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Royal Yacht

Mr. David Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the role of (a) the Department of Trade and Industry, (b) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (c) the Department of Education and Employment in the design consultations on the replacement for the royal yacht Britannia. [15736]

Mr. Arbuthnot: In view of the trade promotion and representational roles of the royal yacht, officials from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will assist the Ministry of Defence in developing the specification for the new vessel. No Department for Education and Employment participation is currently planned.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultations his Department has had with the Department of Social Security in relation to replies to parliamentary questions from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, on the subject of sensorineural hearing loss and war pensions. [15860]

Mr. Soames: The administration of the war pension scheme is a matter for the Department of Social Security. On medical matters, the legislation governing that scheme requires the War Pensions Agency to take the advice of a medical advisor appointed by the Secretary of State for that Department. My Department has no part to play in this process; consequently, there has been no need for consultation.

Eskmeals and Shoeburyness Ranges

Dr. John Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps have been taken in recent years to reduce the fixed costs of the ranges at (a) Eskmeals and (b) Shoeburyness; [16479]

(2) what are the fixed costs to the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency of providing the ranges at (a) Eskmeals and (b) Shoeburyness. [16480]

Mr. Arbuthnot: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Dr. John Cunningham, dated 18 February 1997:

I have been asked to reply to your questions about the fixed costs of running the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) ranges at Eskmeals and Shoeburyness, and the steps which have

18 Feb 1997 : Column: 466

been taken to reduce them, since as Chief Executive of DERA, this is a matter for which I am responsible. I will reply to both questions in this letter.

The fixed costs of providing accommodation, estate management, security, communications infrastructure and site management, during 1997/8, are expected to be:

Shoeburyness: £6,397,000

Eskmeals: £2,138,000

This cost is before the provision of any staff or costs directly associated with the provision of any staff or costs directly associated with the provision or support of trials capabilities.

Both ranges have taken steps to reduce their fixed costs. At Eskmeals, savings have been achieved by reducing the numbers of staff, rationalising working practices and reviewing property and estate practices. Similarly, staffing levels and maintenance programmes have been reduced at Shoeburyness. Changes have also been made to the way in which work is done, including the contractorisation of works services.

I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the test and evaluation work of (a) Eskmeals range and (b) Shoeburyness range is devoted to (i) new weapon procurement and (ii) equipment improvement programmes to enhance existing defence systems. [16481]

Mr. Arbuthnot: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Dr. John Cunningham, dated 18 February 1997:

I have been asked to reply to your question about the nature of the work done in support of the Ministry of Defence's equipment procurement programme at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) ranges at Eskmeals and Shoeburyness, since as Chief Executive of DERA, this is a matter for which I am responsible.

Work on the Eskmeals range is divided in broadly equal parts between new equipment procurement and equipment improvement programmes. At Shoeburyness, typically half of the tasks undertaken involves the proof testing of weapons and munitions. The remainder of the work is in support of new equipment procurement or improvement programmes, but on both ranges the precise balance varies from year to year.

I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the staff complements of (a) Eskmeals range and (b) Shoeburyness range in each of the past five years in each of the categories (i) contractors, (ii) civil servants and (iii) military staff. [16478]

Mr. Arbuthnot: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Dr. John Cunningham, dated 18 February 1997:

I have been asked to reply to your question about the staff complements of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) ranges at Eskmeals and Shoeburyness, since as Chief Executive of DERA, this is a matter for which I am responsible.

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The number of staff working on the ranges, as at 1 April in each of the last 5 years was as follows:

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Eskmeals
Civil servants	65	65	63	56	56
Military	12	12	11	9	8
Contractors	174	173	170	148	140
Shoeburyness
Civil servants	83	83	79	77	68
Military	24	24	21	21	18
Contractors	400	388	399	380	343

I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what facilities are available at the Eskmeals range that are not available at other ranges of his Department; [16488]

(2) what proportion of the work of the Shoeburyness range involves overwater recovery; and at what other range facilities in the United Kingdom or overseas this work could take place. [16477]

Mr. Arbuthnot: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Dr. John Cunningham, dated 18 February 1997:

I have been asked to reply to your questions about the facilities and capabilities at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) ranges at Eskmeals and Shoeburyness and their availability at other ranges, since as Chief Executive of DERA, this is a matter for which I am responsible. I will respond to both of these questions in this letter.

Although none of the facilities currently available at Eskmeals is directly replicated elsewhere, it would technically be feasible to provide all but one of the capabilities offered by the range on other sites. The firing of ammunition incorporating Depleted Uranium in a contained environment cannot be conducted on any other Ministry of Defence range in the United Kingdom.

During the current year, over water recovery is forecast to account for some 5% by value of all work undertaken at Shoeburyness. I am only aware of one other facility, in Australia, at which it is possible to carry out comparable over water recovery.

I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if the charges for the use of the Eskmeals and Shoeburyness ranges are set at a level commensurate with recovering the costs of operating those facilities; [16482]

(2) what increases in the level of charges were set in each of the last five years for the use of (a) Eskmeals and (b) Shoeburyness ranges. [16483]

Mr. Arbuthnot: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Dr. John Cunningham, dated 18 February 1997:

I have been asked to reply to your questions about the levels of charges and operating costs and increases in charges of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) ranges at Eskmeals and Shoeburyness, since as Chief Executive of DERA, this is a matter for which I am responsible. I will cover both questions in this letter.

18 Feb 1997 : Column: 468

Charges for the use of the ranges are set at a level which should enable the full cost of operating the facilities to be recovered, based upon a predicted level of demand. In the event, a significant reduction in the level of customer demand for the facilities on both ranges has resulted in income falling well short of that required to cover the cost of operating them.

Information on the level of charges is only available from when DTEO began trading, as part of DERA in 1995. At Eskmeals, the average increase in rates from 1995/6 to 1996/7 was 1.5%. However the basis of charging for the use of facilities at Shoeburyness changed between 1995/6 when, for example, there were five different rates for static trials, and 1996/7 when there were 15. Direct comparisons are not therefore possible.

I hope this is helpful.

Dr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from members of the public regarding the safety of (a) the Eskmeals and (b) the Shoeburyness ranges. [16476]

Mr. Arbuthnot: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.

Letter from John Chisholm to Dr. John Cunningham, dated 18 February 1997:

I have been asked to reply to your question about the numbers of representations that have been received from members of the public regarding safety at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) ranges at Eskmeals and Shoeburyness, since as Chief Executive of DERA, this is a matter for which I am responsible.

I am not aware of any concerns expressed by members of the public about the safety of operations at either of the ranges since they became part of DERA in 1995.

I hope this is helpful.

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