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Army Regiments
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army regiments there were in (a) 1979 and (b) 1997. [14488]
Mr. Soames: The information requested is given in the following table:
| Corps | 1 April 1979 | 1 April 1997 |
|---|---|---|
| Royal armoured corps | (19)19 | (20)11 |
| Royal artillery | (19)22 | (19)16 |
| Royal engineers | (21)9 | 10 |
| Infantry (22) | 56 | 40 |
| Special air service | 1 | 1 |
| Army air corps | 6 | 5 |
| Royal corps of signals | (19)12 | (19)11 |
| Total | 125 | 94 |
(18) The table covers regular Army units of battalion size or equivalent in the major combat arms.
(19) Includes training regiments.
(20) Excludes the Household Cavalry mounted regiment.
(21) Includes the Queen's Gurkha engineers.
(22) Including Gurkha battalions.
6 Feb 1997 : Column: 684
Airborne Stand-off Radar Procurement
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list his Department's independent advisers on the ASTOR procurement project. [14489]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency provides my Department's team with specialist technical advice on the airborne stand-off radar programme.
Food Supply Tenders
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the values of the tenders from (a) the Navy, Army and Air Force Institute and (b) Booker Foodservice in the recent competition for the supply of food for the armed forces. [14521]
Mr. Soames: The tender values are commercially confidential and are not published under exemption 7 of the code of practice on access to Government information. I can, however, assure my hon. Friend that the tenders were scrutinised in detail to establish which provided best value for money and there was a clear margin in favour of Booker Foodservice. The estimated value of the contract will be in excess of £400 million over five years.
Scott Inquiry
Mr. Robin Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a breakdown of the spending by his Department on external advice in relation to the Scott inquiry, indicating how much has been spent on legal advice and from whom it was obtained. [14529]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The amount spent by my Department on external advice, including legal advice, in relation to individuals giving evidence to the Scott inquiry and the preparation of the Government's response to it is £216,117; this consists entirely of legal advice. This figure includes £196,555 representing the value of legal services charged by the Treasury Solicitor's department. External legal advice was obtained by individual MOD witnesses from Lovell, White, Durrant and Peter Carter-Ruck and Partners.
Mr. Cook: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total cost of salaries since 1992 paid to persons in his Department employed on a part-time or full-time basis in any capacity relating to the Scott inquiry. [14528]
6 Feb 1997 : Column: 685
Mr. Arbuthnot: The direct salary cost of officials within my Department wholly employed on matters relating to the Scott inquiry since 1992 was approximately £255,000. Other officials were inevitably involved from time to time; their direct salary cost is unquantifiable.
Royal Yacht
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the advantages and disadvantages of travel by the royal yacht in relation to travel by other modes of transport; and if he will make a statement. [14634]
Mr. Soames: The royal yacht is a national asset which projects the image of Britain, provides a dignified platform for state and official occasions, assists in promoting British economic interests and provides a suitable royal residence overseas. It is not a primary means of royal transport.
Publicity
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on advertising in each of the last 12 months. [14250]
Mr. Soames [holding answer 5 February]: Information relating to expenditure incurred on advertising in individual months is not available. An annual breakdown of expenditure on publicity and advertising is contained in the 1995-96 "Ministry of Defence Performance Report" (Cm 3055) (Table 9-1), a copy of which is in the Library of the House.
SCOTLAND
Greater Glasgow Health Board
Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many redundancies will result at Greater Glasgow health board from the restructuring being undertaken; what is the range of jobs affected; and what assessment he has made of the impact of the restructuring on patient care. [14034]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Greater Glasgow health board's restructuring is consistent with the role of health boards set out in Professor Shields's report on the roles and responsibilities of health boards. A total of 60 posts will be saved by Greater Glasgow health board, nearly half of which comprise senior and middle management posts. The restructuring and associated savings in non-staff costs will release £3 million from management costs to be reinvested in patient care.
East Ayrshire Health Services
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions have been held with the private finance bidder for the East Ayrshire community hospital; what was the subject of these discussions; and if he will make a statement. [14609]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Officials from the Scottish Office Department of Health have only once met the bidder. The discussion took place last summer and was about the private finance initiative in general and not the East Ayrshire community hospital project.
6 Feb 1997 : Column: 686
Discussion with bidders on specific projects is normally a matter for the trust or health board concerned, not the officials within the Department.
Mr. Foulkes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what alternative provision has been made in east Ayrshire to take account of the closure of facilities at Ballochmyle hospital together with the delay in the provision of services at East Ayrshire community hospital. [14610]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Ballochmyle hospital would not close until alternative facilities were available.
Mr. Foulkes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions officers of his Department have had with (a) Ayrshire and Arran health board and (b) Ayrshire and Arran Community NHS trust about the East Ayrshire community trust; and what further discussions are planned with each body. [14608]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Scottish Office officials are in frequent contact with Ayrshire and Arran health board and the Ayrshire and Arran Community NHS trust to discuss East Ayrshire hospital and other topics. Further discussions will take place as required.
Mr. Foulkes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received about the delay in approving one of the options for funding the East Ayrshire community hospital; when he expects that decision to be made; and if he will make a statement. [14611]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
The only representations received have been from the hon. Member. The trust and its preferred bidder are currently engaged in detailed negotiations over proposals under the private finance initiative which will come to a conclusion shortly.
Mr. Foulkes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what provision is made in his Department's budget for the current and future years for the funding of the East Ayrshire community hospital by the public funding method outside the private finance initiative. [14612]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
Public capital funds are held in a capital pool until a business case is approved for a publicly funded scheme. No specific provision is made for any scheme until approval is given. Each business case submission is assessed on its own merits and in terms of its national priority.
Mr. Foulkes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the facilities to be provided in the proposed new East Ayrshire community hospital; what changes have occurred since the original specifications were approved by Ayrshire and Arran health board; and if he will make a statement. [14613]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton:
The base specification of facilities is shown in the table:
| Facilities to be provided | |
|---|---|
| GP medium acute rehabilitation unit | 24 beds |
| Out-patient services for | 15,000 consultant attendances |
| 13,000 paramedical attendances | |
| Day hospital | 12 frail elderly places |
| 6 mental health places | |
| 6 young physically disabled places | |
| Continuing respite care | 25 frail elderly places |
| 25 mental health places |
An option to include 15 further frail elderly continuing/respite care places was also specified. No changes to the original specification have been made.
6 Feb 1997 : Column: 687
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