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Nuclear Safety Seminar
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which representatives of his Department attended the NATO nuclear safety seminar held in Helsinki on 24 to 26 January; and if he will make a statement. [109001]
Mr. Spellar: The Government was represented by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
Grants
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the initiatives launched by his Department since May 1997 under which specific grants are allocated, indicating in each case and for each financial year the funding provided by central Government. [109319]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 10 February 2000]: No new grants have been made since May 1997.
Remploy
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Remploy products his Department has purchased in the last three years. [109931]
Mr. Spellar: The Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency has placed over £7.1 million worth of business with Remploy, covered by some 21 contracts, during the period February 1997 to January 2000.
Other items have been procured by the RAF Support Management Contracts Branches (12 contracts in an approximate value of £4.6 million) and by General Stores Contracts Branches (three contracts value £165,000) during the same period.
I have placed an alphabetical list of the items ordered by each MOD Branch in the Library of the House.
Arms Exports
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the value of Britain's arms exports in each of the last 20 years. [110202]
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Dr. Moonie: The information requested has been published, since 1992, in UK Defence Statistics, and previously, since 1979, in Volume II of the Statement on the Defence Estimates. The last year for which figures are available is 1998. Copies are available from the Library of the House.
Extremist Organisations
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers have been disciplined for offences alleged to be connected with the activities of (a) Combat 18 and (b) other extremist organisations over the past three years; and what actions he is taking to prevent infiltration by such organisations. [110664]
Mr. Spellar: It has long been the policy of the Armed Forces that Service life precludes membership of, support for, or association with groups or organisations whose purpose includes incitement to racial hatred and violence. All three Services have in place regulations and instructions which give clear guidance to the Chain of Command on the process governing administrative discharge which is available to deal with behaviour which is incompatible with military service.
Over the past three years two soldiers alleged to have been involved with Combat 18 have been discharged from the Army.
Recruiting and vetting processes aim to provide a high degree of protection against infiltration by extremist organisations.
Entrance Policy
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to change the policy of permanently barring those who have suffered from childhood eczema from entering the armed forces. [110761]
Mr. Spellar: Medical entry standards are constantly under review. The current policy barring applicants with eczema from entering the Armed Forces was last reviewed at the end of 1998, with policy being based on advice from the Defence Consultant Adviser in Dermatology. Eczema, and related serious skin diseases, are not considered compatible with Service life. However, those who have suffered from childhood eczema are not necessarily barred from entry into the Armed Forces. Each candidate is considered on an individual basis that takes account of medical history, and the possible effect on the condition of the proposed type of employment.
Civilians (Faslane and Coulport)
Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian jobs there are at the Faslane and Coulport base. [111001]
Mr. Spellar: As at 31 January 2000, the Clyde Naval Base had a directly employed work force of 3,299.5, comprising 2,547 at Faslane and 752.5 at Coulport.
Territorial Army
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) on how many occasions in the last six months units of the Territorial Army have travelled from Northern
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Ireland to Great Britain for training purposes; and on how many of these visits the unit did not have (a) its own weapons and (b) an armed escort; [110900]
- (2) how many personal protection weapons held by the members of the Territorial Army in Northern Ireland have been withdrawn from (a) serving members and (b) former members of the Territorial Army in the last six months. [110901]
Mr. Spellar: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to encourage recruitment to the Territorial Army. [109421]
Mr. Spellar: A national and regional recruiting campaign for the Territorial Army is to be launched on 18 February. This campaign will include television, radio and cinema advertising, use of the Press both nationally and locally, and a targeted "Member for Member" personal invitation scheme. There will also be a National TA Day on 25 March on which all TA Units throughout the country will open their doors to the general public to enable them to get a first-hand idea of what membership of the TA can offer them.
Electricity Generation
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the electricity used by his Department is generated from renewable sources; and if he will make a statement. [111039]
Dr. Moonie: My Department does not collate data on the proportion of its electricity which is generated from renewable sources.
Masonic Organisations
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance his Department has issued to the armed services on membership of, and recruitment to, masonic organisations; and if he will make a statement. [111341]
Mr. Spellar: We decided to clarify the position for Armed Forces personnel in July 1999 by issuing guidance in the form of a Joint Service Defence Council Instruction on Membership of Societies such as the Freemasons. This states that:
- "There is no intention or policy to preclude Service personnel from membership of any lawful and benevolent organisation. However, involvement in organisations of a secretive nature, such as the Freemasons, carries with it the risk of establishing disparate loyalties which may have a destabilising influence on the chain of command, not least by the perception of preferential treatment and undue influence. While membership of such organisations is clearly a matter for the individuals concerned, serving personnel should not encourage or promote membership among their colleagues, meetings should not be held on MOD premises, and use should not be made of any MOD property."
HMS Endurance
Mr. Cawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to withdraw HMS Endurance from service; and if he will make a statement. [R] [110926]
Mr. Spellar: There are no plans to withdraw HMS Endurance from service.
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European Security
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent meetings he has had with European Commission officials to discuss European security. [109399]
Mr. Hoon: I have not held any bilateral meetings with European Commission officials.
European Commission representatives were present, however, at the EU General Affairs Council and the Western European Union Ministerial meeting in November 1999, both of which I attended.
Accredited Training
Ms Rosie Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to increase the proportion of accredited training and education in the armed forces. [109411]
Mr. Spellar: Civilian accreditation of military education and training is an important recruiting and retention issue for the armed forces. As such all three Services are working closely with a number of key accreditation and awarding bodies to increase the amount of civilian recognition given to military courses, leading eventually to the award of academic, vocational and professional qualifications.
CABINET OFFICE
IT Projects
Angela Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made in her Department's review of the handling of major IT projects. [111307]
Mr. Ian McCartney: The Cabinet Office study of major IT projects has made its first recommendations. These have been approved by the study steering committee and adopted by the Government. They demonstrate that the Government is committed to taking prompt and targeted action to improve performance and to ensuring that the pillars that support successful IT projects are put in place.
Ministers
Ministers have to take a strong role in overseeing and scrutinising major IT projects. The Government have already introduced the first ever events to build ministers' awareness about their roles. IT projects will be a top priority.
Supplier Planning
It is vital that suppliers fully understand the requirements for a new system, and only promise what is realistic. They will now be required to produce detailed plans, to demonstrate to the Government how they will deliver, that will be monitored as projects go ahead. These will be set alongside the business plans that the Government have to make.
Peer Review
All high risk projects will be reviewed as they are developed. Departments will have to work with a team of independent experienced project managers to make sure that their projects are safe to go ahead.
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Sharing Experience
We will establish a new system for sharing knowledge about IT projects across the Government, so everyone has the benefit of the best practice available. It is essential that we learn the lessons from projects as they proceed, share good ways of working and ensure that different parts of Government co-operate as closely as possible.
Managing suppliers
The Government are setting up the new Office of Government Commerce to make sure we manage suppliers in a strategic way across the public sector. IT suppliers will be the first priority for this work.
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