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Storm Shadow Cruise Missile
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of developing the Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge for the UK's Storm Shadow Cruise Missile. [104111]
Mr. Kilfoyle: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Sir Robert Walmsley to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 10 January 2000:
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence which sought information on the cost of developing the Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge for the UK's Storm Shadow air launched stand-off missile. This matter falls for answer within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.
The Augmented Charge was initially developed under private venture funding by Royal Ordnance. However, the adaption of this warhead for Storm Shadow is being undertaken as part of the Storm Shadow contract between ourselves and Matra BAe (Dynamics) UK Ltd. The Matra bid was submitted on a competitive basis, and we therefore have no visibility of the detailed cost breakdown of the warhead element.
I am sorry I cannot be more helpful.
Aircraft Carrier Group Deployment
Mr. Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the operational reasons for cancelling a deployment by an aircraft carrier group to the USA and Caribbean from February to April 1999. [104153]
Mr. Spellar:
HMS Invincible had been scheduled to participate in the US-led Joint Task Force Exercise in the western Atlantic between mid-February to early March 1999 but the deployment was cancelled. HMS Invincible was instead sent to the Gulf region on an operational
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deployment. The reason for deploying HMS Invincible to the Gulf at that time was announced to the House by the Secretary of State for Defence on 14 January 1999.
Although we were unable to send a carrier to the Joint Task Force Exercise, the Royal Navy still made a significant contribution to the exercise. Commander United Kingdom Task Group and his staff participated in the exercise and the ships HMS Montrose, HMS Marlborough, HMS Sutherland together with RFA Oakleaf also participated. HMS Norfolk also contributed to this exercise while assigned to NATO's Standing Naval Forces Atlantic.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel are assigned to the STANOC centre; on what date it was established; and from which subheads of which votes its funds are taken. [104318]
Mr. Spellar:
The Army's Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Night Observation and Counter-Surveillance Centre (STANOC) was formed in 1971. The current establishment is two officers and four other ranks. The Centre is funded by the Adjutant General's Top Level Budget under the following Votes and subheads:
Vote 1
Army Manpower--subhead 1B1
Travel and Subsistence--subhead 1E1
Stationery--subhead 1L9
IT--subhead 1F5.
Minister for the Armed Forces (Speech)
Mr. Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the speech given by the Minister for the Armed Forces on European Security and Defence to the French German UK Seminar at the Institut de Haute Education de la Defense Nationale (IHEDN), Paris, on 30 November. [104162]
Mr. Spellar: I am grateful for the hon. Member's interest in the recent seminar held at the Institute de Haute Education de la Defense Nationale (IHEDN) in Paris, which formed part of our "Outreach" programme of bilateral defence assistance to Central and Eastern Europe and was organised jointly with the French and German governments. I am pleased to tell him that I have arranged for a copy of my speech to the seminar to be placed in the Library of the House.
HMS Westminster
Mr. Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the withdrawal of HMS Westminster from Flotex and the In Year Budget Management Measure. [104152]
Mr. Spellar:
The withdrawal of HMS Westminster from Flotex 99 needs to be set in the context of a very busy operational year for the Royal Navy and a sharp increase in fuel prices. This has resulted in some
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adjustment of planned activities as part of normal cash management action to ensure that the Fleet stays within its allocated budget this year.
Mr. Breed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what data he has collated on the local environmental effects of the use of depleted uranium with respect to (a) human and (b) other life forms. [104263]
Mr. Spellar:
The existing scientific literature on the possible hazards of depleted uranium (DU) is extensive. In 1993, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency's Radiation Protection Service, then the Defence Radiological Protection Service, published a summary report of its assessment of the radiological and chemical hazards of DU. The report explained that there are two types of hazard posted by the use of DU: a radiation hazard, although DU is a low specific activity material (as defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency); and a chemical toxicity hazard, which is similar to that posed by other heavy metals, such as lead.
A Ministry of Defence paper entitled "Testing for the presence of depleted uranium in UK veterans of the Gulf conflict: The Current Position" was published on 19 March 1999. This paper describes the scenarios in which UK troops may have been exposed to DU in the Gulf and outlines the possible health effects of exposures.
In December 1993, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency commissioned the independent environmental consultants W. S. Atkins to conduct an environmental impact assessment of DU firings on Ministry of Defence ranges in the UK. The consultants' report was published in 1995 and concluded that the radiation doses to members of the public and the associated risks from exposure to DU released in the environment, were extremely low. These conclusions were, and continue to be, sustained by comprehensive monitoring programmes at both sites.
In addition, the joint UN Environment Programme/UN Commission on Human Settlements issued its report "The Kosovo Consequences for Environment" on 5 October 1999. The report assessed the potential effects on human health and the environment arising from the possible use of depleted uranium during the 1999 Kosovo conflict.
Copies of all of these documents have been placed in the Library of the House.
Finally, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence to my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham) on 2 November 1999, Official Report, column 89W, concerning a further review by the Ministry of Defence on the health effects of DU.
Mr. Swayne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the recommendations made by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch following the accident involving RAF Chinook 2D576 in 1994; and if he will make a statement regarding the implementation of these recommendations. [104051]
Mr. Spellar:
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
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Mr. David Heath:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the research work funded by his Department associated with the farm-scale trials of GM crops. [101750]
Ms Quin
[holding answer 9 December 1999]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 14 December 1999, Official Report, columns 184-85W, where this project is listed in the table under code RG0116.
Mr. Michael J. Foster:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the total value to Worcestershire farmers of CAP payments for (a) the 1998 calendar year and (b) the 1998-99 financial year. [103028]
Ms Quin:
The total value of all CAP payments (including the Agri-Environment Schemes) to farmers in Worcestershire are estimated to be of the order of £22.5 million in the 1998 calendar/financial year. The differential between the calendar year and financial year would be small since three quarters of the payments relate to Arable Aid payments which are made between October and the end of December.
Mr. Michael J. Foster:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farms in Worcestershire received CAP payments in the (a) 1998 calendar year and (b) 1998-99 financial year. [103174]
Ms Quin:
The number of farms receiving CAP payments in the 1998 calendar year in Worcestershire was approximately 1,390. Figures for the financial year are not recorded, but the figures would be expected to be similar.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what financial assistance from the Government are available to British egg producers to market their products (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in the rest of the EU; and if he will make a statement. [103303]
Ms Quin:
My right hon. Friend announced in September a package of aid which included £1 million to help primary producers in England improve their marketing, levels of collaboration and competitiveness. This commitment was implemented through the launch on 11 October of the Agriculture Development Scheme 1999, a non-capital support measure open to all sectors of the agri-food industry, including egg producers.
By the deadline for applications of 30 November, 160 applications, seeking £8.1 million in grant, had been received, including several from the egg sector. In light of this level of interest my right hon. Friend announced on 13 December that the budget for the scheme would be doubled to £2 million, if the quality of the applications supported the increase. We aim to announce decisions over the award of grant early next February.
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