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DEFENCE
European Union
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost in the last 12 months of sending Ministers and officials to meetings to Brussels and elsewhere in Europe in connection with his Department's handling of EU business. [4942]
Mr. Soames: Costs of attendance at EU-related meetings are not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of his Department's time and resources are spent dealing with administrative and policy matters connected with British membership of the European Union. [4952]
Mr. Soames: The percentage of my Department's time and resources spent dealing with EU business could be calculated only at disproportionate cost, but could be expected to be negligible.
Rosyth Dockyard
Mr. Temple-Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on the sale of the Rosyth royal dockyard. [5177]
Mr. Arbuthnot: Since the announcement in October 1993 of the Government's intention to sell the royal dockyards, a series of separate negotiations has been conducted with Babcock International Group for the proposed sale of Rosyth royal dockyard.
I am pleased to say that negotiations with Babcock have been concluded and we intend to sign the sale contract shortly, subject only to acceptable final contract terms and conditions. That agreement represents good value for money for the taxpayer and will generate savings of £100 million over 10 years. It will also give Babcock and its employees the prospect of achieving a secure long-term future for the dockyard. To assist in that, the Government have allocated a significant programme of ship refit work to the yard, lasting well into the next decade. The forthcoming refits of the carriers HMS Invincible and HMS Ark Royal and the nuclear-powered submarines HMS Sceptre and HMS Spartan, among others, will take place at Rosyth. My Department is today issuing a consultation document to the trades unions about the impact of the sale on MOD employees.
Employment Contracts
Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) full-time jobs, (b) part-time jobs, (c) full-time jobs which are on (i) renewable and (ii) unrenewable fixed-term contracts, (d) part-time jobs which are on (i) renewable and (ii) unrenewable fixed-term contracts, (e) temporary jobs and (f) jobs classified as casual there have been in (1) his Department and (2) executive agencies of his Department for each year since 1992. [5425]
Mr. Arbuthnot: Some information is held centrally on numbers of jobs in the Department and its agencies and this is listed in the table. Totals for temporary jobs are included in the numbers of casual staff. Details of all the full-time or part-time jobs held on renewable or unrenewable fixed-term contracts are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Permanent full time | Permanent part time(23) | Casual full time | Casual part time(23) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total MoD--all civilian staff | ||||
| 1 April 1992(24) | 136,686.0 | 2,768.0 | 1,550.0 | n/a |
| 1 April 1993 | 126,720.0 | 2,505.5 | 2,261.0 | 145.0 |
| 1 April 1994 | 119,190.0 | 2,368.0 | 2,352.0 | 196.5 |
| 1 April 1995 | 113,365.0 | 2,775.0 | 2,816.0 | 236.3 |
| 1 April 1996 | 107,125.0 | 2,733.5 | 3,374.0 | 266.2 |
| Total MoD--non-industrial staff | ||||
| 1 April 1992(24) | 88,799.0 | 1,883.0 | 910.5 | n/a |
| 1 April 1993 | 86,133.0 | 1,751.5 | 1,318.0 | 70.0 |
| 1 April 1994 | 81,127.0 | 1,634.0 | 1,302.0 | 67.5 |
| 1 April 1995 | 77,869.0 | 1,937.0 | 1,698.0 | 116.23 |
| 1 April 1996 | 75,169.0 | 1,976.0 | 2,179.0 | 174.0 |
| Total MoD--industrial staff | ||||
| 1 April 1992(24) | 47,887.0 | 885.0 | 639.5 | n/a |
| 1 April 1993 | 40,587.0 | 754.0 | 943.0 | 75.0 |
| 1 April 1994 | 38,063.0 | 734.0 | 1,050.0 | 129.0 |
| 1 April 1995 | 35,496.0 | 838.0 | 1,118.0 | 120.0 |
| 1 April 1996 | 31,956.0 | 757.0 | 1,195.0 | 92.2 |
Notes:
(23) Part timers counted as 0.5 for 1992, 1993 and 1994. For 1995 and 1996, part timers count as the proportion of full time hours worked.
(24) For 1 April 1992, casual part time numbers are included in casual full time figures.
Source:
DASA (Civilian and Tri-Service).
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| Permanent full time | Permanent part time(25) | Casual full time | Casual part time(25) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive agencies of MoD--all civilian staff | ||||
| 1 April 1992(26) | 29,593.0 | 545.5 | 223.0 | n/a |
| 1 April 1993 | 29,517.0 | 398.5 | 339.0 | 29.0 |
| 1 April 1994 | 26,131.0 | 394.5 | 424.0 | 34.5 |
| 1 April 1995 | 31,783.0 | 620.0 | 503.0 | 52.5 |
| 1 April 1996 | 44,429.0 | 821.5 | 1,369.0 | 78.7 |
| Executive agencies of MoD--non-industrial staff | ||||
| 1 April 1992(26) | 19,919.0 | 358.5 | 144.0 | n/a |
| 1 April 1993 | 19,934.0 | 343.0 | 225.0 | 28.0 |
| 1 April 1994 | 17,970.0 | 335.5 | 280.0 | 25.0 |
| 1 April 1995 | 21,628.0 | 478.0 | 375.0 | 27.8 |
| 1 April 1996 | 30,895.0 | 651.4 | 908.0 | 57.7 |
| Executive agencies of MoD--industrial staff | ||||
| 1 April 1992(26) | 9,674.0 | 187.0 | 79.0 | n/a |
| 1 April 1993 | 9,583.0 | 55.5 | 114.0 | 1.0 |
| 1 April 1994 | 8,161.0 | 59.0 | 144.0 | 9.5 |
| 1 April 1995 | 10,155.0 | 142.0 | 128.0 | 24.7 |
| 1 April 1996 | 13,534.0 | 170.1 | 461.0 | 21.0 |
Notes:
(25) Part timers counted as 0.5 for 1992, 1993 and 1994. For 1995 and 1996, part timers count as the proportion of full time hours worked.
(26) For 1 April 1992, casual part time numbers are included in casual full time figures.
Source:
DASA (Civilian and Tri-Service).
Implementation Force
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his latest estimate of the costs of the United Kingdom's military contribution to the NATO-led implementation force in the former Yugoslavia. [6254]
Mr. Portillo: The latest estimates of the costs for the ground operations of the NATO-led implementation force in the former Yugoslavia are that £60 million was spent in 1995-96, and that £160 million will be spent in this financial year. In addition, we estimate that £24 million will be spent in this financial year for Operation Decisive Edge, the air component of the implementation force.
25 Nov 1996 : Column: 29
Subject to parliamentary approval, the Government have agreed that £244 million will be provided from the reserve in 1996-97 to meet these costs.
We estimate that a further £120 million may be required in future years, including for repair of equipment deployed and restocking of stores and spares. If the defence budget is unable to absorb those extra costs without detriment to the rest of the defence programme, I shall seek access to the reserve.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Nuclear Power Industry
Mr. Meacher: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action has been taken by the Atomic Energy Authority to decontaminate Reay castle on the site of the AEA's Dounreay Nuclear Research Establishment following the experiment conducted there. [5070]
Mr. Page: This is an operational matter for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the advantages of appointing additional non-specialist members to the board of Nirex. [5067]
Mr. Page: No assessment of such appointments has been considered necessary.
Small Firms (Exports)
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimates he has made of the percentage of small and medium enterprises which export (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in each EU country; and what is the EU average. [5685]
Mr. Page: My Department has not made estimates of the percentage of small and medium enterprises that export, either for the United Kingdom, or for other EU countries.
Business Links
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to ensure that business links' databases are compatible. [5686]
Mr. Page: The business link IT strategy group has defined a mandatory standard format for core contact data, to be held on business links databases, on its target market. This standard has been published to all business links in an IT briefing paper, OSSIT 8 version 2.
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what changes he plans to make to the accreditation procedure for business links. [5687]
Mr. Page: I am asking the Accreditation Advisory Board to conduct a full review of the accreditation requirements at its January 1997 meeting. The board will then advise me urgently on any changes or enhancements that it believes are required in the light of the first six months' operation of the accreditation arrangements.
Mrs. Roche: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what training is undertaken by personal business advisers in business links. [5442]
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Mr. Page [holding answer 21 November 1996]: For the purposes of accreditation, business links are required to ensure that personal business advisers spend a minimum of 60 hours a year on training and professional development and that their managers regularly review and agree the training and development needs of each team member.
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