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Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total tonnage of armaments delivered into and out of the NATO armaments depot, Glen Douglas, in each year since 1990; and what proportion was transported by (a) road, (b) sea and (c) rail.
Mr. Soames: Approximate information is given in tonnes in the table. Overall, 3 per cent. was transported by road, 88 per cent. by sea and 9 per cent. by rail.
Year |In |Out |Total ------------------------------------ 1990 |4,726 |7,008 |11,734 1991 |1,809 |10,988|12,797 1992 |5,528 |8,011 |13,539 1993 |2,516 |5,458 |7,974 1994<1> |11,238|4,208 |15,446 <1> to the end of October
Goose Bay
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the amount paid to the Canadian Government in the financial year 1993 94 for Royal Air Force use of Canadian forces base Goose bay; what is the estimated amount payable for the financial year 1994 95; and if he will make a statement on the discrepancy between the figures for the period 1987 88 to 1992 93 provided to the hon. Member for Dumbarton on 25 October 1993, Official Report, column 489, and those provided to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 21 January, Official Report, column 934.
Mr. Soames: The amount paid in the financial year 1993 94 was £14, 300,000 and it is estimated that £12,300,000 will be payable in 1994 95.
The figures provided to the hon. Member for Dumbarton reflected the actual payments made each year to the Canadian Government. The table of figures provided to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) was, however, based on the actual costs incurred in each financial year, as it would not otherwise have been possible to provide the information in the format requested. Payments to the Canadian Government are based on estimated costs, with the subsequent adjustments being made to reflect the actual costs involved. These adjustments sometimes have to be made after the financial year to which they relate, and it is this that primarily accounts for the difference between the two sets of figures provided.
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Royal Air Force's future requirement for practice firing of forward-firing ordnance by aircraft deployed to Canadian forces base, Goose bay for training.
Mr. Soames: The Royal Air force has no plans at present to undertake such training at Goose bay, Labrador.
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals have been submitted to the Canadian authorities for training using portable surface-to-air defence systems in the training areas at Goose bay, Labrador.
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Mr. Soames: The possibility of RAF regiment Rapier units being deployed to the practice training area was discussed at a Goose bay users' meeting in 1993; consideration of this has, however, been deferred until after the completion of the Canadian federal environmental assessment review process.
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many training sorties were flown by Royal Air Force aircraft from Canadian forces base Goose bay in 1994; and by which types of aircraft.
Mr. Soames: RAF aircraft have flown 1,299 training sorties during the 1994 flying season at Goose bay--1,277 by Tornado GR1s and 22 by Hercules aircraft.
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the national statement of requirements for facilities at Goose bay which was submitted to the Canadian authorities in 1991; and if he will list any changes made to the stated requirements since then.
Mr. Soames: It is not our practice to release internal planning documents of this kind.
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Royal Air Force's requirements for ground- controlled interception training for aircrew deployed to Canadian forces base Goose bay.
Mr. Soames: The Royal Air Force has at present no plans to conduct ground-controlled interception training at Goose bay.
Clyde Submarine Base
Mr. McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) civil and (b) military personnel were employed at the Clyde submarine base in each year since 1990; and how many of the civil employees were engaged on construction work.
Mr. Soames: Estimated number of MOD civilians and shore-based military staff employed at the Clyde submarine base, Faslane, in each year since 1990 are as follows. The construction of the Trident facilities was carried out by contractors. There was only limited involvement of MOD civilian staff in this work, details of which are not held centrally.
Year |Civilian personnel|Military personnel ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 |2,183 |1,581 1991 |2,310 |1,551 1992 |2,224 |1,486 1993 |2,362 |1,418 1994 |2,460 |1,357
Gulf War Veterans
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will seek to obtain from his American counterpart the evidence presented to the United States Department of Defence by Gulf war veterans of statistically significant rates of increased morbidity in children born to Gulf war veterans and of genetic deformations in offspring born to Gulf war veterans; and if he will institute an inquiry into the mortality and morbidity statistics of children born to British Gulf war veterans since they returned from service in the Gulf.
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Mr. Soames: My Department remains in close contact with the United States authorities over all aspects relating to the alleged Gulf war illnesses. We are aware of claims of increased birth defects and childhood illnesses among the families of certain United States armed forces units and understand that these have been investigated by the appropriate authorities and shown to be unfounded. Wider statistics relating to birth defects reported by United States Gulf veterans indicate that the incidence of such defects is no higher than among the general population. In the United Kingdom, similarly, there is currently no evidence to suggest that the incidence of genetic defects and mortality among the children of Gulf veterans' families is any higher than the national average. We do, however, urge those who are concerned to come forward for assessment to allow us to increase the statistical and clinical database available to us.
Quangos
Mr. Sykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many quangos his Department was responsible for (a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which a number is available;
(2) which quangos his Department has abolished since 1979.
Mr. Soames: A full list of non-departmental public bodies, in existence for each year since 1979, is available in the following publications: "Report on Non-Departmental Public Bodies", Pliatzky Report, Cm 7797, January 1980, "Non-Departmental Public Bodies: Facts and Figures 1980", and "Public Bodies", published annually from 1982. Copies of these publications are available in the Library of the House.
For each year since 1986, lists have been prepared centrally of public bodies which have been created and abolished. Copies will be sent to the Libraries of both Houses. Such summary data for the years 1979 to 1985 were not prepared and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Medical Officers
Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what circumstances it would be possible for a civilian junior hospital doctor with full medical registration to take up a post in a Royal Air Force medical centre as a Royal Air Force medical officer without attending the courses at RAF Cranwell, RAF Halton and RAF Farnborough.
Mr. Soames: None. Before a civilian junior hospital doctor with full medical registration can take up a post in a RAF medical centre as an RAF medical officer, he or she must attend a specialist entrant and re-entrant commissioning course at RAF Cranwell, followed by medical officer training at RAF Halton and RAF Farnborough.
Personal Weapons Test
Sir Nicholas Bonsor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of all infantry personnel completed their annual personal weapons test in 1993 94; and what was the pass rate achieved by infantry soldiers.
Mr. Soames: In 1993 94, 93 per cent. of all infantry personnel completed the annual personal weapons test; the pass rate achieved by infantry soldiers was 91 per cent.
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Fuses
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the orders, and their value, which have been placed by his Department for the L56 105mm fuse and the LS8 120 mm fuse, or their equivalents, since 1984.
Mr. Freeman: We have assumed that the question relates to the L56 and L58 fuse. No orders for these fuses, or any equivalent fuse, have been placed by my Department since 1984.
Western European Union
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy towards the Western European Union following the Noordwijk Council of Ministers meeting.
Mr. Soames: We remain committed to developing the Western European Union as the means to strengthen the European pillar of the alliance and as the defence component of the European Union. We shall continue to contribute to the development of its operational planning, and to other aspects of its work.
Future Large Aircraft
Dr. David Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his French counterpart concerning the future large aircraft.
Mr. Freeman: My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence met Mr. Leotard at Chartres on 18 November 1994, when they had a wide-ranging discussion on topics of mutual interest, including the future large aircraft.
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the names of the senior British experts who are to study possible British participation in the future large aircraft; what will be their terms ofreference; when they will start their study; and what time scale they will have before reporting their findings.
Mr. Freeman: The chief of defence procurement, Dr. Malcolm McIntosh, will be the senior British representative. The first meeting is expected to be early next month and the terms of reference for the study will be decided then. A date for the study report has yet to be decided.
Management Consultants
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which firms are currently hired by his Department to carry out management consultancy work.
Mr. Freeman: A central list of companies providing management consultancy work to my Department does not exist and could be drawn up only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total cost to date of management consultants hired to analyse the privatisation of the royal dockyards; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman: Payments made or outstanding specifically for management consultancy advice given on the proposed privatisation of the royal dockyards between 18 October 1993, when my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced our policy on the future management of the dockyards-- Official
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Report , 18 October 1993, columns 39 41 -- and 31 October 1994 total some £2.2 million.Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy towards the use of management consultants; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman: Responsibility and accountability for the employment of external management consultants have been largely delegated in my Department to budget holders at all levels. These budget holders take fully into account their obligations for the proper and economical use of their resources, including the use of competition, when considering in what circumstances and to what extent they should call on such services.
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total cost of management consultants hired by his Department in each of the past five years.
Mr. Freeman: Individual budget holders in my Department have delegated powers to employ external assistance as they think fit within the limit of their resources. No central figure for the costs of this assistance is available and one could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Trident
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the announcement by the United States' Deputy Defence Secretary, on 16 August, regarding United Kingdom plans to buy Trident D5 missiles.
Mr. Freeman: The statement attributed to the United States Defence Secretary concerned United States plansfor its 1996 budget and referred to current United Kingdom planning assumptions. Final decisions have yet to be taken on further missile purchases.
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's latest estimate of the cost of the total D5 missile purchases.
Mr. Freeman: The current total estimated cost of Trident D5 missile purchases is £1,275 million at 1993 94 prices.
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money has been committed to the purchase of Trident D5 missiles from the United States to date.
Mr. Freeman: At the end of August 1994, some £718 million at outturn prices had been committed on the purchase of Trident D5 missiles from the United States.
Procurement
Dr. David Clark: to ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy concerning European procurement co-operation; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman: My Department's policy concerning European procurement co-operation is set out in paragraphs 433 and 434 of the "statement on the Defence Estimates 1994," Cm 2550.
Gulf War Syndrome
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if members of the armed forces serving in the Gulf war were made aware of the medical implications
Column 461
and side effects of taking nerve agent pre- treatment set tablets.Mr. Soames: All United Kingdom military personnel routinely take part in nuclear, biological and chemical defence training. This training includes instruction on the purpose and proper administration of nerve agent pre-treatment set--NAPS--tablets. Specific reference to side- effects was not made during Operation Granby, since, when taken at the stated dose, side-effects occur only in a minority of individuals, are minor in nature and cease when the tablets are no longer taken. Instructions on the NAPS packet make clear that the stated dose should not be exceeded and this point is emphasised in training.
Nerve Agents
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if the nerve agent pre-treatment set tablets administered to members of the British armed forces in the Gulf war had been put through the normal medical trials; and if he will make a statement;
(2) What tests were carried out at the Chemical and Biological Weapons Establishment at Porton Down to analyse the effects of prolonged use of nerve agent pre-treatment set tablets.
Mr. Soames: These are matters for the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down, under its framework document. I have asked its chief executive to write to the hon. Member. Letter from Dr. Graham Pearson to Dr. David Clark, dated 25 November 1994:
QUESTION 25, ORDER PAPER DATED 22 NOVEMBER 1994
1.
Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking what tests were carried out at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment at Porton Down to analyse the effects of prolonged use of nerve agent pretreatment set tablets has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
2.
The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment is to ensure that the United Kingdom Armed Forces have effective protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. As such it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of medical countermeasures.
3.
A number of studies were carried out using Service volunteers to evaluate the acceptability of using pyridostigmine bromide and whether such use had adverse side effects or was affected by the nature of the duties of the Service personnel. These studies which lasted for up to eight weeks included the assessment of the effects of NAPS on volunteers undergoing strenuous exercise and of a thermally stressful environment. No significant differences were found between subjects who had received a placebo and those who had received pyridostigmine bromide.
4.
These studies concluded that pyridostigmine bromide in NAPS gives considerable protection against all organophosphorus nerve agents with no significant adverse effects. These results formed part of the Ministry of Defence's license application to the Medicines Control Agency which resulted in pyridostigmine bromide in NAPS being licenses under Product License Number 4537/0003.
QUESTION 24, ORDER PAPER DATED 22 NOVEMBER 1994
1.
Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking if the nerve agent pre-treatment set tablets administered to members of the British Armed Forces in the Gulf War had been put through the normal medical trials, and if he
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will make a statement has been passed to me to answer as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment. 2.The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment is to ensure that the United Kingdom Armed Forces have effective protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. As such it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of medical countermeasures.
3.
One of the current in-service medical countermeasures to nerve agents is the Nerve Agent Pretreatment Set (NAPS) which contains pyridostigmine bromide. This has been put through the normal medical trials and is a licensed drug. This only entered service after careful and considered evaluation. Following a series of animal studies pyridostigmine bromide was chosen for evaluation as an oral pre-treatment in man as it was a British Pharmacopoeial drug which appeared to combine efficacy and duration of action within an acceptable safety ratio.
4.
Volunteer studies were carried out at CBDE to identify the effective oral dose regimen which in conjunction with therapy would provide protection against nerve agent poisoning whilst producing minimal or nil side effects under a range of conditions. The conclusion was that 8 hourly dosing with 30 mg of pyridostigmine bromide was acceptable.
5.
Pyridostigmine bromide is listed in the British Pharmacopoeia and has been licensed in the United Kingdom since 1955 by Roche Products Limited as a treatment for myasthenia gravis, paralytic ileus and post-operative urinary retention. In adults with myasthenia gravis the usual daily dose is in the range 300-1200 mg, often over a period of many years or for life. The NAPS daily dose is 90 mg.
6.
Pyridostigmine bromide is licensed to the Ministry of Defence by the Medicines Control Agency under Product License Number4537/0003 for use in the pre-treatment of Service personnel at risk from poisoning from organophosphorus nerve agent.
TREASURY
Income Tax
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net revenue forgone as a result of the reduction in personal income tax for higher rate taxpayers introduced by the Finance Act 1988; and what has been the total number of beneficiaries in each year, by region.
Sir George Young: Cutting tax rates has improved incentives at all levels and has encouraged entrepreneurial initiative upon which the nation depends. The figures in the table take no account of any behavioural changes resulting from the changes in the higher rates of tax. We believe that if the former higher rates of tax had continued fewer people would now have achieved incomes on which the higher rates would be payable.
Information for 1992 93 is given in the table. Figures for earlier years were given in the reply to the hon. Member on 17 December 1993, Official Report , column 970 . The table shows the direct revenue costs for a full year, compared with re-introduced tax rates of 45, 50, 55 and 60 per cent. The band widths for the tax rate schedule have been calculated by uprating the corresponding parts of the 1987 88 regime by movements in the retail prices index as in the statutory indexation formula. The estimates have been calculated to reflect only the changes in the higher rates of tax and exclude any effects of the introduction of independent taxation in 1990 91 and the restriction of mortgage interest relief to the basic rate from 1991 92. Some regional estimates are based on small samples and all amounts are given to the nearest £50 million.
Column 463
Number of
taxpayers
benefiting and
change in tax
revenue resulting
from
abolition of
rates in excess
of 40 per cent.
Region of residence |Numbers |Amount
|thousands |£ million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North |40 |100
Yorkshire and Humberside |70 |200
North west |90 |200
East Midlands |70 |200
West Midlands |90 |200
East Anglia |40 |100
South east |620 |2,300
South west |90 |250
Wales |30 |50
Scotland |80 |200
Northern Ireland |20 |50
United Kingdom<1> |1,240 |3,900
<1> includes members of the forces and merchant navy and a small number of civil
servants serving overseas who are not all allocated to regions.
Stamp Duty
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) share transactions and (b) property transactions are recorded on which stamp duty was paid in the catchment area of each stamp duty office for the last three full years and in the first half of the current year.
Mr. Nelson: The following tables show the total number of transactions processed by local stamp office and, so far as figures are available, the number of callers using the public counter services.
Column 463
Stamp duty 1992-93 1992-93
Numbers of
transactions
processed |Property |Securities |Other |Total |Property |Securities |Other |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast |49,884 |5,257 |17,692 |72,833 |52,952 |4,664 |15,122 |72,738
Birmingham |173,015 |98,661 |3,455 |275,131 |102,441 |118,326 |14,816 |235,583
Bristol |130,074 |65,894 |26,770 |225,738 |88,157 |53,311 |22,441 |163,909
Cardiff |90,266 |36,470 |26,702 |156,438 |65,189 |30,942 |21,462 |117,593
Edinburgh |90,209 |163,736 |28,375 |282,320 |50,245 |118,728 |18,929 |187,902
Leeds<1> |159,708 |34,936 |34,533 |234,177 |96,113 |30,332 |39,144 |167,589
Liverpool |139,092 |93,060 |23,630 |255,782 |87,096 |86,886 |12,765 |186,747
London |194,132 |727,416 |315,803 |1,237,351 |179,489 |771,319 |136,761 |1,087,569
Manchester |165,125 |50,524 |15,627 |231,276 |97,533 |37,438 |15,198 |150,169
Newcastle |101,786 |31,095 |19,479 |152,360 |59,745 |29,367 |13,799 |102,811
Nottingham1 |159,751 |15,897 |25,897 |201,545 |88,300 |14,211 |31,843 |134,354
Total |1,458,042 |1,322,946 |542,963 |3,324,951 |969,280 |1,295,524 |342,280 |2,607,064
<1> Offices closed March 1993.
Stamp duty 1993-94 1994-95 (Up to
September)
Numbers of
transactions
processed |Property |Securities |Other |Total |Property |Securities |Other |Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast |56,371 |5,539 |17,460 |78,370 |47,132 |3,784 |233 |51,149
Birmingham |141,908 |98,631 |10,706 |251,245 |63,717 |65,342 |6,954 |136,013
Bristol |120,311 |76,119 |31,446 |227,876 |72,518 |49,739 |12,098 |134,355
Cardiff |86,702 |35,304 |26,233 |148,239 |55,436 |16,632 |3,463 |75,531
Edinburgh |45,161 |128,678 |17,810 |191,648 |20,085 |90,048 |8,441 |123,524
Leeds* |6,522 |2,539 |1,416 |10,477 |- |- |- |-
Liverpool |132,649 |93,854 |19,497 |24,600 |82,147 |60,638 |4,619 |147,404
London |245,867 |383,667 |116,125 |1,200,659 |132,924 |517,286 |35,686 |685,896
Manchester |158,115 |68,153 |26,779 |253,047 |83,097 |42,785 |10,368 |136,190
Newcastle |89,197 |38,284 |16,796 |144,277 |63,066 |18,005 |3,671 |84,762
Nottingham1 |5,730 |1,101 |2,733 |9,584 |- |- |- |-
Total |1,087,533 |1,386,869 |287,001 |2,761,403 |625,032 |864,259 |85,533 |1,574,924
<1> Offices closed March 1993
|1994-95 (To
Counter customers |1991-92 |1992-93 |1993-94 |September)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belfast |13,084 |13,818 |5,605
Birmingham |10,389 |11,171 |5,979
Bristol |5,925 |6,034 |3,066
Cardiff |2,091 |2,160 |1,137
Edinburgh |10,884 |10,625 |5,705
Leeds<1> |4,164 |329 |-
Liverpool |5,610 |6,406 |3,509
London |70,940 |70,220 |35,882
Manchester |9,390 |9,787 |5,108
Newcastle |3,927 |4,159 |2,063
Nottingham1 |3,444 |249 |-
Total |- |140,848 |134,958 |68,094
<1> Offices closed March 1993
Quangos
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates his Department has made of the effect of tobacco duty on the family budgets of top, middle and lower-income families.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Data from the 1993 family
Mr. Sykes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which quangos his Department has abolished since 1979.
Mr. Nelson: The Treasury has abolished the following non- departmental public bodies since 1979:
P
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Sykes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many quangos his Department was responsible for (a) in 1979 and (b) in the latest year for which a number is available.
Mr. Nelson: In each of the years requested my Department was responsible for the following number of non-departmental public bodies:
(a) 10 in 1978 79, as listed in the "Report on Non-Departmental Public Bodies" (Pliatzky Report Cm 7797, January 1980); and (b) 9 in 1993, as shown in Public Bodies 1993 (including the Royal Mint Advisory Committee). In addition to those bodies shown in Public Bodies 1993, I also have some responsibility for making or approving appointments to a further 12 non- departmental public bodies.
Tobacco and Alcohol
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates his Department has made of the effect of tobacco duty on the family budgets of top, middle and lower-income families.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: Data from the 1993 family expenditure survey suggest that top-income families spend around 1 to 2 per cent. of their total expenditure on tobacco, middle-income families spend around 2 to 3 per cent. and lower-income families around 3 per cent. Duty is only part of the price of tobacco.
Inheritance Tax
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all the new reliefs from, offers against, and exclusion from inheritance tax that he has announced since April 1992; and in each case what is the expected number of beneficiaries in a full year and the cost of the relief.
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