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Albanian Military Personnel (Visits)

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Albanian military personnel who have visited the United Kingdom since 1992. [16405]

Mr. Soames: The Albanian Minister of Defence, Mr. Safet Zhulali, visited the United Kingdom in 1995, accompanied by three military officers. Eleven representatives of the Albanian Ministry of Defence have been identified as having attended seminars or training courses in the United Kingdom under MOD auspices since 1992. It is not currently our practice to make public the names of such visitors, though as announced on 28 January by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Official Report, columns 140-41, we are reviewing this.

Royal Navy

Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to enhance the capability of the Royal Navy; and if he will make a statement. [16605]

Mr. Arbuthnot: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 14 January to the hon. Member for Castlepoint (Dr. Spink), Official Report, column 223.

Private Employment Agencies

Mr. Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the private employment agencies used by his Department nad its agencies in each of the last three years for which figures are available indicating (a) the names of the agencies, (b) the numbers employed by the agencies in work for his Department, (c) the total cost to his Department of using employment agencies and the median cost paid to the agency per person recruited and (d) the average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies. [16175]

Mr. Arbuthnot: (pursuant to his reply 19 February, column 640): I regret that there was an error in the reply sent on behalf of the Chief Executive of the Meterological Office. I have asked the Chief Executive to write again to the hon. Member with the correct information.

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Letter from J. C. R. Hunt to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 24 February 1997:

I regret that my letter to you of 19 February contained a typographical error. The figure for 1996 at d. should read 12 rather than 112 weeks.
My apologies for this mistake.

Army Careers Information Offices (Yorkshire)

Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the locations of each Army careers information office functioning in Yorkshire since 1990, indicating the dates on which they were open, their running costs and the total number of annual recruits. [16650]

Mr. Soames: The information requested is set out in the tables. Details of running costs are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Office	Year opened
Barnsley	1975	The ACI0 closed in February 1995; it re-opened in May 1996.
Bradford	1959
Doncaster	1961
Halifax	1990	The ACI0 was destroyed by an IRA bomb in February 1990. The office re-located to the local TA centre.
Huddersfield	1906
Leeds	1995	AC10 closed 1995. Now opened as a Tti-Service Armed Forces Careers Office.
Scarborough	1992
Sheffield	1964	Shared site with the Royal Navy.
Wakefield	1958
York	1972

The total number of recruits annually since 1990 is:

1990-1991: 1,612

1991-1992: 1,176

1992-1993: 1,118

1993-1994: 643

1994-1995: 1,169

1995-1996: 913

1996-1997¹ : 1,231.

¹ Figure for Financial Year 1996-97 is an estimate based on performance to date.

Regimental Museums

Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the outcome of his Department's review of funding for regimental museums; and if he will ensure that his Department's funding for the museum of the Royal Dragoon Guards and Prince of Wales's Own Regiment in York will be maintained in future years at a sufficient level to allow the joint museum to remain in a city centre location. [16647]

Mr. Soames: The Government are fully aware of the important contribution made by regimental and corps museums to preserving the identity, history and traditions of their associated regiments and to maintaining the public profile of the Army in many parts of the UK. Nevertheless, as part of the Government's determination to reduce expenditure in the defence support area, and to concentrate it on the front line, the contribution my

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Department makes to the funding of regimental and corps museums will be reduced by a little under 13 per cent. from April 1998. We are currently consulting with museum trustees about how these adjustments should best be achieved. A panel drawn from people with wide experience in museum management is to review the allocation of funds and recommend where the savings should fall. The future funding of all museums, including the museum of the Royal Dragoon Guards and Prince of Wales's Own Regiment in York, will be considered as part of this review. It would be premature to form a view as to what impact there might be on particular museums until the panel has reported.

Scottish Grand Committee

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost to public funds of the attendance of (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department at meetings of the Scottish Grand Committee in Scotland since December 1994; and if he will list the meetings of the Committee which (a) and (b) have attended indicating the cost of attendance and the names of those who attended. [16574]

Mr. Soames: Ministers attended Scottish Grand Committee meetings as part of their normal parliamentary duties and officials do so as part of their normal departmental duties. Expenditure falling to this Department has been limited to travelling costs. My right hon. Friend attended the Scottish Grand Committee meeting on 25 November 1996 in Cupar, Fife and had officials in attendance as necessary.

Low Flying

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the analysis of the amount of low-flying activity in each low-flying area referred to in his letter to the hon. Member of 2 August 1996. [16872]

Mr. Soames: As my noble Friend, the Under Secretary of State for Defence, advised the hon. Member in his letter of 10 January 1997, we shall publish the results as soon as practicable.

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total number of daytime low-flying movements over the United Kingdom in each year between 1994 and 1996. [16823]

Mr. Soames: The numbers of daytime low-flying movements booked into the United Kingdom low flying system in each year between 1994 and 1996 are as follows:
1994: 225,101
1995: 226,315
1996: 208,646.

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many night low-flying movements were booked into night low-flying area 2B in each year since 1989. [16821]

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Mr. Soames: The numbers of low flying movements booked into night low flying sector 2B in each year since 1989 are as follows:
1989: 225 ¹
1990: 462
1991: 290
1992: 467
1993: 427
1994: 303
1995: 651
1996: 497

¹ 1 June to 31 December. Night low flying sector 2B was established on 1 June 1989.

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying movements were booked into (a) low-flying area 13 and (b) low-flying area 16 in 1996. [16875]

Mr. Soames: The numbers of low-flying movements booked into low-flying areas 13 and 16 in 1996 were 4,744 and 16,896 respectively.

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many night low-flying movements were booked into the Spadeadam range operating area in each year since 1989; [16801]

(2) what was the total number of night low-flying movements over the United Kingdom in each year from 1989 to 1996. [16822]

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

Apache Helicopters (Weapons Firing)

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the locations of range facilities for practice firing of (a) cannon, (b) CRV7 and (c) Hellfire weapons by Apache helicopters. [16882]

Mr. Soames: No decisions have yet been taken as to the locations of range facilities for the practice firing of these weapons systems.

Army Field Training Area

Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the designation, Army field training centre, came into effect; if he will list the current AFTCs and the date of designation of each; and what is the relationship between the definition of an AFTC and the former principal training area category. [16874]

Mr. Soames: The designation Army field training centre was introduced in April 1991 to reflect the increased importance of these training areas following structural reorganisation of the Army under "Options for Change". The current list of AFTCs and their designation dates is as follows:
1st April 1991: Salisbury Plain, Stanford, Cinque Ports, Otterburn, Sennybridge, Warcop.
1st April 1994: Catterick.
1st April 1995: Castlemartin.

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