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Fair Employment
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to her answers of 16 April 1999, Official Report, columns 364-65, if she will (a) estimate the cost of commissioning a study on the application of information technology across the field of equal opportunities monitoring in order to (i) assist employers in complying with monitoring requirements, (ii) assist analysis of monitoring returns, (iii) assist analysis of the operation of complaints mechanisms and (iv) assess the effectiveness of measures taken to address equality of
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opportunity, (b) list publicly funded research studies of relevance and (c) estimate the cost of a literature search in this field. [87171]
Mr. Ingram:
A major benefit of the new single Equality Commission will be to enable more effective monitoring across the whole equal opportunities field. We are committed to greatly increased use of information technology in all aspect of government and I would expect that the new Commission will see the development of appropriate computerised monitoring systems as a priority. I have no way of making an informed estimate of the cost of a study.
I am not aware of any relevant publicly funded research studies or of any previously completed literature search. I am not able to make an estimate of the cost of the latter.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the financial estimates for (a) cost to completion and (b) the monthly breakdown of running costs and programme expenditure by main spending items since April 1998 for (i) the Independent Commission on Policing and (ii) the Review of Criminal Justice. [87168]
Mr. Ingram:
The following table shows the spending profile of the Criminal Justice Review from April 1998 to March 1999. In effect the cost of the Review for the 1998-99 financial year is £390,262. The budget from April 1999 until the completion of the Review is £572,000, bringing the total cost to £962,000.
| £ | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Costs from April 1998 to March 1999 | |||
| Month | Running costs | Programme costs | Total |
| April 1998 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May 1998 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June 1998 | 109 | 0 | 109 |
| July 1998 | 8,094 | 20,593 | 28,687 |
| August 1998 | 306 | 26,640 | 26,946 |
| September 1998 | 81 | 2,181 | 2,262 |
| October 1998 | 1,990 | 44,468 | 46,457 |
| November 1998 | 8,438 | 28,224 | 36,662 |
| December 1998 | 270 | 6,048 | 6,317 |
| January 1999 | 2,827 | 56,723 | 59,550 |
| February 1999 | 10,658 | 25,940 | 36,598 |
| March 1999 | 20,106 | 126,566 | 146,671 |
| Totals | 52,881 | 337,380 | 390,262 |
Note:
Totals may differ as a result of rounding
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Equality Commission
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will (a) place in the Library the written submissions to the Equality Commission Working Group meeting under Dr. Joan Stringer, (b) list the recommendations of the Working Group and (c) give the Government response to each. [87167]
Mr. Ingram: My officials are writing to those who made submissions to the Equality Commission Working Group and subject to their agreement I will place the submissions in the Library. The recommendations of the Working Group are listed in the Executive Summary of the Report, which is available in the Library. Many of the recommendations will be for the new Commission itself to consider and it would be inappropriate for Government to make a response to these. The recommendations that fall to Government are those that relate to appointments, induction training and resources. Appointments and induction training are being progressed and I will be monitoring the position on resources carefully to ensure that the new Commission is properly resourced to fulfil the current statutory obligations and implement important new responsibilities.
DEFENCE
Homosexuality (Armed Forces)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his policy on employment of homosexuals in the armed forces. [86369]
Mr. Doug Henderson: The current policy is that homosexuals are excluded from the armed forces. As I have already made clear, the issue of homosexuality will be reviewed during this Parliament and there will be a free vote in Parliament on the subject.
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the value of technology developed by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency which has been made available to British industry by way of (a) licensing and (b) joint venture for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [86370]
Mr. Spellar:
The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, DERA, does not assign a capital value to technology when transferred to industry. Instead, moneys are recouped by way of a running royalty over a number
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of years, sometimes as many as twenty. Details of the total licence income from UK industry for each of the last five years is detailed in the table:
| Financial year | £000 |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 450 |
| 1995 | 1,205 |
| 1996 | 1,419 |
| 1997 | 1,300 |
| 1998 | 1,468 |
The figures include income from non-equity joint ventures. DERA has been permitted to engage in equity joint ventures only since April 1999 and, so far, there has been no income from this source. Technology required by industry for government purposes is transferred free of charge; records are not kept of its theoretical value.
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes to pension arrangements for existing staff are planned if the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency becomes a public and private partnership; and if he will make a statement. [86670]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 11 June 1999]: As the hon. Member is aware, we are currently conducting a consultation programme on proposals for a DERA Public Private Partnership. We hope to be in a position to make an announcement on DERA's future later in the year.
Only after this will we be able to assess future pension arrangements for DERA staff.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the forecast cost of the refit of HMS Chatham and its planned completion date; and if he will make a statement. [86385]
Mr. Spellar:
The refit for HMS Chatham is due to be completed in late 1999, at a planned cost of £19.6 million. It is not possible to say whether additional unforeseen work, which may affect the final cost, will be required.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) delays and (b) cost over-runs there are in respect of the refit of HMS Campbelltown; what is the cost of the refit; when she will be ready for operational duties; and if he will make a statement. [86371]
Mr. Spellar:
HMS Campbelltown is now fully operational. The refit, which was completed in December 1998, required some unforeseen additional work, which resulted in a delay of just over seven weeks. The final cost of the refit will not be known until all contractual aspects have been finalised but is expected to be about £23 million, which is within the overall budget.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the refit of HMS Southampton will be completed; and at what cost. [86450]
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Mr. Spellar:
HMS Southampton is currently on Sea Trials following her refit and will return to operational service in Autumn this year. As is normally the case, the sea trials will be followed by a period of defect rectification work. Expenditure to date is about £37 million, but the total project cost will not be known until any additional work is complete.
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