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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 19 January 1999
DEFENCE
101 Battalion REME (Chorley)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will name the officers and staff in Land Command who recommended the transfer of HQ 101 Battalion REME from Chorley to Queensferry. [65025]
Mr. Doug Henderson: It is not our practice to identify individual officials in this way under Exemption 2 (Internal discussion and advice) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officer vacancies exist in 101 Battalion REME in Chorley; and if he will estimate the number of officer posts in 101 Battalion REME that are likely to become vacant during 1999. [65022]
Mr. Doug Henderson: There are currently no officer vacancies at 101 Battalion REME in Chorley. It is not possible to gauge the number of officer posts in 101 Battalion REME that may become vacant in 1999, but we expect to have no difficulty achieving full staffing.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will refer back to Commander in Chief Land Command the decision to transfer HQ 101 Battalion REME from Chorley to Queensferry. [65020]
Mr. Doug Henderson: I am satisfied that the advice that Land Command provided Ministers to inform their decision on the transfer of Headquarters 101 Battalion REME from Chorley to Queensferry was sound.
RAF (Support Personnel)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many technical support personnel are required to support the deployment away from existing RAF bases of flights of four or eight Tornado aircraft; and how many will be required for similar flights of Eurofighter aircraft. [65754]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The number of technical support personnel deployed to support four or eight Tornado aircraft is dependent on several factors, including the operational requirement, the flying task, the number of hours to be worked in any one day and the amount of support available from the Host Nation. However, a flight of four or eight aircraft would be likely to generate a minimum of 82 and 144 technical support personnel respectively. An exact assessment of the numbers of technical support personnel required for Eurofighter has yet to be carried out, but preliminary studies indicate that approximately the same number of personnel will be required.
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Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many technical support personnel are required to support the deployment away from existing RAF bases of flights of four or eight Jaguar aircraft. [66177]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The number of technical support personnel deployed to support four or eight Jaguar aircraft is dependent on several factors, including the operational requirement, the flying task, the number of hours to be worked in any one day and the amount of support available from the Host Nation. However, a flight of four or eight aircraft would be likely to generate a minimum of 65 and 110 technical support personnel respectively.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the forecast service life of (a) Eurofighter and (b) Jaguar aircraft engines. [65732]
Mr. Spellar:
The forecast service life of the Eurofighter engine will be aligned to the predicted life of the whole aircraft, which is 25 years or 6,000 flying hours.
The Jaguar aircraft entered RAF service in 1973. On current plans, the Jaguar fleet, including the engines, will leave service in the later part of the next decade.
Modern aircraft engines are of modular design. Each module has an approved life and may be replaced during the life of the whole engine in accordance with established maintenance policy.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the forecast service life of (a) Harrier GR7 and (b) Jaguar aircraft airframes. [65731]
Mr. Spellar:
The Harrier GR7 aircraft entered RAF service in 1987. On current plans, the Harrier GR7 fleet will achieve a service life of some 30 years.
The Jaguar aircraft entered RAF service in 1973. On current plans, the Jaguar fleet will leave service in the later part of the next decade.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what service life has been achieved to date and what is forecast for Canberra aircraft in service with the RAF. [65733]
Mr. Spellar:
The RAF Canberra fleet comprises two marks of the aircraft, the T4 and the PR9. The T4s entered service between 1954 and 1955 and have served some 44 years. The PR9s entered service between 1959 and 1960 and have served some 39 years. On current plans, the Canberra fleet will leave service in the early part of the next decade.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the interval between major refits for HMS Ark Royal. [65730]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The first refit of HMS Ark Royal has not yet taken place.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the forecast service life of each of the three aircraft carriers in service with the Royal Navy; and
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what will be the (a) design life and (b) design interval between major refits of the proposed replacement carriers. [65910]
Mr. Spellar:
The forecast service life for HMS Invincible, HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal is approximately 30 years. We plan to replace these carriers from around 2012 with two new, larger vessels. The planned service life of the new ships is a minimum of 30 years. The new carriers will not undergo lengthy major refits in the traditional sense, but will instead undergo shorter, but more frequent periods of maintenance lasting about six months every five or six years.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the average time between major refits for (a) Type 22 and (b) Type 23 ships. [65753]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Typically, the average time between major refits for RN Frigates and Destroyers is in excess of 7 years.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the intended strategic purpose of the surveillance towers on hilltop sites in the South Armagh area; and what factors would be taken into account in a review of these towers. [65998]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The primary function of the towers on hilltop sites is to protect Security Force bases in the South Armagh area and patrols conducted from them. As with all military establishments in Northern Ireland, the requirement for the towers is kept under continuous review to ensure the level of support provided to the RUC is consistent with the prevailing security situation and the assessment of the threat posed by terrorist organisations.
Dr. Julian Lewis:
To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will list the assumed or equivalent civil service grades of each of the special advisers employed in his Office; [65915]
The Prime Minister:
Special Advisers are employed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Special Advisers stand outside the departmental hierarchy and do not equate to particular civil service grades.
Mr. Brady:
To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he made of the extent to which there was a conflict of interest in the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the right hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson), having a loan from the hon. Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson) at a time when the right hon. Gentleman's Department was investigating the business affairs of the hon. Member. [66456]
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The Prime Minister
[holding answer 18 January 1999]: Since the former Secretary of State was not involved in the Department of Trade and Industry's inquiries into certain allegations relating to companies with which my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson) had been involved, I am satisfied that no conflict of interest existed.
Mr. Corbett:
To ask the Prime Minister what is the current composition of the Ministerial Group on the Restructuring of the European Aerospace and Defence Industry (MISC 5). [66847]
The Prime Minister:
As the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry may have to take decisions under the competition legislation on the proposed merger which BAe and GEC have announced in principle, I have decided that, while these issues are under consideration, it would be preferable for the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry not to participate in the work of MISC 5 in order to avoid any risk of it appearing that he had prejudged the issues involved. I have therefore appointed the Secretary of State for Defence as the Chairman of the Ministerial Group. The DTI will continue to be represented by the Minister for Energy and Industry.
(2) pursuant to his answer of 15 December 1998, Official Report, columns 458-59, on special advisers, if he will list the assumed or equivalent civil service grade of each of the listed special advisers. [65916]
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