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Imphal Barracks

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if the Medical Group HQ can be accommodated at Imphal Barracks; at what cost; and if he will make a statement; [115536]

(2) when a new Medical Group HQ will be set up at Imphal Barracks, Yorkshire. [115535]

Mr. Spellar: The HQ Medical Group will consist of three discrete elements; a deployable 1* Headquarters, HQ Army Medical Services (AMS) TA currently based at Imphal Barracks, York, and the Field Training Centre currently based at Strensall. All the elements of HQ Medical Group will ultimately be co-located in Strensall. This co-location will concentrate the command and control and training that is required to deliver hospital support on operations. To achieve this, a re-build at Strensall costing some £1.9 million is required, and it is estimated that this will take 18 months to complete (including the procurement process). The HQ Medical Group will therefore not be able to form up in Strensall until late 2001 at the earliest. In the meantime, the new HQ element will form up in Imphal Barracks at a cost currently estimated at some £0.2 million.

Absence without Leave

Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if a standard procedure is followed when a person goes absent without leave from the armed forces. [115572]

Mr. Spellar: Each of the Services follows a set procedure when a person goes absent without leave, although there are slight differences of detail between the Services. After initial investigations by commanding officers to establish cases of absence, in all three Services it is standard procedure to inform the absentee's local police force, the Central Criminal Records and Information Office, and the Services' own internal provost, administrative and manning staffs of the absence. The three Services' procedures differ slightly regarding the time allowed to elapse before formal reporting proceedings commence. In the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force a period of seven days is allowed to elapse before formal reporting proceedings commence, whereas in the case of an Army absentee, formal reporting action is carried out immediately.

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Live Firing Exercises

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many live firing exercises have been undertaken by the Royal Navy in each of the last five years stating in each case (a) the name of the exercise and (b) the number and cost of rounds expended by (i) the Goalkeeper gun system, (ii) the Phalanx gun system and (iii) the 114mm gun system; and if he will make a statement. [114547]

Mr. Spellar: I am withholding this information in accordance with Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to Defence, Security and International Relations.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

John Howes

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on the meeting between Mr. John Howes of the Treasury Solicitor's Department and members of the JDS Tribunal on 2 December 1999. [115412]

The Solicitor-General: Mr. John Howes is a member of the Treasury Solicitor's staff. Between 1994 and 1998 he had conduct, on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry (Companies Investigation Branch), of disqualification proceedings against the former Directors of Astra Holdings plc. These were pursuant to section 8 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. Those proceedings were finally discontinued on the instructions of the DTI in 1998. Mr. Howes was not involved in any consequential proceedings before the Accountants Joint Disciplinary Scheme ("JDS") Tribunal. Moreover he did not attend a meeting with the members of the JDS Tribunal on 2 December 1999 or at any other time.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

UNGASS Meeting

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development who will be attending the June UNGASS meeting on the implementation of the World Summit for Social Development. [115147]

Mr. Foulkes: The composition of the UK delegation is being actively considered. The Minister for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities plans to attend for part of the discussions.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

New Deal

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many New Deal participants have found sustained unsubsidised jobs of 13 weeks or more before having had a New Deal interview. [102104]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 9 December 2000]: By the end of December 1999, 12,520 young people had left the Gateway for sustained unsubsidised jobs having been sent a letter telling them they are now on the New Deal.

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Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many participants in the New Deal have been offered permanent employment to date. [101833]

Ms Jowell: Statistics are not collected using a category of "permanent" as this is not a term that adequately describes the realities of the modern labour market. However, we do know that by the end of December 1999, 185,250 young people under the New Deal for young people found jobs. Of these, 135,350 were sustained jobs lasting 13 weeks or more. In addition, 34,170 people under the New Deal for long-term unemployed people aged 25 and over found jobs (28,550 were sustained). A recent survey showed also that 57 per cent. of young people leaving the New Deal Gateway for unknown destinations had found a job.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what projects have been completed by the New Deal Environmental Task Force in the North-Essex Employment Service area since its inception. [115271]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 20 March 2000]: In the North-Essex New Deal Unit of Delivery, the following 10 projects have been completed by the Environment Task Force:

Dyke clearance, pathway construction at Jaywick

Wide area clearance at Dovercourt

Planting, pathway construction, footbridge at Parkeston

Laying bark paths, constructing footbridge at Frinton

Refurbishment of lightship museum at Harwich

Alteration and decoration of Church Hall at Harwich

Construction of memorial gardens and play equipment at Brightlingsea

Decorating local Arts Trust Theatre at Dovercourt

Constructing of storage, recreational and play area for local school at Clacton

Construction of pathways and picnic benches at Parkeston.

There are four current projects under way as follows:

Path laying, tree cutting, hedge clearing at Chelmsford

Path laying, tree cutting, hedge clearing at Braintree/Colchester (two projects).

All these projects are contributing both to increased employability for young people and to the Government's wider environmental objectives.

Dr. Jack Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have had their benefits stopped for failing effectively to pursue a New Deal option, at each benefit office in Copeland; and if he will make a statement. [115069]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 20 March 2000]: Between 1 April 1999 and 31 December 1999 (the latest date for which data are available) 1,200 young people started on New Deal and at any time there were just over 1,440 young people participating in the New Deal in the Employment Service's Cumbria Unit of Delivery. During this nine-month period, 219 sanctions were imposed for failing to attend a New Deal option in Cumbria. This figure cannot be disaggregated to constituency level. The Cumbria Unit of Delivery includes the jobcentres in Carlisle, Cleator Moor, Cockermouth, Keswick,

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Maryport, Penrith, Whitehaven, Workington, Barrow in Furness, Kendal, Lancaster, Millom, Morecombe, Ulverston and Windermere.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have taken part in the New Deal Environmental Task Force in North-Essex Employment Service area (a) in the first year and (b) in the current year to date. [115269]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 20 March 2000]: In the North-Essex New Deal Unit of Delivery, 57 young people started on the Environment Task Force in 1998; the figure for 1999 was 78. These figures have contributed towards the national total of 25,400 young people who have benefited from the work experience opportunities that the Environmental Task Force provides.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what was the financial surplus or deficit for the New Deal Environmental Task Force in North-Essex Employment Service area (a) in the first year and (b) in the current year to date; [115270]

(2) what the cost was of the New Deal Environmental Task Force in the North-Essex employment service area (a) in the previous year and (b) in the current year to date. [115424]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 20 March 2000]: North-Essex is a private sector-led Unit of Delivery in which the New Deal for young people is led by SEETEC. Funding is on the basis of a unit cost for each participant and a monthly fee. This information, in line with all payments to contractors, is commercially confidential and cannot be released.

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