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Staff College, Camberley
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Joint Doctrine Centre will move to the buildings of the Staff College, Camberley. [65919]
Mr. Doug Henderson: A number of options are being considered for the location of the Joint Defence Centre but the matter has not yet been put to Ministers.
101 Battalion REME (Chorley)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answers of 15 December 1998, Official Report, column 450; 7 December 1998, Official Report, column 54; and 16 December 1998, Official Report, column 523, if he will review the decision to transfer 101 Battalion REME (V) from Chorley to Queensferry. [66070]
Mr. Doug Henderson: I am satisfied that there are no substantial grounds to review the decision to transfer the Headquarters of HQ 101 Battalion REME from Chorley TA Centre to Queensferry TA Centre.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the transfer of 101 Battalion HQ REME (V) from Chorley to Queensferry to begin; and what will be the time scale of the transfer. [66071]
Mr. Doug Henderson: Detailed arrangements for the transfer of HQ Battalion REME are still in preparation, with the aim of establishing the Headquarters in Queensferry on 1 July 1999. Some personnel are likely to be retained beyond that date at the TA Centre in Chorley.
Land Command
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which external body is responsible for auditing the financial decisions taken by Land Command. [66072]
Mr. Doug Henderson: The National Audit Office.
RAF Chilmark
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost to date of (a) ordnance and chemical clearance and (b) other preparatory site work in connection with disposal of the former RAF Chilmark. [65429]
Mr. Spellar:
The cost to date of ordnance and chemical clearance at the former RAF Chilmark is £1.09m. This is made up of manpower costs, together with the cost of buying and hiring plant and equipment. The preparatory
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site work to date has cost an additional £0.213m. This has been spent on Land Quality Assessments. These test the condition of the soil and indicate where remediation work is necessary to ensure that the land will be fit for future use.
Mr. Keith Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the names and current appointments of those senior officers who are being considered for the post of Chief of the Defence Staff. [65745]
Mr. George Robertson:
The selection process for the successor to General Sir Charles Guthrie has not begun.
Mr. Keith Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date General Sir Charles Guthrie will retire from his appointment as Chief of the Defence Staff. [65747]
Mr. George Robertson:
No decision has yet been taken on the retirement date of General Sir Charles Guthrie, the Chief of the Defence Staff.
Mr. Sutcliffe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policies he has to deal with veterans of the Falklands War who suffer from stress-related illness. [65918]
Mr. Spellar:
The Armed Forces provide appropriate treatment for serving personnel suffering from stress-related illness, including those who served in the South Atlantic Campaign. The Armed Forces also have a range of measures in place aimed at preventing stress-related illness among serving personnel, with particular attention paid to those deployed on operational or peacekeeping duties. Medical care of ex-Service personnel is the responsibility of the National Health Service.
Mr. Fitzpatrick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to appoint the next Chairman of the Independent Panel which oversees his Department's interactions research programme into Gulf Veterans' Illnesses. [66578]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Professor Donald Davies has agreed to take on the role of Chairman of the Independent Panel overseeing the MOD Interactions research programme. This programme is designed to investigate the possible adverse health effects of the combination of vaccines and tablets which were given to UK troops during the Gulf conflict to protect them against biological and chemical warfare agents. This is an important part of the broader ongoing research programme into Gulf War veterans' illnesses.
Professor Davies is the Director of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology (Division of Medicine) at Imperial College School of Medicine and the Director of the Department of Health Toxicology Unit, located at the same site. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal College of Pathologists, and an honorary member of the Royal College of Physicians.
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Professor Davies is presently a member of the Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, and the National Biological Standards Board; he also sits on the expert Panel which advises the European Medicines Evaluation Agency; and he was a member of the Committee on Safety of Medicines until December 1998.
We expect that the next meeting of the Independent Panel, the first at which Professor Davies will act as Chairman, will be held shortly.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with (a) the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) and (b) other Liberal Democrat right hon. and hon. Members concerning the development of a common European defence policy. [65818]
Mr. George Robertson:
I have had no discussions on this subject with the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed or other Liberal Democrat right hon. and hon. Members.
Mr. Prior:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the merits of an independent review of pay deductions made from officer prisoners of war and protected personnel during their incarceration in the Second World War. [65158]
Mr. Spellar:
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 March 1998, Official Report, columns 6-7, to the hon. Members for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) and for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb).
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many items of metal have been excavated in land adjacent to the Defence Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Centre at Winterbourne Gunner; and how many were (a) buried ordnance, (b) ordnance containing liquid of military origin and (c) assorted non-ordnance items; and if he will make a statement. [65430]
Mr. Spellar:
The number of items of metal which have been excavated in land adjacent to the Defence Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Centre at Winterbourne Gunner is 3,414. Of these, 382 were buried ordnance, 8 were ordnance containing liquid and 3,032 were assorted non-ordnance items.
The items of ordnance containing liquid are currently at the Chemical and Biological Defence Centre at Porton awaiting analysis to determine the nature of the liquid.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Mr. Stephen Kock's duties were in connection with DESO between 1987 and 1992. [65143]
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what documents relating to the activities of Mr. Stephen Kock have been made available to NAO officials investigating defence contracts. [65140]
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 316
Mr. Spellar:
I am not aware of any request for such documents having been made by NAO officials in respect of defence export contracts. With the passage of time, however, it is not possible to review all Departmental records.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the relationship was between Mr. Stephen Kock and regiments in the British Army in the period from 1968 to 1995. [65136]
Mr. Spellar:
Although Mr. Kock has never served as a member of the British Army, he is a member of the Regimental Association of the Special Air Service, which he joined in 1975 by virtue of his association with the Rhodesian Special Forces. I am not aware of any other association between Mr. Kock and Regiments in the British Army in the period from 1967 to 1995.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role Mr. Stephen Kock played in negotiating, organising and promoting the Al Yamamah deal. [65154]
Mr. Spellar:
The MOD is unaware of any involvement in the Al Yamamah programme, either now or in the past, by Mr. Stephen Kock.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what role Mr. Stephen Kock played in the Oman defence deal of 1981; [65155]
(3) what role Mr. Stephen Kock played in the Indonesian defence deal of 1990; [65156]
(4) what role Mr. Stephen Kock played in negotiating a special forces base in Malaysia in the period 1985 to 1988. [65152]
Mr. Spellar:
Mr. Kock has played no official role in defence exports to these countries.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which civil servants in his Department met Mr. Stephen Kock to discuss matters relating to defence contracts with Malaysia in the period from January 1985 to the end of December 1988. [65135]
Mr. Spellar:
A meeting between Mr. Kock and the then Secretary of State for Defence's Private Office staff took place in June 1987. Additionally, members of the Defence Export Services Organisation are likely to have met Mr. Kock during this period in the course of their normal function of providing advice and support for defence exporters. However, with the passage of time, it has not been possible to identify details of specific contacts.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role was played by Mr. Stephen Kock in advising Her Majesty's Government on the propellant and arms cartel run by the Swedish citizen Mr. Karl Erik Schmitz. [65133]
Mr. Spellar:
I am unaware of any role played by Mr. Kock in advising Her Majesty's Government in relation to Mr. Karl Erik Schmitz.
18 Jan 1999 : Column: 317
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what involvement Mr. Stephen Kock had in the preparations for privatisation of Royal Ordnance between 1984 and 1987. [65137]
Mr. Spellar:
The MOD is unaware of any involvement by Mr. Kock in the preparations for the privatisation of Royal Ordnance.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what meetings Mr. Stephen Kock had with Sir James Blyth of DESO to discuss defence sales; [65144]
Mr. Spellar:
The Ministry of Defence has been unable to identify any record of such meetings. With the passage of time, however, it has not been possible to review all Departmental records.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions took place between his Department's officials and representatives of the Scott Inquiry on the advisability of calling upon Mr. Stephen Kock to give evidence to that inquiry (a) before, (b) during and (c) after the inquiry. [65130]
Mr. Spellar:
I am advised that no such discussions took place.
(2) what role Mr. Stephen Kock played in negotiating, organising or promoting the Jordan defence package; [65153]
(2) if he will list the meetings which (a) Sir Peter Levene and (b) Sir Colin Chandler had in their Defence Procurement, Defence Sales and DESO roles with Mr. Stephen Kock. [65134]
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