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Computers (Century Date Change)
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding is presently committed from his departmental budget for (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000 to resolve the 2000 computer problem; and if he will make a statement. [11900]
Mr. Spellar:
In accordance with guidelines issued by the Cabinet Office and the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency Year 2000 Public Sector Group, my Department is examining its computer systems to determine their susceptibility, if any, to the year 2000 problem and to produce plans for the necessary modifications. The estimated costs of these modifications will not be available until later this year. My Department
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has also stressed the importance of this issue to industry. For all new procurements, the Department is insisting year 2000 compliance as a condition of contract.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons his Department withdrew AIR 2/16918 from the Public Record Office; which offices within his Department consulted the document; on what date the document was received from and returned to the Public Record Office; and if he will make a statement.[12239]
Mr. Spellar:
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Livingstone:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment of the medical effects of the CS gas solvent, methyl isobutyl ketone has been made by officials of his Department since 1990; how many published or internal reports have been written on this subject by his Department's medical officers since 1990; and how many of these reports are currently unclassified.[12176]
Mr. Spellar:
I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list in respect of Abbeywood (a) the number of part-time and full-time employees, (b) the totals of (i) wages and salaries, (ii) national insurance and (iii) pensions in respect of each category, (c) the totals of (1) travel costs and (2) housing costs in respect of all employees at Abbeywood and (d) all expenditure on Abbeywood broken down by category in 1996-97; and what was the total of expenditure listed in (d) as a percentage of that year's total Ministry of Defence outturn. [11597]
Mr. Spellar:
The major occupier of the Abbeywood site is the Procurement Executive with 3,999 full-time and 74 part-time employees. Sharing the site is the Ships Support Agency with 754 full-time and 12 part-time employees.
Costs related to the specific categories requested are not readily available and will require further investigation. I will write to the hon. Member with further information when it is available and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many of the biological detection system vehicles operated by the 1 field laboratory unit during the Gulf war (a) arrived at their destination with scientific equipment damaged and (b) were repaired to full operational capability by the end of the conflict; and if he will make a statement; [11879]
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Dr. Reid:
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all papers prepared by Dr. Coker for his Department's Gulf war illness inquiries; and if he will place in the Library copies of all reports. [12018]
Mr. Spellar:
Group Captain Coker published a paper on the results from the first 284 patients seen by the MoD's medical assessment programme--MAP--in the summer 1996 edition of the Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service--"A Review of Gulf War Illness".--I have arranged for a copy of this paper to be placed in the Library of the House.
In late 1996, the group captain prepared the first draft of a paper concerning the results from some 500 MAP patients. However, in the event work on this draft paper was never completed.
Doctors at the MAP have now seen 1,520 patients and the Government have undertaken to publish detailed results form the programme later this year. Group Captain Coker will be closely involved with this work, which will supersede his earlier draft paper.
Mr. Livingstone:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons his Department has closed its site on the outskirts of Hadleigh in Suffolk; when this site was first opened by the Ministry of Defence; and what was its function. [12103]
Mr. Spellar:
The reasons for closing ammunition compound Hadleigh were, as the site is in close proximity to residential development, the explosive licences issued were so restrictive and therefore the full range of ammunition required by units based in East Anglia could not be stored. The cost of running the site was high as the movement of ammunition in to and out of the storage buildings was manpower intensive, the design of the buildings precluded the use of mechanical handling equipment.
The site was first opened during world war two.
The function of the site was to store ammunition.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of active nuclear warheads available to British forces for each year since 1975. [11797]
Mr. Spellar:
I am withholding this information under exemption 1 of the code of practice on access to Government information relating to defence, security and international relations.
Mr. Howard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors underlie the continued sale of Hawk jets. [11831]
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Mr. Spellar:
Any application for a licence to export Hawks will be considered in accordance with the Government's policy on the export of conventional arms, as announced by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 28 July, Official Report, columns 26-29.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy in respect of the use of British waters by American submarines with nuclear capability. [11815]
Mr. Spellar:
United States Navy nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines may visit UK waters or designated berths subject to prior agreement with my Department. However, as with all vessels, they have a right of innocent passage through territorial waters.
Mr. Todd:
To ask the President of the Council if she will list each of the functions relating to the payroll for which her Department is responsible, indicating the management systems purchased, all subcontractors involved in the work, co-operative arrangements with other Departments and the costs of the systems and processes in the last year for which figures are available.[10746]
Mrs. Ann Taylor:
The collation and processing of payments to my Department's staff are carried out within the Privy Council Office; the staff costs associated with this work are estimated at £1,900 in the year 1996-97. The actual payments are made by Chessington Computer Services Ltd., which uses the SPIRE--standard payroll input and retrieval--management system; the cost of this contract in the year 1996-97 was £4,900.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the President of the Council if she will ensure that the reports of the proposed environmental audit committee are debated on the Floor of the House. [10674]
Mrs. Ann Taylor:
I cannot give any undertakings, but I hope that it will be possible to find opportunities for the House to give appropriate consideration to the work of the committee.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the President of the Council if she will ensure that the proposed environmental audit committee is able to investigate and comment on legislation before it reaches Committee stage. [10675]
Mrs. Taylor:
It will be for the committee to decide the subjects for its own inquiries.
The possibility of a Select Committee inquiry before the Second Reading of a Bill is discussed in the first report from the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons, which was published on Tuesday 29 July.
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Mr. Gorrie:
To ask the President of the Council how much time has been spent by the House and its Committees considering Scottish issues in each of the past five years, indicating separately time spent on (i) Bills, (ii) questions and (iii) debates on (a) education, (b) housing, (c) transport, (d) social work, (e) employment and economic development and (f) other subjects. [10179]
Mrs. Ann Taylor:
The information is available in parliamentary Session, rather than calendar year. The hon. Member should note that Session 1992-93 was longer than usual, and 1996-97 shorter than usual, due to general elections.
(2) in what form were samples collected by the Sandfly air sampling system on each of the nine vehicles of the 1 field laboratory unit in the Gulf war (a) recorded and (b) stored; and where those samples and records are currently kept. [11596]
Chamber
(i) Bills
1996-97: 21.09 (nine Bills, of which three consolidation Bills and one private Members' Bill).
1995-96: 13.15 (three Bills).
1994-95: 17.33 (six Bills, of which three consolidation Bills).
1993-94: 28.03 (two Bills, of which one private peer's Bill).
1992-93: 17.07 (seven Bills, of which two consolidation Bills and three private Member's Bills).
(ii) Questions
1996-97: 4.02 (four sessions)
1995-96: 8.59 (nine sessions)
1994-95: 7.55 (eight sessions).
1993-94: 7.19 (eight sessions)
1992-93: 11.02 (12 sessions)
(iii) Debates
1996-97: Two approval motions: one on local government finance (3.36) one on housing (1.42).
1995-96: Two approval motions: one on local government finance (1.34) one on housing (1.34) and a motion amending Standing Orders relating to the Scottish Grand Committee (1.31).
1994-95: One approval motion on local government finance and housing (3.12) and an opposition day debate on the environment (3.28).
1993-94: Four approval motions: one on housing (2.15) one on local government finance (4.23) one on commercial rates (1.34) one on legal aid (0.29) a motion setting up the Scottish Grand Committee (2.01) and a private Member's motion on Scottish Democracy (2.55).
1992-93: Seven approval motions: four on commercial rates (0.13, 0.13, 0.22, 1.56) one on local government finance (3.13) one on housing (1.40) one on legal aid (3.23) and two Opposition day debates: one on local government and water (3.18) one (initiated by the Scottish National Party) on the cold climate allowance (2.32).
Committees
Standing Committees
The following are extracts from the sessional returns for the relevant years detailing sittings of Standing Committees on Scottish issues.
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