1979 |123 1980 |171 1981 |59 1982 |4 1983 |21 1984 |64 1985 |44 1986 |63 1987 |242 1988 |60 1989 |89 1990 |265 1991 |90 1992 |174 1993 |192
Column 859
Light Dragoons Reconnaissance Squadron
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the commanding officer of the Light Dragoons Reconnaissance Squadron, Major Oliver Ellwood, did not accompany his troops when they left base in Germany for Bosnia ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley : Major Ellwood departed Germany for Bosnia on the first flight and with the first group of his squadron on the evening of Saturday 12 March 1994.
Overseas Contracts
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the dates on which memoranda of understanding have been drawn up with overseas Governments on matters relating to defence contracts in each year since 1986.
Mr. Aitken : I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on 9 February, Official Report , column 254 .
Arms Sales
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list for each year since 1979, and in total at constant 1993 prices, the total value of arms sales to (a) Indonesia and (b) Tanzania.
Mr. Aitken : It is not our policy to reveal details of arms sales to individual countries.
Civil Servants
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list for each civil service grade in his Department (a) the total number of persons employed and (b) the percentage of this figure that are women.
Mr. Aitken : I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 29 November 1993, Official Report , columns 371-76 .
Column 860
Yugoslavia
Sir Keith Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is (a) the total number of United Kingdom service personnel currently serving in the former Yugoslavia and on sanctions activities in the Adriatic and on the Danube and (b) his estimate of the comparable figures for other Western European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries.
Mr. Hanley : There are currently some 3,300 United Kingdom service personnel deployed on the ground in the former Yugoslavia. Around 600 Royal Navy personnel are serving in the Adriatic in support of NATO-WEU sanctions monitoring and enforcement operations. The military contribution of other nations to these operations is a matter for their national Governments and for the United Nations. Due to fluctuations in the actual level of troop contribution from a wide range of countries, it is not possible at this time to estimate comparable figures for other NATO and WEU countries.
Married Quarters
Mr. Coe : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on plans for the new management arrangements for the Ministry of Defence's married quarters estate.
Mr. Hanley : Following an open competition, Mr. James Michael Robinson, presently co-ordinator and chief executive of Bristol city council, has been selected for the post of chief executive designate of the new housing organisation. Mr. Robinson will take up his appointment shortly.
Following a separate competition, Price Waterhouse has been appointed as the lead consultant to assist Mr. Robinson in developing the operational and business plans for the new organisation.
|
| Home Page |