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RAF Signals Engineering Establishment
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are currently employed by the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment; what was the figure at its inception; on what date the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment published its report for 1997-98; and what was the cost of production of the report. [76879]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Signals Engineering Establishment Defence Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
18 Mar 1999 : Column: 809
Letter from G. Jones to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 18 March 1999:
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Ministry of Defence Police published its report for 1997-98; and what was the cost of production of the report. [76886]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
This is a matter for the Chief Constable of the Ministry of Defence Policy Agency. I have asked the Chief Constable to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Walter Boreham to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 18 March 1999:
Ms Oona King:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the RAF's end of year performance reports in 1996-97 and 1997-98. [76736]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The RAF End of Year Performance Report is a document designed to report on the Service's performance against its Management Plan over the past year, and identifies key issues and themes with major implications for the following year. As such it contains information on operational capabilities of elements of the Armed Forces.
For these reasons I am withholding these documents under Exemptions 1 (Defence, Security and International Relations) and 2 (Internal Discussion and Advice) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
An unclassified account of the MOD's performance can be found in the Departmental Performance Report, which was published on 30 November 1998 and is available in the Library of the House.
18 Mar 1999 : Column: 810
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list EU directives and regulations which impact on health and safety issues, working conditions and equality between men and women amongst military and civilian employees for whom he is responsible. [76961]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Unless they contain a specific exemption, all EU directives and regulations which impact on health and safety issues, working conditions and equality between men and women apply to service personnel and Ministry of Defence civilian employees.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will publish a consultation document on the principles underlying a possible new structure of compensation arrangements for the armed forces. [76959]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mr. Corbett) on 15 March 1999, Official Report, column 502.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if from April 1999 all ranks of all three services will move to a common leave allowance of 30 working days. [76958]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
The "Policy for People" element of the Strategic Defence Review included a pledge that a Common Leave Allowance of 30 working days would be introduced for all Armed Forces personnel, regardless of rank or service, on 1 April 1999. The new policy will be introduced by the Naval Service and Royal Air Force on 1 March 1999, and by the Army on 1 April 1999. The date of introduction is governed by the Common Leave Year of each Service.
Mr. Randall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Review of his Department's Estate in London to be concluded. [77314]
Mr. Spellar:
The Review of the MOD Estate in London is continuing. On the basis of the work undertaken to date, I have asked for a report in July.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the strategy underlying the current bombing of Iraq. [77357]
Mr. George Robertson:
The Government's aim in enforcing the no-fly zones is to continue the essential humanitarian task of preventing Saddam Hussein from using his airforce to repress his own people. In undertaking this mission, we have made it clear that we will take robust but appropriate defensive measures in response to any attempts by Iraq to threaten our aircrew. Current military action is purely in self-defence, and taken in response to threats to the coalition. Since the end of Operation Desert Fox, over 160 Iraqi aircraft have violated the no-fly zones and coalition aircraft have been shot at or threatened over 70 times.
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Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Paveway III laser-guided bombs and Harm anti-radar missiles have been dropped on Iraq since Desert Fox. [77329]
Mr. George Robertson:
Since Operation Desert Fox, military action by coalition aircraft has been taken only in self-defence in response to Iraqi attempts to shoot down or otherwise threaten our aircraft. RAF Tornados have dropped two Paveway III bombs and fired no High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) on Iraq since Operation Desert Fox.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons he did not seek UN approval for changing the rules of engagement on bombings of Iraq. [77259]
Mr. George Robertson:
UK forces patrolling the no-fly zones in support of UN Resolution 688 are not under UN command. Their Rules of Engagement are therefore an entirely national matter.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the number of service personnel in receipt of social security benefits in each of the last five years. [77449]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Except in a limited number of circumstances, for example, when personnel are serving overseas, entitlement to DSS benefits is normally a matter between individual service personnel and the DSS, to which claims are made direct. Therefore, my Department has no overview of the extent of benefits being claimed by service personnel.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received concerning the loss of widow's and widower's pensions on post- retirement remarriage; and if he will make a statement on the progress of his review of widow's and widower's pensions. [77863]
Mr. Spellar:
My right hon. Friend from time to time receives representations from hon. Members, the ex-service organisations and from individuals, on widow's and widower's pensions, including suggestions that the widows or widowers of post-retirement marriages to former members of the Armed Forces who left the Services before 6 April 1978 should be entitle to a Forces Family Pension. Widow's and widower's pensions will be examined as part of the review of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, which is expected to report later this year. This will include a re-examination of the entitlement of such individuals, but I cannot yet predict the outcome. It would be a departure from normal practice to make retrospective improvements to the terms of pensions already in payment.
I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence in which you asked: how many people are currently employed by the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment; what the figure was at its inception; on what date the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment published its report for 1997-98; and what was the cost of production of the report, as these matters fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Signals Engineering Establishment Defence Agency.
The Agency currently has an authorised establishment of 977 personnel and the strength, as at 1 March 1999, was 929 made up of 339 RAF, 561 Civil Servants and 29 contractors employed to fill established specialist posts, for which suitably-qualified Civil Servants cannot be recruited, and for short-term requirements. At the launch of the Agency in November 1994 the authorised establishment was 1,570 personnel. The majority of the reduction has resulted from the placing of a Multi-Activity Contract with SERCO Defence Limited for the delivery of provisioning, stockholding, transportation, computer and administration services.
The Agency's Annual Report and Accounts was published on 12 August 1998 at a cost of £5,606 which covered the design and printing.
I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the Ministry of Defence Police report for 1997-98 as this falls into my area of responsibility as Chief Constable/Chief Executive of the Ministry of Defence Policy Agency.
My 1997-98 annual report was laid before Parliament on 20 July 1998. The cost of production was £24,191.
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