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Mr Hanley : As announced in the report on the outcome of "Front Line First", we intend to transfer Royal Marines music training from Deal by 1 April 1996. Further work is in hand on the future requirement, and on possible locations for a defence school of music. The role of the defence intelligence centre, and the suitability of its current location, is being examined in the context of the continuing study into defence intelligence, which is being carried out under "Front Line First".
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the requirements in terms of (a) training on a second instrument and (b) orchestral training for the bandsmen who played on board the royal yacht
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Britannia and for heads of state at the recent D-daycommemorations; and which military school of music provides these requirements.
Mr. Hanley : All members of the Royal Marines band service are currently trained at Deal and are required to learn a military band instrument and an orchestral instrument. The members of the Royal Yacht band are drawn from the Royal Marines band Portsmouth and are able to perform as a marching band, a concert band, a dance band and as an orchestra.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the consultation procedure to be followed in relation to proposals involving the future of the Royal Marines school of music at Deal ; if he will list and place in the Library the investment appraisals which (a) have been carried out and (b) are to be carried out ; and if he will make available accounting and other relevant information concerning (i) retaining the Royal Marines school of music in Deal and (ii) establishing a defence school of music in Deal.
Mr. Hanley : The proposal to transfer the training of Royal Marines musicians from Deal will be subject to the same consultative period applicable to the whole series of "Front Line First" initiatives which my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced to the House on 14 July 1994 ; this lasts until 14October. The proposal has resulted from a detailed study of the current costs of military music provision and music training in all three services. Further work is in hand to establish whether there is scope to conduct the initial training of military musicians through bursary or scholarship schemes at civilian colleges of music.
Intelligence Centre, Templar Barracks
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the annual economic contribution of the intelligence centre at Templar barracks to East Kent including the value of goods and services purchased from local suppliers and direct and indirect employment.
Mr. Hanley : The defence intelligence centre buys in local goods and services to the approximate value of £220,000 a year. The centre employs 108 civilian and 136 military personnel, the majority of whom live locally and so contribute to the local economy.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the number of (a) civilian and (b) military personnel employed in the school of intelligence and the security school at the Templar barracks intelligence centre ; and what is the maximum accommodation requirement for students during the course of a normal year. Mr. Hanley : The defence intelligence and security school is an integral part of the defence intelligence centre. The centre employs 108 civilian and 136 military personnel of which 21 civilian and 45 military personnel work in the defence intelligence and security school. The centre has a throughput of approximately 3, 000 students a year, around 2,500 of which attend courses at the defence intelligence and security school. The maximum number of students requiring accommodation at any one time is around 300.
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Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what effect the construction of a channel tunnel high-speed rail link will have on whether the intelligence centre can remain in Templar barracks at Ashford.
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the intelligence centre based at Templar barracks in Ashford and the long-term suitability of that location.
Mr. Hanley : The future organisation of defence intelligence is still being examined as part of continuing defence costs study into defence intelligence, which, as indicated in the report "Front Line First", is due to report by the end of July. The role of the defence intelligence centre at Templar barracks, Ashford, and the long-term suitability of that location in the light of the channel tunnel rail link, is being addressed in that context.
Portland Bases
Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money he has planned to spend in transferring facilities from Portland naval base into Portland naval air station ; how much has already been spent ; and what plans he has to reduce this spending consequential on the announcement of his intention to close the air station by 1999.
Mr. Hanley : The original estimate of the cost of transferring facilities to Portland naval station following the decision to close Portland naval base was £3,900,000, of which £83,000 has been spent to date. The current estimate of total costs has been revised to £2, 900,000 to reflect the planned closure of the naval air station.
Abbey Wood Building
Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the planned spending on providing, equipping and staffing the new Ministry of Defence building at Abbey Wood ; how much has already been spent ; and how many staff could be accommodated at Abbey Wood.
Mr. Aitken : The estimated works cost of the Abbey Wood development, inclusive of site acquisition, construction, fitting out, professional works management fees and VAT is £254.136 million at 1993 prices with an additional £93 million for non-works elements, inclusive of staff relocation and removal/recommissioning of IT systems existing at the time of collocation. The construction programme continues to proceed within budget and a total of £72.138 million, at the same price base, has been approved for payment to date. As a result of the use of more stringent space standards and work undertaken in support of the defence costs study, it is anticipated that a maximum of some 5,700 personnel could be accommodated within the existing scheme. The estimate for the non-works costs will be revisited in the light of the recently announced decisions resulting from the defence costs study.
Naval Support Command
Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed by the naval support command ; where they are currently located ; and where it is planned to locate these staff.
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Mr. Hanley : At 1 April 1994 there were some 24,000 staff employed in the naval support command--NSC--at a variety of locations throughout the United Kingdom, overseas and at sea. The largest concentrations were in the naval bases and, for headquarters staff, in the Bath area. Some locations will be affected by the defence costs study and details are contained in the report "Front Line First". For those elements of the headquarters staff who need to be collocated, we are looking at the most suitable site in the Bath/Bristol area.
Capital Projects (Portland and Weymouth)
Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list and give the cost of the major capital projects undertaken in Portland and Weymouth over the past 10 years, with, where appropriate, the payback period for these projects as calculated when these projects were approved by the Treasury.
Mr. Hanley : In the past 10 years there have been 19 capital works projects--over 300,000 in value--in the Portland and Weymouth area, at a total cost of £44.5 million. Only one project, the building of the new wardroom and senior rates' mess at HMS Osprey, which cost £30 million, required Treasury approval. Details of the payback period are not available because the Property Services Agency--PSA--was responsible for the submission to Treasury in 1985-86 and the records are not available.
The projects were as follows :
Capital projects in Portland/Weymouth
|£000
---------------------------------------------------------
DRA
1992 DRA Southwell telephone exchange |535
1994 DRA Bincleaves refurbishment |620
HMNB
1985 RM building improvements |677
1985 Shore to ship services |974
1986 Rotherham Road Construction |940
1986 New build for QHM |927
1986 Portland Bill transmitter upgrade |570
1986 Verne reservoir and pump house |1,000
1988 FOST building extension |1,500
1992 Connections to local authority sewer |484
1992 Breakwater maintenance |690
HMS Osprey
1988 Osprey Wardroom/Senior Rates' mess |30,006
1990 Storage |1,604
1991 Secondary surveillance radar |336
1990 Permanent DWO |1,186
1989 Car parking |510
1990 Security enhancements |312
1994 Hillside stability monitoring |412
1994 Hardy site remedial works |1,175
Helicopters
Mr. Ian Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the planned spending on new hangars and facilities to accommodate the Merlin EH101 helicopters at Culdrose ; how much money has already been spent ; what other plans the Ministry of Defence has to expand helicopter facilities throughout the United Kingdom ; and how many helicopters the Ministry of Defence has now and plans to have by 1999.
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Mr. Hanley : The cost of new hangars and facilities that would be required to accommodate the Merlin EH101 at Culdrose naval air station is estimated to be between £80,000,000 to £100,000,000, none of which has yet been spent. Helicopter facilities elsewhere in the United Kingdom may change depending on the investment appraisal of the options for a joint helicopter basic flying training centre and decisions on future RAF support helicopters which have yet to be taken. The number of helicopters currently owned by my Department is published annually in the "Statement on the Defence Estimates". The number of helicopters that we will have in 1999 depends on the equipment decisions which have yet to be taken.
Farnborough Airfield
Mr. Critchley : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the future of flying at Farnborough airfield beyond 2000.
Mr. Aitken : The Ministry of Defence is committed to making Farnborough airfield available to the Society of British Aerospace Companies for the biennial airshow until the year 2000. Against the background of the collocation of procurement executive flying at Boscombe Down, the concentration of Defence Research Agency activity on part of the Farnborough site and the consequent requirement to dispose of the remainder of the site, an interdepartmental group of officials has been set up, under the chairmanship of the Department of Trade and Industry, to consider the future of Farnborough airfield, including its use for the SBAC airshow.
Aircraft and Equipment
Mr. Mudie : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which foreign Government received the aircraft and equipment as listed under Appropriation Accounts, class 1, vote 2, "Other Notes".
Mr. Hanley [holding answer, 18 July 1994] : The Government of Saudi Arabia.
Menwith Hill Station
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has, under the provisions of part IV, paragraph 21 of circular 18/84, to refer to the Secretary of State for the Environment to determine whether the development should proceed of two radomes, support buildings, security fencing and extension to a service road at Menwith hill station, Harrogate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Hanley [holding answer 13 July 1994] : The local planning authority raised no objection to this development. It did, however, draw to my Department's attention a number of objections received by the local council. We have considered the substance of these pursuant to paragraph 21 of part IV of circular 18/84 and have concluded that there is nothing in these objections that would make it appropriate to refer the matter to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.
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ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Ferranti/ISC Fraud
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Attorney-General if he will list all those charged with offences relating to the Ferranti/ISC fraud ; and if he will list, in each case, the pleas entered and the sentences imposed.
The Attorney-General : The investigation by the Serious Fraud Office commenced in September 1989 and was carried out in close co-operation with the United States prosecuting authorities because it was apparent that all the potential defendants were United States citizens residing in the United States.
At the conclusion of the investigation, a United States grand jury indicted 17 individuals and three corporations on charges of fraud. They included James Guerin, the former deputy chairman of Ferranti International Signals plc--the company which resulted from the merger of Ferranti and ISC in 1987.
In December 1991, Guerin and subsequently various other defendants pleaded guilty before the federal court in Philadelphia to offences involving fraud in respect of the merged company, committed both in the United Kingdom and the USA. All offences which might have been the subject of a United Kingdom trial were fully encompassed in the United States indictment which alleged, inter alia, the creation of fictitious contracts, with attendant false accounting designed to bolster the share price of ISC and achieve the merger with Ferranti. Accordingly, no extraditions can be, or have been, sought and no persons were charged in the United Kingdom with any offences in relation to the Ferranti investigation. Guerin was sentenced in June 1992 to a total of 15 years imprisonment and confiscation of substantial personal assets. Other defendants have yet to be sentenced and at least one trial is still pending.
At the conclusion of the investigation stage, the United States Attorney for Philadelphia issued the following statement : "The US Government received extensive co-operation and assistance from Britain's Serious Fraud Office and the Metropolitan Police. Their efforts exemplify the level of international law enforcement co-operation essential for the prosecution of criminal activity that ignores national boundaries."
Special Advisers
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many special advisers have (a) joined and (b) left his Department in each of the last five years ;
(2) how many special advisers who left his Department in each of the last five years became (a) management consultants and (b) joined a firm of consultants ;
(3) if he will publish the names of the employers joined by special advisers who left his Department in each of the last five years.
The Attorney-General : No special advisers have either joined or left my Department during the last five years.
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