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Radioactive Waste

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military sites in the United Kingdom have nuclear waste storage facilities; and what is the total amount of radioactive waste in storage at the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force sites. [15999]

Mr. Arbuthnot [holding answer 14 February 1997]: MOD stores radioactive waste in numerous locations throughout the United Kingdom. Details, including predicted future arisings, from the 10 major MOD sites in the United Kingdom, either storing or producing radioactive waste, were published by Nirex in "The 1994 United Kingdom Waste Inventory", a copy of which has been sent to the Library. Other minor items of radioactive waste are stored at various locations prior to disposal; however, it would involve disproportionate cost to provide details of these.

Parliamentary Answers

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many questions were tabled for reply by his Department in each Session since 1979-80; in how many instances in each year the reply has been that providing the information involved disproportionate cost; and in how many instances in each year questions have been given the reply that the information was not available centrally. [16785]

Mr. Soames: A list of the number of written and oral parliamentary questions answered by Ministers in my Department in the Sessions 1982-83 to 1995-96, supplied by the parliamentary on-line information service unit, has been placed in the Library. Figures for the earlier years requested are not available.

The other information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

4 Mar 1997 : Column: 591

Deaths

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of each armed service have (a) been killed on active service, (b) been killed in accidents, (c) committed suicide and (d) died of natural causes in each of the last seven years. [17819]

Mr. Soames [holding answer 27 February 1997]: This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.

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Letter from Paul Altobell to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 4 March 1997:

I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the number of personnel serving in the Armed Forces who have died since 1990 as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of Defence Analytical Services Agency.

The information you request is detailed in the attached tables. I have listed deaths according to our standard classification system which I hope you will find useful as it gives slightly greater detail than requested in your question. You will also note that as well as giving figures for the last seven years I have included the position for the first three months of this year.

4 Mar 1997 : Column: 591

The number of deaths in the armed forces from 1 January 1990 to 3 March 1997 (based on information reported to DASA as at 3 March 1997)

	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997 to 3 March 1997	Total
Tri-service
Active service	10	38	5	7	8	0	3	0	71
Assault	2	4	2	0	5	4	0	0	17
Coroner verdicts of suicide	42	34	30	23	29	18	5	0	181
Other self inflicted(12)	4	7	6	10	2	23	17	0	69
Accidents	159	141	124	129	107	101	75	4	840
Natural causes	103	86	100	72	68	61	40	3	533
Details of causes not yet available	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	1	9
Total	320	310	267	241	219	207	148	8	1,720
Navy
Active service	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Assault	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	3
Coroner verdicts of suicide	8	5	6	1	6	1	2	0	29
Other self inflicted(12)	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	5
Accidents	22	26	21	34	11	16	13	1	144
Natural causes	19	19	21	9	18	12	8	1	107
Details of causes not yet available	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3
Total	50	53	48	44	37	31	27	2	292

Note:

(12) This covers cases with open or misadventure coroner verdicts and those yet to be confirmed.

The number of deaths in the armed forces from 1 January 1990 to 3 March 1997 (based on information reported to DASA as at 3 March 1997)

	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997 to 3 March 1997	Total
Army(13)
Active service	10	33	5	7	7	0	3	0	65
Assault	2	3	2	0	4	3	0	0	14
Coroner verdicts of suicide	20	22	19	18	18	15	3	0	115
Other self inflicted(14)	3	4	4	4	1	17	13	0	46
Accidents	92	91	75	65	71	55	46	1	496
Natural causes	48	39	50	39	29	24	17	0	246
Details of causes not yet available	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	5
Total	175	192	155	133	130	114	87	1	987
RAF
Active service	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Assault	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Coroner verdicts of suicide	14	7	5	4	5	2	0	0	37
Other self inflicted(14)	0	1	2	6	1	5	3	0	18
Accidents	45	24	28	30	25	30	16	2	200
Natural causes	36	28	29	24	21	25	15	2	180
Unknown	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Total	95	65	64	64	52	62	34	5	441

Notes:

(13) Includes Gurkhas.

(14) This covers cases with open or misadventure coroner verdicts and those yet to be confirmed.

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UN Service Medal (Korea)

Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons stocks of the United Nations service medal with clasp "Korea" are exhausted; and when further medals will be made available. [17752]

Mr. Soames [holding answer 28 February 1997]: It is normal procedure that claims for the United Nations service medal with clasp "Korea" are passed to the appropriate single service medal office where eligibility may be confirmed following a check of service records. Until recently, stocks were held at the Army medal office. Those stocks were depleted in August 1995 and a request for additional medals was sent to UN headquarters, New York. In late 1996 the UN secretariat informed the United Kingdom mission to the UN that it did not intend to issue any more "Korea" medals, as its stocks were exhausted and no funds were available to purchase more.

Since then, the UN has granted permission to the British Government to purchase and issue the medal. Arrangements to identify a suitable source of supply are in hand. Following the necessary procurement action, eligible claimants will be issued with their medal.

Some 180 eligible British veterans of the Korean war are awaiting their UN medal at this time.

Royal Naval College, Greenwich

Mr. Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the estimated costs of the conversion of the Royal Naval college at Greenwich to accommodate the joint service command and staff college (a) as set out in the consultation document published by his Department in January 1995 and (b) as subsequently revised, in each case taken over a 25-year period at net present value. [18471]

Mr. Soames [holding answer 3 March 1997]: The 1995 consultative document considered two Greenwich-based options, the difference lying in the number of students on the advanced course. The most relevant of these is the option with 312 students on the advanced course, which had a 25-year net present value of £256 million at September 1993 prices. As the Greenwich option was effectively ruled out at this point, for a variety of reasons including the fact that its costs were 25 per cent. higher than the then preferred Camberley option, no revised costs have been produced. Uplifting the figure by standard defence indices gives an NPV of approximately £290 million at April 1997 prices. Broadly comparable NPV figures for the recently announced preferred Serco/Laing proposal, albeit over a 30-year period and with an advanced course of 327 students, are around £195 million.

ENVIRONMENT

City Challenge

12. Mr. Devlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for redeveloping Stockton high street under the city challenge initiative. [17013]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: As my hon. Friend is aware, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of

4 Mar 1997 : Column: 594

State for Transport issued our decisions on the planning and associated transport matters relating to Stockton town centre development on 20 February. Those decisions should effectively allow city challenge to proceed with its redevelopment plans.

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