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Gaul (Sinking)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what evidence is held by his Department on the sinking of the trawler 'Gaul' which is not already in the public domain; and if he will make a statement. [72941]
Mr. Spellar: There has been an extensive search of our records and I am satisfied that my Department does not hold any evidence on the sinking of the trawler 'Gaul'.
Birth Certificates
Mr. Cann: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those purposes for which his Department and its executive agencies require a birth certificate to be furnished by (a) employees, (b) contractors, (c) those applying for (i) employment and (ii) contracts and (d) other persons. [73471]
Mr. Spellar: The Ministry of Defence may request birth certificates from prospective employees, both service and civilian, and individuals undertaking work for the Department, to establish proof of identity. However, other official documents, such as a full 10 year passport, may be furnished as proof of identity and are normally acceptable.
Defence Animal Centre
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will set targets for the Defence Animal Centre for 1999-2000. [72815]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 25 February 1999]: With effect from 1 April 1999 the DAC will no longer be an Agency in its own right and will become part of the Army Training and Recruitment Agency (ATRA). The targets set for the DAC will therefore be incorporated within the ATRA targets.
Bullying
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many (a) RAF and (b) Royal Navy personnel have been dismissed for bullying, or related offences, in each of the last five years; [73788]
- (2) how many Royal Marine personnel have been dismissed for bullying, or related offences, in each of the last five years. [74263]
Mr. Doug Henderson: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Royal Ordnance
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the risk to UK armed forces' safety and capability of having no UK-based manufacturer
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of ammunition and rocket propellant after closure of the Royal Ordnance Factory at Bishopton. [73391]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 26 February 1999]: All explosive products require Ordnance Board qualification before they can be considered safe and suitable for use by the Armed Forces. We do not foresee any difficulty in obtaining Ordnance Board qualification for products using propellant sourced from friendly and reliable countries in Europe and further afield. Military capability is a question not of where the product comes from, but of the adequacy of supply arrangements. The Government ensure that satisfactory security supply arrangements are in place for the procurement of all key equipments and their components.
Mr. Edwards:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about progress towards a best supplier agreement between his Department and Royal Ordnance. [73648]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 26 February 1999]: Under the Smart Procurement Initiative developed as part of the Strategic Defence Review, MOD is reviewing its relationships with all its suppliers to ensure that the relationship is of mutual benefit to each party. Where appropriate, this includes examining the potential for establishing preferred supplier arrangements. For British Aerospace, and Royal Ordnance in particular, we are looking into the ways by which Royal Ordnance could become the preferred MOD supplier for a number of types of ammunition, where the company has shown through competition, that it can offer a cost effective product.
Mr. Edwards:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the future of the Royal Ordnance Plant, Glascoed. [73546]
Mr. Spellar:
The Royal Ordnance factory at Glascoed is a major recipient of work stemming from the award to Royal Ordnance in December 1998 of the £100 million large calibre training ammunition multi year buy. While the future of Glascoed is a matter for the company, the terms governing the sale of the Royal Ordnance Factories to British Aerospace require the Ministry of Defence to be informed of any intention by the company to relinquish any major asset.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance was given by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency to Somchem/Denel in preparing its tender for the modular charge system contract recently awarded to them. [73390]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 26 February 1999]: No assistance was given by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, DERA, to Somchem/Denel in preparing its tender for the Modular Charge System sub-contract. DERA's only role in this procurement was to work, under tasking form the MOD, to provide independent technical advice on the submissions from each company participating in the competition, which were provided through the prime contractor, and to organise the associated firing trials.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in calculating the savings to be achieved from awarding
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the modular charge system contract to Somchem/Denel what account he took of (a) possible qualification costs to be incurred in the future by other suppliers of propellants, (b) the cost of the loss of the Bishopton factory as a competitor for the supply of propellants, (c) the cost of extra stocks of propellant needed to offset the risks to supply associated with a foreign competitor and (d) the cost of any failure to supply by Denel. [73392]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 26 February 1999]: The Somchem charge was a clear winner of the Modular Charge System sub-contract competition. The implications of this outcome were considered very carefully, including the cost of qualifying alternative sources of propellant, as necessary, should Royal Ordnance close the site at Bishopton. We are confident in the security of supply from Somchem, and do not consider that additional propellant stocks are required. The contracting arrangements will, as is normal for MOD contracts, protect our financial position in the event of any default by the contractor. There are sufficient alternative suppliers of propellant in friendly and reliable countries overseas to facilitate competition and we do not consider, therefore, that prices will necessarily rise in future if Bishopton closes.
Mr. Stinchcombe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultations he plans in relation to the review of services discipline and law announced in the Strategic Defence Review White Paper. [73775]
Mr. Spellar:
In the Strategic Defence Review White Paper, we announced that we believed that there would be advantages to be gained from having a single tri-Service Act governing discipline in the Armed Forces.
Clearly, all three Services will be heavily involved in the project and there will be extensive consultation with them as work proceeds. Furthermore, as Service law frequently mirrors the civilian criminal law, it will be necessary to involve other Government departments with an interest in our proposals.
However, this project will be a substantial undertaking and it will be some time before the nature of the changes, and hence the scope for wider consultation, are determined.
Mr. Page:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) air launched and (b) cruise missiles have been procured from the USA in the past decade; and what missile purchases other than Rapier the USA has made from the UK in that period. [73559]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 26 February 1999]: WE have procured 210 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles and 300 Sidewinder missiles from the USA over the past decade. In addition, we are currently procuring 65 TOMAHAWK cruise missiles from the US, the first of which we delivered this month. Information on purchases by the USA from the UK of missiles other than Rapier is still being collected. I shall write to the hon. Member when this information is available and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
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Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving members of Her Majesty's armed forces are qualified in landmine clearance; and what was the corresponding figure in 1994. [74206]
Mr. Spellar:
There are presently 8,666 personnel trained as combat engineers in the army, 1,100 officers and 7,566 soldiers, of whom 413 are trained in explosive ordnance disposal, which encompasses landmine clearance. The information on these numbers for 1994 is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, it is unlikely to differ significantly from the current figures.
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