---

Sustainable Development

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how his Department has used the UK indicators for sustainable development in (a) the production of the Department's annual report, (b) monitoring progress towards meeting the objectives set out in the UK sustainable development strategy and (c) assessing the environmental implications of policy options; and what plans they have to extend their use in future within the Department. [12270]

Mr. Soames: My Department conducts its activities in accordance with the Govnerment's overall policy on the environment, including sustainable development. Environmental considerations are taken into account in the development of defence policy, and where specific environmental targets or objectives, including sustainable development targets, impact on my department, appropriate action is taken by the responsible areas of management.

War Pensions

Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of those documents available to service personnel in 1968 relating to possible entitlement to war pensions. [12561]

Mr. Soames: In 1968 responsibility for payment of war pensions rested with the then Ministry of Social Security. Copies of any documents which my Department made available to service personnel at that time relating to entitlement to war pension were not retained separately from our main departmental records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Auxiliary Oilers

Mr. Hutton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to announce the award of a contract for the design and construction of new auxiliary oilers for the Royal Navy. [12830]

Mr. Arbuthnot: I hope to be able to make an announcement in the near future.

Trafalgar Class Submarines

Mr. Hutton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to award a contract for the design and construction of the batch 2 Trafalgar class submarines; and if he will make a statement. [12831]

Mr. Arbuthnot: If we can achieve an acceptable price with GEC-Marconi, we hope to place the prime contract for three batch 2 Trafalgar class submarines around Easter.

28 Jan 1997 : Column: 200

Gulf War Syndrome

Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 18 December, Official Report, column 630, on Gulf war syndrome, if he will list the other categories of illnesses suffered by Gulf veterans who have been examined as part of his Department's medical assessment programme. [13003]

Mr. Soames: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of the reply will be placed in the Library of the House.

Royal Yacht

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the total running costs for the royal yacht Britannia for each year since 1990. [13218]

Mr. Soames: The total operating costs of HMY Britannia are:

Year	£ thousand(43)
1990-91	9,272
1991-92	12,458
1992-93	8,361
1993-94	8,397
1994-95	11,424
1995-96	8,423
1996-97(44)	7,575

(43) Figures are outturn unless otherwise stated.

(44) Estimate.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the duties performed by the royal yacht Britannia during Cowes week in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement; [13228]

(2) what was the total cost to public funds of the royal yacht Britannia's presence at Cowes week in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [13227]

Mr. Soames: HMY Britannia's attendance at Cowes for the past five years has continued the traditional and popular royal patronage of this event. A list of individual duty engagements attended by and undertaken in Britannia is not held centrally, and information on the marginal costs of individual deployments could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) for the total annual running costs for Britannia since 1990.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total current annual cost for running the royal yacht Britannia; how many miles it has covered and at what average cost per nautical mile in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [13232]

Mr. Soames: In the calender years 1992 to 1996, HMY Britannia covered the following distances:

Year	Distance (nautical miles)
1992	11,614
1993	36,062
1994	18,932
1995	25,071
1996	16,716

28 Jan 1997 : Column: 201

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave today to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) for the total annual running costs for Britannia since 1990.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total cost to public funds of the (a) alcohol, (b) tobacco and (c) live entertainment provided on the royal yacht Britannia in each of the last five years. [13221]

Mr. Soames: The information requested is not readily available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

However, as a matter of policy, while the sponsors of commercial events are not charged for the use of HMY Britannia when she is used to promote British exports and attract inward investment, all additional costs incurred, over and above normal running costs, are paid for by the Government Departments and organisations concerned.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many jobs will be created by the construction of the new royal yacht for citizens from (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the EU and (c) other countries broken down by type of employment; and if he will make a statement. [13225]

Mr. Arbuthnot: The Government's decision to build a new royal yacht is expected to sustain 400 to 500 jobs in a British shipyard. No breakdown by type of employment is available.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the total value of the royal yacht Britannia as (a) scrap, (b) sold with restrictions on its future use and (c) sold with no restrictions on its future use; and if he will make a statement. [13229]

Mr. Arbuthnot: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made clear in his statement on 22 January that the Government do not believe that it is appropriate to sell Britannia to a new owner for private use when she is decommissioned in December. We are seeking proposals for a suitably prestigious future use which is in the public interest, within the United Kingdom and would guarantee that her excellent condition be maintained. Should this not prove possible we will then consider the option of scrapping Britannia. We do not at present have an estimate of her scrap value.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost per annum of cleaning the (a) outside and (b) inside of the royal yacht Britannia in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [13231]

Mr. Soames: The information requested is not readily available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the (a) dates of, (b) costs of and (c) guests at the last 10 receptions held on the royal yacht Britannia while docked; and if he will make a statement. [13224]

Mr. Soames: The dates, location, and nature of the last 10 events were:

Date	Location	Type of function	Number of guests	Host/sponsor
12 July	Amsterdam	Reception	150	HM Ambassador to The Hague; HM The Queen's Award Winners for Export Achievement
11 July	Amsterdam	Reception	150	HRH The Duke of Kent; British Invisibles
11 July	Amsterdam	Seminar and royal dinner	50	HRH The Duke of Kent; British Invisibles
6 July	Falmouth	Royal reception	40	HM The Queen Mother
4 July	Portsmouth	Royal dinner Royal Reception	43 150	HRH The Princess Alexandra and Sir Angus Ogilvy; the King Edward VIII hospital at Midhurst
26 June	Lisahally, Londonderry	Royal Reception Royal dinner	125 48	HRH The Prince of Wales; Northern Ireland Tourist Board
25 June	Belfast	Royal Reception	135	HRH The Prince of Wales; The Irish Development Board
25 June	Belfast	Royal dinner	50	HRH The Prince of Wales; Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

28 Jan 1997 : Column: 202

The costing information requested is not readily available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

However, as a matter of policy, while the sponsors of commercial events are not charged for the use of HMY Britannia when she is used to promote British exports and attract inward investment, all additional costs incurred, over and above normal running costs, are paid for by the government departments and organisations concerned.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the countries visited by the royal yacht Britannia in each of the last five years. [13222]

Mr. Soames: The information requested is:

Year	Countries visited
1992	Gibraltar, Italy, Malta, France, Scotland, Sweden.
1993	The Azores, Bermuda, USA, Mexico, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, India, Yemen.
1994	The Azores, Bermuda, USA, Belize, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, The Bahamas, France, Finland, Russia, Denmark.
1995	Grand Canary, Ivory Coast, Namibia, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Madeira, Germany, Greece, Balearic Islands, Portugal.
1996	The Azores, Bermuda, USA, Canada, The Netherlands.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many nights members of the royal family spent aboard the royal yacht Brittannia in each year since 1990. [13217]

Mr. Soames: Members of the royal family have spent the following numbers of nights aboard Brittannia since 1990.

28 Jan 1997 : Column: 203

Year	Number of nights
1990	30
1991	32
1992	24
1993	46
1994	24
1995	23
1996	23

---