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Army Commitments
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the current level of Army commitments. [104791]
Mr. Spellar: Some 30 per cent. of the trained Army is currently committed to operations, which is down from a peak of 47 per cent. at the height of the Kosovo campaign. Once the agreed force reductions in Bosnia have been implemented in full, this figure should fall to 28 per cent.
Russia (Military Relations)
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on military relations with Russia. [105026]
Mr. Hoon:
Engaging Russia in a constructive bilateral defence relationship is a high priority for the Government. Russia remains the highest priority in our "Outreach"
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programme of defence assistance to central and eastern Europe countries. We wish to continue to develop an effective defence relationship with Russia and made good progress towards that objective in 1997 and 1998. Last year, however, the Russians curtailed co-operative activities as a sign of their opposition to UK/US action in Iraq and NATO action in Kosovo.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent meetings the Minister for Defence Procurement has had with Airbus to discuss the A400M; and what was discussed. [105033]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
My noble Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement had planned to visit Airbus in Toulouse on 12 January but Parliamentary commitments meant she was unable to go. She hopes to rearrange the visit shortly.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will assess the benefits of defence procurement practices used by Airbus Military Company. [105172]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent meetings, and on what dates, the Minister for Defence Procurement has had with Boeing to discuss the C-17 transport aircraft. [105035]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
My noble Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement met officials from Boeing on 11 January to discuss a range of issues, including the C-17 transport aircraft.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and for what reason the £1.5 million allocated across all three services to reduce secondary care agency orthopaedic waiting lists for those on operational duties was withdrawn as part of his Department's annual efficiency savings. [104923]
Mr. Spellar:
Funding to reduce orthopaedic waiting lists in the Defence Secondary Care Agency was not removed as part of my Department's efficiency programme as no funds had been allocated for this purpose in 1999-2000. At the beginning of the financial year consideration was given to the possibility of identifying funding to reduce waiting lists, primarily but not exclusively, for orthopaedic treatment. However, this did not prove to be practical, although some additional physiotherapy, provided through a separate initiative, is likely to have affected the numbers on waiting lists overall. The possibility of pursuing action to reduce orthopaedic waiting lists in the next financial year is currently under consideration.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria he will use in reaching a decision to revise guidelines on the wearing of service uniforms in public. [104800]
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Mr. Spellar:
We have no immediate plans to revise the guidelines on the wearing of service uniforms in public although they are kept under review. The current guidelines have been framed to give local commanders the flexibility to interpret the rules to cater for any specific considerations in their immediate area.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what unforeseen costs have arisen in connection with the refurbishment of forces' married quarters; what impact this will have on the timing of the refurbishment programme; and what additional budgetary provision is being made available to the Defence Housing Executive to meet the shortfall. [104799]
Mr. Spellar:
At the time of the sale to Annington Homes in 1996 it was assessed that the cost of upgrading the bulk of the married quarters estate in mainland UK would be about £470 million and that work would be completed over a seven year period, that is by November 2003. A subsequent 100 per cent. stock condition survey established that additional work required, including structural and utilities improvements to houses, would cost an additional £112 million. This has necessitated extending the completion of the upgrade programme to 2005 on current expenditure plans with continued funding.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on policy with regard to the Memorandum of Understanding on mutual communications support between the United Kingdom and the United States of America, signed at Washington on 22 and 28 November 1988. [100345]
Mr. Hoon
[holding answer 29 November 1999]: In recognition of the importance of communications interoperability in naval operations and the benefits of providing mutual communications support, the Royal Navy and the United States Navy have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding. This sets out the procedures and provisions for mutual communications support including message receipt, handling relay, reformatting, delivery, transmission or retransmission and any related supplies and services, the provision of which was not for the direct and primary benefit of the Navy providing the support.
Mr. Cotter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what public subsidy has been offered to develop the site of the new Army Foundation College. [102577]
Mr. Spellar:
I am not yet in a position to examine the details of individual bids for the development of the new Army Foundation College.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of (a) United Kingdom defence commitments and (b) the cost of United Kingdom commitments. [103193]
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Mr. Hoon:
A full assessment of UK defence commitments was undertaken during the Strategic Defence Review Cm. 3999. Operational deployments for the year 1998-99 are set out in the MOD's Performance Report 1998-99 Cm. 4520 published in December 1999. In practice, the bulk of defence spending contributes to providing the defence capability needed to meet the missions and commitments set out.
Mr. Martin Bell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the incidents of Uncommanded Flying Control Movements in Chinook helicopters since 1994 in which subsequent inspections reported no fault found. [103639]
Mr. Spellar:
There were two incidents of Uncommanded Flying Control Movements in Chinook helicopters since 1994 in which subsequent inspections reported no fault found:
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 21 December 1999, Official Report, column 501W, if he will make a statement on the purpose of his Department's financial contribution to BBC World Service Monitoring, indicating those votes and subheads which cover these funds. [105076]
Mr. Hain:
BBC Monitoring provides a valued information service to Government. Rapid reporting of open source information from around the world is an important aspect of the work of the FCO and other parts of Government. The FCO's financial contribution (40 per cent.) to BBC Monitoring's core operation reflects this. The contribution is made from Class VII, Vote 1, Section A2.
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the reports and recommendations of the Health Pay Review bodies. [105835]
Mr. Milburn:
I am responding on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the reports of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) and the Review Body on Nursing staff, Midwives, Health Visitors and Professions Allied to Medicine (NPRB), which are published today. I understand that a similar announcement is being made by the First Minister and the Minister for Health and Community Care in Scotland. Copies of the reports are
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available in the Vote Office and the Library. I am grateful to the chairmen and members of both Review Bodies for their hard work.
Nurses are to receive another big real terms increase in pay and, for the second year in succession, the award is being paid in full, with no staging. The NPRB have recommended an across the board increase of 3.4 per cent. for nurses, midwives and health visitors with bigger targeted increases for specific groups. About 60,000 Grade E nurses on the scale maximum will get a total increase of 7.8 per cent., worth an extra £1,390 a year, to improve career progression and reward skill acquisition and experience. Another 5,500 enrolled and auxiliary nurses in Grade C will receive total increases of 7 per cent., worth an extra £975 a year. London allowances, stand-by and on-call allowances will also rise by 3.4 per cent. This means that an experienced staff nurse in London will earn basic pay of £22,250; and elsewhere £19,220, with allowances and enhancements typically worth £2,000 on top of this.
The NPRB have also recommended across the board increases of 3.4 per cent. for physiotherapists, radiographers and other professions allied to medicine (PAMs). In addition about 4,500 experienced staff in the Senior 2 grade will receive total increases worth between 8.1 per cent. and 8.4 per cent., to improve career progression for experienced staff at the top of their scale. The maximum of the scale for Senior 2 grade PAMs will be £21,290. London allowances, stand-by and on-call allowances will also rise by 3.4 per cent.
The Government have decided to accept all the NPRB pay recommendations for 2000-01, with no staging. The across the board settlement of 3.4 per cent. for nurses and other NPRB remit groups is high when set against the current headline inflation rate and more than we are expecting for pay settlements in the public sector generally. However, National Health Service staff deserve a fair pay award, especially after coping so magnificently with huge pressures over the past few weeks. Moreover, we are still having to tackle the nursing recruitment and retention problems inherited as a direct consequence of the last Government's failure. This year's settlement will build on last year's large awards. Taken together, the great majority of Grade D and E nurses--the backbone of the service, who deliver hands-on patient care--will have received very significant pay increases which both recognise and value their contribution to the NHS.
Last year's pay awards gave a big boost to the success of the nurses' recruitment campaign which we launched in February 1999. Already over 5,000 nurses have returned or are set to do so after completing refresher training, and numbers taking up nursing degree and diploma courses have increased by 24 per cent. and 18 per cent. respectively. There has also been a sharp increase in male applications and in applications from the ethnic minority communities. But we are not stopping there and are determined to build on this success in our 2000 campaign to be launched next month. These awards will provide a welcome boost.
The Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body (DDRB) has recommended an overall increase of 3.3 per cent. for salaried doctors and dentists and in the pay element of fees for general medical and general dental practitioners. In addition to the 3.3 per cent. increase, consultants will also start to receive from 1 April 2000 the increases
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flowing through from the £50 million recommended by DDRB last year in recognition of their workload, work intensity and commitment to the NHS. These increases are worth a further 3 per cent. on their pay bill and will take two forms. First, changes to the discretionary point arrangements means that there will be over 2,400 extra awards available (worth over £2,500 each), making almost 5,600 in total, while the number of consultants eligible to receive awards will increase from 12,600 to almost 16,000. Second, there will be a new scheme to recognise consultants working in the most intense posts. For junior doctors the 3.3 per cent. increase is over and above the money already on the table in our current negotiations on their new contract; from October 2000, this would add 6 per cent. to their paybill in the first 12 months.
18 August 1995--aircraft experienced a 12o nose down pitch.
23 December 1997--aircraft suffered vertical bounce on the ground after landing.
Where an investigation has not pinpointed a fault, the components most likely to have caused the fault may be changed and the aircraft subsequently flight tested to confirm its correct function. In both of the occurrences listed the pilots were able to counteract the UFCM and control of the aircraft was not lost.
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