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Kosovo

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British personnel are posted to operate Pristina airfield in Kosovo, broken down where appropriate (a) by military service and rank, (b) by Civil Service grade and (c) in the case of contractors, by company. [107088]

Mr. Spellar: As at 25 January, there were 196 UK service personnel directly involved in the operation of the airfield at Pristina. Of these, 18 were RAF officers, 34 were RAF senior non-commissioned officers, 143 were RAF other ranks and one was an Army other rank. There are no UK based civil servants or contractor employees directly involved in the operation of the airfield.

27 Jan 2000 : Column: 227W

Underspends

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) for what reasons there were underspends in subsections (a) A2 and (b) B2, C2, D2, E2, F2, G2, H2 and J2 of the latest systems procurement and research account; [107086]

(2) for what reasons there were underspends in subsections (a) A2, B2 and C3 and (b) C2 of the latest Logistics Service Account; [107084]

(3) for what reasons there were underspends in subsections (a) A2, B2, C2, C4, E2, G2, H2, H3, H4, I4 and (b) B3, D2, D3, F2, F3 and I2 of the latest Operational and Support Costs Account. [107085]

Mr. Spellar: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Falklands

Mr. Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on naval patrols in the Falkland Islands. [107247]

Mr. Spellar: Naval patrols in the Falkland Islands are undertaken by the Falkland Islands Guard Ship (currently HMS Somerset) and a Castle class Offshore Patrol Vessel (currently HMS Dumbarton Castle) supported by a Royal Fleet Auxiliary Vessel (currently RFA Grey Rover). The Guardship maintains a presence in the Falkland Islands area for most of the year, but can, on occasions, be held at longer notice to allow the ship to carry out other activities elsewhere. Other Naval assets also deploy to the area from time to time.

Mr. Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to withdraw HMS Dumbarton Castle from the Falklands; and if he will make a statement. [107248]

Mr. Spellar: We have no plans to withdraw HMS Dumbarton Castle from the Falkland Islands.

Medical Services

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his recent letter to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, on medical services in the Forces, whether it was with his authority that a senior Admiralty officer made a statement on the condition of medical services in the Navy; and if he will make a statement. [107028]

Mr. Spellar: I have not authorised any senior naval officer to make a statement on medical services in the Royal Navy, nor have I been asked to do so. This Government have long recognised the problems we inherited in the Defence Medical Services (DMS), the most significant of which is the shortage of manpower. We are committed to ensuring that our Armed Forces have the medical support they require and, following the Strategic Defence Review, we have made an additional £140 million available for the DMS over the four years to 2001-02 for medical equipment and personnel. In December 1998, we announced a new strategy for the DMS, covering a range of measures, a key element of which is the creation of a Centre for Defence Medicine

27 Jan 2000 : Column: 228W

(CDM). The University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust has been selected as the host Trust for the Centre which we plan to open in April 2001. As well as being the professional focus for the DMS, and providing clinical services, the CDM will be an important centre for military training and research and we believe it will encourage recruitment and retention of DMS personnel.

Northern Ireland

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is his policy on the carrying of weapons for personal protection by members of the Territorial Army in Northern Ireland; [107138]

(2) how many members of the Territorial Army and Reserve forces have been (a) killed and (b) attacked by terrorists in Northern Ireland in the last 20 years; [107140]

(3) under what circumstances Territorial Army units from Northern Ireland are required to relinquish their weapons when undertaking training exercises in Scotland. [107139]

Mr. Spellar: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Nimrod Pilots

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving RAF pilots are available and trained in date to fly the Nimrod aircraft. [107046]

Mr. Spellar: As at 25 January, there are 73 Nimrod pilots who are qualified and current. This figure is made up of 65 Nimrod MR2 pilots and eight Nimrod R1 pilots.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Immigration (Un-opened Mail)

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the earliest postmarked date of unopened mail in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate on (a) 1 November 1999, (b) 1 December 1999 and (c) 1 January 2000; and how many items of mail remained unopened on each date. [105674]

Mrs. Roche: Significant and continuing improvements have been made in the handling of mail in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Directly addressed applications for variation of leave are opened when they are initially processed, which now takes place within three days of receipt. The earliest postmarked dates and numbers of unopened items of this category of mail were as follows on the dates specified:

Date	Earliest postmark	Unopened items
1 November 1999	17 September 1999	12,000
1 December 1999	1 October 1999	7,500
1 January 2000	20 December 1999	3,500

Information on the postmarked dates of mail addressed to the Travel Documents Section is not available, but the numbers of unopened items were as follows.

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Date	Unopened items
1 November 1999	1,573
1 December 1999	897
1 January 2000	461

Information on the unopened items and earliest postmarks of mail that was not directly addressed at the dates specified is not available. Since 1 November 1999, all mail which is not directly addressed has been sent to a Document Management Centre, where it is opened and sent to the correct location. All such mail items are currently opened and despatched on the date of receipt.

27 Jan 2000 : Column: 230W

Departmental Fees

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the fees his Department, its agencies and associated public bodies collect; how much has been raised or it is anticipated will be raised from each of these fees from 1989-90 to 2004-05; and which of these fees count as negative expenditure. [105999]

Mr. Straw: The fees received in years for which the information is readily available and for which reasonable future estimates can be made are given in the table.

27 Jan 2000 : Column: 229W

Fee receipts: Home Office and associated public bodies£000

Service	1992-93 (5)	1993-94 (5)	1994-95 (5)	1995-96 (5)	1996-97 (5)	1997-98 (5)	1998-99 (5)	1999-2000 (6)	2000-01 (6)
Immigration: Additional Service	378	588	806	1,347	1,627	1,620	972	882	n/a
Accommodation provided for non-Home Office bodies	65	96	101	150	106	62	131	190	29
Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, licences	1,964	2,109	2,028	2,049	3,432	2,398	2,297	2,354	n/a
Immigration Detention costs recovered from carriers	773	790	291	372	640	1,360	976	1,997	2,250
Crime Prevention Centre	90	60	67	80	92	127	84	93	95
Data Protection Registrar	7,820	4,471	3,226	7,072	5,057	6,067	6,182	6,302	6,414
Data Subject Access Requests	110	111	171	259	506	668	784	1,200	1,500
Emergency Planning College	55	201	325	482	496	767	948	970	1,200
Fire Service College	12,688	12,979	13,712	13,375	13,069	13,524	14,296	13,956	14,654
Forensic Science Service	24,662	25,755	28,653	31,188	50,839	59,732	68,138	74,506	81,122
Gaming Board for Great Britain: Gaming	3,292	3,347	3,115	3,508	3,142	3,054	3,015	3,161	3,379
Lotteries(7)	n/a	n/a	228	243	275	294	293	304	304
HMIC--Inspection of non Home Office police forces	102	0	98	0	170	215	202	183	n/a
Licences issued under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971	319	359	409	432	390	494	494	570	n/a
Nationality fees	4,424	5,537	5,560	5,433	5,747	5,615	7,608	6,462	6,500
UK Passport Agency	71,321	89,261	87,354	91,061	88,923	78,249	89,600	95,800	116,300
Police Promotion Exams Board	13	53	36	58	60	59	64	51	41
Police Staff College	1,184	1,250	1,473	1,087	1,194	1,057	1,137	1,459	n/a
Police Training Centres	794	1,024	944	776	637	580	1,122	995	n/a
Specialist Crime Centre	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	1
Travel Documents	173	323	514	514	736	640	462	420	1,423

(5) Actual

(6) Estimate

3 The fee receipts from Lotteries are included with those from Gaming until 1994-95

27 Jan 2000 : Column: 229W

At present, receipts from every on-Vote service are treated wholly or partly as negative expenditure by the Department.

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