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RAF Expenditure
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on the RAF in the current financial year to date; and how much he plans to expend in the remainder of the financial year. [107599]
Mr. Spellar:
The information cannot be provided in the requested format. Information is available for RAF Strike Command, RAF Personnel and Training Command and RAF Logistics Command and shows the spend reported up to 31 December 1999 is £2,868 million. The planned expenditure for the current financial year is approximately £4,160 million.
2 Feb 2000 : Column: 590W
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions in each of the past five years computer systems in his Department have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (a) within and (b) outside his Department. [106232]
Dr. Moonie
[holding answer 31 January 2000]: There is no evidence of a successful incursion, from an external source, to any Departmental computer system during the past five years. There were two cases during 1999 of corruption of Websites holding Unclassified MOD information. Measures have been taken to secure both these sites. There are widespread and frequent probes of MOD firewalls connected to the Internet, which do not result in successful penetrations of MOD systems. There have, however, been 25 recorded instances during the past five years of internal incursions by MOD staff, none of which had any operational impact. Appropriate disciplinary measures were taken, as required, in each case.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of computer (a) fraud, including fraudulent use of computer chips and (b) theft his Department has recorded in the last five years. [106213]
Dr. Moonie
[holding answer 31 January 2000]: There have been no cases in the past five years in which MOD computers have been used to directly expedite a fraud against the MOD. There have been 18 cases where MOD computers have been used in support of fraudulent activities. There have been 594 reported cases of computer theft within the MOD over the past five years.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what savings will result from switching to the Lloyd's Register Naval Ship Rules; and if he will make a statement. [108036]
Mr. Spellar:
It is expected that Lloyd's Register's Naval Ship Rules will, by capitalising on the Rules for the design, construction and maintenance of commercial shipping, lead to savings in this area of at least £1 million per annum.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he is taking to improve the anticipated shortfall of personnel in the Army by 2005; what implications these will have on readiness; and if he will make a statement. [108035]
Mr. Spellar:
The Army is currently forecasting a return to a state of full manning by around April 2005. The current manning deficit is being tackled by a series of recruiting and retention-positive measures. These include significant improvements which have been made to the operational welfare package, a reduction in force deployments to both Bosnia and Kosovo, and the Learning Forces initiative. Welcome progress has also been made by the Services Families Task Force, which is addressing a variety of issues relating to military service that are of concern to Service personnel.
2 Feb 2000 : Column: 591W
Mr. Hunter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the army training camp at Bramley, Basingstoke. [108067]
Mr. Spellar:
The Army has a continuing requirement for Bramley Training Area and there are no current plans for major development to the facility, or disposal of the site.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 24 January 2000, Official Report, column 78W, on Nancekuke, what the scrap metal was composed of, in what quantity it was found and on what dates and what was the obsolete plant. [107634]
Dr. Moonie
[holding answer 31 January 2000]: Documentary evidence states that the scrap metal consisted of decontaminated chemical plant, service pipework, cubicle fronts and structural steelwork. The actual quantities are unknown. It is considered that the majority of materials would have been dumped between the closure decision in 1976 and the vacation of the site by the Chemical Defence Establishment in 1978. I am not aware of any documentary evidence as to the nature of the 'obsolete plant' referred to in the question.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 24 January 2000, Official Report, column 70W, on Nancekuke, if he will place in the Library a map indicating the exact locations of the mineshafts; and if all mineshafts were examined in 1991 by the National Rivers Authority. [107635]
Dr. Moonie
[holding answer 31 January 2000]: A copy of a map indicating the locations of the relevant mineshafts will be placed in the Library of the House. Water sampling was conducted by the National Rivers Authority between 1990 and 1992, and there is no evidence of mineshafts having been examined.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 7 December 1999, Official Report, column 454W, on departmental research contacts, if he will place a copy of the standard research contract in use by his Department in the Library. [107099]
Dr. Moonie
[holding answer 1 February 2000]: The Department does not use a standard research contract. Terms and conditions of contracts for research differ according to the work required.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the average period which elapses between the commission of an offence and the date of the subsequent trial in standing civilian courts. [107870]
Mr. Spellar
[holding answer 1 February 2000]:
2 Feb 2000 : Column: 592W
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the helicopter Chinook MK2 was subjected to a full vehicle electro-magnetic interference test using the radio environmental generator by Boscombe Down as part of its CIA release trials in January 1994. [108052]
Mr. Menzies Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the average number of maintenance man-hours per driving hour for (a) Warrior variants, (b) Challenger 1, (c) Challenger 2, (d) Saxon variants, (e) AVF 430 variants, (f) Sabre, (g) Striker, (h) Scimitar, (i) Spartan, (j) Sultan, (k) Samaritan and (l) Samson in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [107548]
Mr. Spellar:
The information requested is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Driver hours are not used as currency for measuring equipment usage. Usage is controlled through activity set by annual track mileage allocations for each vehicle type. Maintenance in the Land environment is different from that in, for example, the Air environment where they use largely scheduled maintenance based on flying hours. Maintenance of Army tanks and vehicles is achieved through a mix of planned maintenance (servicing based on time and mileage) and reactive repair maintenance. The latter regime is the larger element.
The Naval Service
The Naval Service does not hold civilian standing courts.
The Army
The average period between an offence being committed and the date of a trial in a subsequent standing civilian court is eight months for 1st hearing (a guilty plea) and 10 months for 2nd hearing (not guilty plea).
The RAF
The average period between an offence being committed and the date of a trial in a subsequent standing civilian court is six months for 1st hearing (guilty plea) and nine months for 2nd hearing (not guilty plea).
Sunday Dancing
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timetable is for the implementation of his proposal to legalise Sunday dancing. [107613]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
On 17 January, we laid before Parliament a draft Deregulation Order to remove the ban on commercial dancing on Sundays. The draft Order is now subject to the usual process of scrutiny by the Parliamentary Deregulation Committees, and approval by both Houses. That process is likely to take until the summer. If approved, the ban on Sunday dancing would be lifted three months later, to allow time for applications to trade on Sundays to be heard.
2 Feb 2000 : Column: 593W
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