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Trident
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 June, Official Report, column 3, if he will give a breakdown of the annual operating cost of Trident; and if he will estimate future capital expenditure on the project. [4759]
Dr. Reid: It is too early in the life of the Trident programme accurately to assess operating costs but we estimate them to be in the order of £200 million per annum over a 30 year in-service life. This estimate encompasses manpower and related costs, refits of the submarines, stores and transport costs, a share of the running costs of shore facilities, an element of the costs of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, in-service support of the submarines and their weapon systems and decommissioning and disposal costs. Estimated future capital expenditure on the project is as stated by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence in his answer of 16 June, Official Report, column 3.
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the operational purpose of the Trident nuclear missile system. [4416]
Dr. Reid:
I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 16 June 1997 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Dr. Jones), Official Report, column 81.
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 359
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of keeping the Trident fleet (a) on 24 hour patrol and (b) on stand by. [4757]
Dr. Reid:
Figures are not available in the form requested.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the ordering of a fifth Trident submarine. [4417]
Mr. Spellar:
We have no such plans.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the report from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament concerning the costs of Trident, a copy of which has been sent to him; and if he will make a statement. [5025]
Dr. Reid:
We are not aware of a recent report from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament concerning the costs of Trident. We have, however, recently received a number of letters and postcards on this subject. Our latest estimate of the total acquisition cost of the Trident programme is £12.57 billion at 1996-97 economic conditions, over £3.6 billion less in real terms than the original 1982 estimate. Operating costs are estimated to be some £200 million per annum over a 30 year in-service life.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for a nuclear weapons system to replace Trident; and if he will make a statement. [4408]
Mr. Spellar:
Decisions on a successor to Trident would not be needed for a number of years. They could be taken in the light of progress towards our goal of verifiable global nuclear disarmament.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what volume of beef and beef products was purchased by his Department in 1996 and what percentage originated (a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in Germany, (c) in other European Union countries and (d) in non-European Union countries. [4654]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 20 June 1997]: Approximately 1.25 million kilograms of beef is purchased annually by my Department. This figure excludes beef in finished products for which figures are not readily available. Purchase records are not kept in sufficient detail to allow the identification of the percentage of beef originating from the particular trading areas requested, but the majority is known to come from non-European countries.
WPC Yvonne Fletcher
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 10 June, Official Report, column 388, on WPC Yvonne Fletcher, what is the result of the review of the contents of the programme by the Metropolitan police. [3782]
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 360
Mr. Straw:
The Metropolitan Police are continuing their review. This involves a good deal of detailed analysis of the extensive documentation already generated by their investigation. They expect to have completed their analysis by the end of September 1997.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the scope of the general review of the Government's immigration detention policy; what the time scale is for the review; and whether external organisations will be consulted. [3939]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The review is being conducted internally in the Home Office. Its scope is wide ranging to cover all aspects of immigration detention policy. We expect the results to be available later in the summer. External organisations have been informed that the review is taking place.
Mr. Tom King:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time persons employed by his Department and its agencies are paid (i) less than £4 an hour, (ii) less than £3.50 an hour and (iii) less than £3 an hour. [4196]
Mr. Straw:
The information for the core Home Office and its Agencies, based on gross hours and on basic pay, is as follows:
Allowances in regular payment (for example, London Weighting) reduce these totals as follows:
Full-time
(i) less than £4 per hour = 828
(ii) less than £3.50 per hour = 459
(iii) less than £3 per hour = nil
Part-time
(i) less than £4 per hour = 329
(ii) less than £3.50 per hour = 12
(iii) less than £3 per hour = nil
Full-time
(i) less than £4 per hour = 449
(ii) less than £3.50 per hour = 304
(iii) less than £3 per hour = nil
Part-time
(i) less than £4 per hour = 6
(ii) less than £3.50 per hour = 8
(iii) less than £3 per hour = nil
Land Development (Wandsworth)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to develop land adjacent to Wandsworth Prison; if Wandsworth Council has been fully informed of these proposals; and if he will make a statement. [4439]
Ms Joyce Quin:
It is proposed to provide a stores building, a pre-release hostel, a visitors' centre and a 125-place car park on the land adjacent to Wandsworth prison. These proposals were discussed at a meeting with Wandsworth Council prior to an application for outline planning permission being submitted on 1 May.
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 361
Mr. Kemp:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the ratio of reported sexual attacks and offences to population in (a) designated new towns and (b) other towns of similar size. [4467]
Mr. Michael:
Information on recorded crime in England and Wales is collated centrally only on the basis of police force areas. Individual police forces do collate more localised data but this would not necessarily equate to new town boundaries.
Mr. Todd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in preparing the necessary statutory instruments for the Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997. [4865]
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to implement the Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997. [4604]
Mr. Leigh:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths arising from overdoses of a proscribed drug there were in each of the last five years for which figures are available by type of drug. [4840]
Mr. Michael:
Summary statistics of deaths involving controlled drugs are given in the table. It is not possible to determine accurately which of these were caused by drug overdoses. Fuller details, including the type of drug involved, are contained in tables 17, 18 and 19 of the following Home Office Statistical Bulletins--issue 6/92, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1991"; issue 15/93, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1992"; issue 10/94, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1993"; issue 15/95, "Statistics of drug addicts notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom, 1995". Copies of these publications are in the Library.
| Underlying cause of death | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug dependence and non-dependent abuse of drugs(6) | 294 | 307 | 345 | 322 | 489 |
| Deaths from poisoning where a controlled drug was mentioned(7) | |||||
| Accidental | 233 | 255 | 327 | 358 | 442 |
| Suicide | 440 | 433 | 400 | 340 | 334 |
| Undetermined | 262 | 295 | 274 | 252 | 243 |
| AIDS | 55 | 79 | 82 | 107 | 112 |
| Total | 1,284 | 1,369 | 1,428 | 1,379 | 1,620 |
(6) Includes solvents and other non-controlled drugs such as alcohol.
(7) Excludes Northern Ireland.
23 Jun 1997 : Column: 362
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