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Joint Working Groups (USA)
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide (a) a list of all joint working groups with the United States Department of Defense currently in existence, (b) a brief explanation of the purpose of each one and (c) the number of meetings that have occurred in the last two years. [88131]
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Mr. George Robertson:
The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will explain the purpose of payments made to the US Government under the heading Trident Refit Feasibility Study; and if he will provide the total cost of this item. [88144]
Mr. George Robertson:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answers my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence gave him on 28 July 1998, Official Report, columns 200-02. The total we expect to pay for these studies remains in the region of £850,000, subject to exchange rate variations.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many companies will be on the tender list for the Strategic Short-Term Airlift Programme; and when the list will be announced. [88311]
Mr. Spellar:
The Ministry of Defence received expressions of interest from nine companies in response to the MOD Contracts Bulletin published in July 1998. The Invitation to Tender was issued to seven companies on 30 September 1998. Five tenders were received by the closing date of 29 January 1999 from Air Foyle, Airbus Transport International, Boeing in conjunction with British Aerospace, IBP Airlift Ltd. and Rolls Royce. The tenders are currently being assessed.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the Antonov 124 has military aircraft release. [88309]
Mr. Spellar:
There are currently two variants of the Antonov 124: the basic version used by the Russian armed forces and others, and the An 124-100 used by civil operators. Neither has a UK Military Aircraft Release.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many targets were hit in Montenegro; and of what types. [88456]
Mr. George Robertson:
UK forces were involved only in attacks on Podgorica airfield.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the destruction as a result of NATO action of civilian infrastructure in Montenegro; and if he will make a statement. [88457]
Mr. George Robertson:
No estimate has been made of any damage to the civilian infrastructure of Montenegro during the course of the air campaign. NATO targeted only military related objectives.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of cluster bombs dropped by NATO in Operation Allied Force on Kosovo that did not explode; and what methods are being used to locate and disarm the unexploded NATO ordnance in Kosovo. [88597]
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Mr. George Robertson:
I am not in a position to comment on NATO air forces as a whole. However, the RAF dropped some 500 RBL755 cluster weapons during Operation Allied Force, each containing 147 bomblets. Research trials of the equivalent weapon (BL755) when used at low level indicate that approximately 5 per cent. of the bomblets are likely to fail to detonate. However, when used at medium level as during Operation Allied Force, the failure rate is expected to be lower given that the impact angles and velocities are greater, and could be as low as 1 per cent.
UK explosive ordnance disposal operators use visual and sub surface instrument detection to locate unexploded ordnance. The preferred disposal method is to destroy the ordnance in situ.
Mr. Frank Cook:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest assessment of (a) the extent of contamination of land in Kosovo by land mines, unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices and (b) the risk posed by these to returning refugees and displaced persons. [87374]
Mr. George Robertson:
The full extent of the problem has yet to be determined. However, there is considerable contamination of the land in Kosovo, particularly by land mines, and especially in border areas. These pose a serious threat to everyone in Kosovo. Known areas are being marked and a mine awareness programme is being implemented, which includes advice on minimising the risk from mines and unexploded ordnance.
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his projection on the strength of the Army in terms of front-line troops, for the next three years, taking into account any increase in premature voluntary release which may occur as a result of the extra deployments in Kosovo; and if he will make a statement. [88622]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
[holding answer 28 June 1999]: The forecast of trained strength of the Army over the next three years is:
| Year | Amount |
|---|---|
| April 2000 | 100,271 |
| April 2001 | 102,058 |
| April 2002 | 103,670 |
The figures represent the forecast of all UK trained Army personnel and Gurkha trained personnel. "Frontline" is not a recognised description of any part of the Army.
Although it is still too early to measure the effect of deployment of troops to Kosovo on Premature Voluntary Release (PVR) rates, we are taking a number of measures to reduce overstretch, which is recognised as one of the causes of high PVR rates.
Yugoslav Military Equipment
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of how
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many Yugoslav (a) tanks, (b) surface-to-air missiles, (c) fighter aircraft, (d) armoured infantry fighting vehicles, (e) armoured personnel carriers, (f) towed artillery pieces, (g) self propelled artillery pieces and (h) helicopters were destroyed in (i) Kosovo, (ii) the Republic of Serbia, excluding Kosovo and (iii) Montenegro during Operation Allied Force. [88782]
Mr. George Robertson
[holding answer 28 June 1999]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 June 1999, Official Report, column 160 to my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell).
Dr. Fox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of statutory instruments introduced by his Department into Parliament in (a) 1998, (b) 1992, (c) 1985 and (d) 1973 had the European Union as their legislative source. [89161]
Mr. George Robertson:
My Department introduced into Parliament three statutory instruments in 1998, six in 1992, five in 1985, and four in 1973. None had the European Union as its legislative source.
Mr. Dawson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects an invitation to tender to be issued to the seven NHS trusts recently shortlisted by his Department as potential partners for the Centre for Defence Medicine; and if he will make a statement. [90047]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
An Invitation to Tender is being issued today to the following NHS Trusts:
The issuing of the Invitation to Tender is an important milestone in the development of the Centre for Defence Medicine, whose establishment is a fundamental element of the new strategy for the Defence Medical Services announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence in December 1998. The Centre will have important academic, research and training roles as well as a significant clinical function, and will become a professional focus for medical personnel in the Armed Forces. We also envisage that the Centre will develop an international reputation for excellence in military medicine. Our aim is to have the formal Customer Service Agreement in place with our chosen partner by 1 April 2000 with a view to opening the Centre for Defence Medicine on 1 April 2001.
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Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 18 June 1999, Official Report, column 264, concerning the purposes of the proposed European Union Political and Security Committee and associated Institute for Security Studies, if he will list (a) the date, nature, status and attendance of the meeting at Petersberg, (b) the ministerial attendance from the United Kingdom, and reference to the consequential statement in any parliamentary proceeding and (c) the scope and definition of the tasks in executing an integrated and single Union policy for foreign defence, security and military activity in aid of peace keeping and crisis management as defined in the consolidated Treaty on European Union. [88683]
Mr. Hoon:
The meeting at Petersberg was a ministerial meeting of the Western European Union. It took place on 19 June 1992. The United Kingdom was represented by the right hon. Douglas Hurd MP, then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and the right hon. Malcolm Rifkind MP, then Secretary of State for Defence.
Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospital Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
North Bristol NHS Trust
Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals
The Lothian University Hospitals Trust (Edinburgh)
The Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust
University Hospitals Birmingham Trust.
The Trusts were selected by my Department from an original list of 18 that had expressed interest in becoming the host for the Centre for Defence Medicine. Tenders will be due for return by 5 October 1999.
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