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Naval Manning Agency
Mr. Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Naval Manning Agency for 2000-01. [118376]
Mr. Spellar: The Key Targets that have been set for the Chief Executive of the Naval Manning Agency (NMA) for the financial year 2000-01 are as set out. The targets build upon progress made by the Agency since it formed on 1 July 1996.
- 1. Deployment:
- a. The percentage of filled Officer billets to be: 94 per cent. or greater.
- b. The percentage of filled rating billets to be: 91 per cent. or greater.
- c. The percentage of filled other rank billets to be: 88 per cent. or greater.
- 2. Manpower Planning:
- The variation of Strength to Requirement to be: between zero and minus 2 per cent.
- 3. Career Management:
- a. The percentage of Officers receiving the required Notice of Change to be: 60 per cent. greater.
- b. The percentage of ratings receiving the required Notice of Change to be: 98 per cent. or greater.
- c. The number of occurrences where Minimum Time Ashore criteria are met to be: 99 per cent. greater.
- 4. NMA Corporate Efficiency:
- a. To achieve strict control of NMA manpower overheads to within plus or minus 2 per cent. of the baseline established for manpower overheads as at 1 April 2000.
- b. To carry out two Benchmarking Exercises.
- c. To achieve a Customer Confidence Score of 62.
6 Apr 2000 : Column: 552W
- 5. Financial
- a. Production of Annual Accrual Accounts to be completed by September 01.
- b. To operate the NMA within its 2000-01 Net Cash Allocation for Operating Activities (at 1999-2000 prices) of £164.8 million.
Naval Recruiting and Training Agency
Mrs. Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency for 2000-01. [118377]
Mr. Spellar: The following Key Targets have been set for the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency (NRTA) for 1999-2000:
To deliver personnel to the trained strength (or to other training organisations) with 4 per cent. variance from the tasked requirement.
To obtain 96 per cent. "Satisfactory" assessments from the employers of NRTA trainees.
To maintain success rates of 95 per cent. in Career Training and 97 per cent. in examined Pre-joining training.
To reduce the variance between RNR Trained Strength and Total Requirement to 35 per cent.
To retain tasked capacity while operating NRTA within its 2000-01 resource allocation.
To achieve net benefits of £11.9 million in FY 2000-01 from the partnering arrangement with Flagship Training Ltd.
AWE Aldermaston
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the principal concerns expressed by AWE staff in relation to the potential takeover of sensitive work responsibilities by an American company. [116242]
Mr. Spellar: AWE ML is not an American company but does include Lockheed Martin among the three equal partners making up the consortium. The consortium operating AWE up to 1 April was also made up of three partners, one of which is owned by an American parent company.
When my noble Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement visited Aldermaston recently members of staff asked her a number of questions only one of which expressed concern over Lockheed Martin's involvement with the establishment. That question related to Lockheed Martin's ability to meet UK safety standards.
In a message delivered on 4 April 2000 to their members who worked at AWE the AEEU, GMB, IPMS, MSF, TGWU and UCATT trade unions described the decision to proceed with the new contract as "controversial but correct".
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long would it take for (i) an Antonov 124 and (ii) a Boeing C-17 to carry an equal amount of supplies, based on the maximum that the lesser carrying aircraft can carry, to (a) East Timor and (b) Mozambique. [116501]
6 Apr 2000 : Column: 553W
Dr. Moonie:
The estimated flight times to East Timor and Mozambique for the two types of aircraft would be similar, since both cruise at roughly the same airspeed. En-route, both aircraft would require refuelling stops of about two hours and one crew change. However, the C-17 is capable of being refuelled in the air and, therefore, apart from having to land for a crew change, it could avoid the intermediate refuelling stops.
The flying time to East Timor is about 26 hours. Two stops would be required by the An-124 and four stops by the C-17. The total journey time would be 30 hours for the An-124 and 34 hours for the C-17 (or 28 hours with air to air refuelling for the C-17).
The flying time to Mozambique is about 15 hours. The An-124 would require one stop and two for the C-17. The total journey time would be 17 hours for the An-124 and 19 hours for the C-17 (or 17 hours for the C-17 with air to air refuelling).
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) volume and (b) weight of cargo a single (i) Antonov 124 and (ii) Boeing C-17 could have taken to (a) East Timor and (b) Mozambique. [116500]
Dr. Moonie:
The An-124 and the C-17 would have the same cargo capabilities to East Timor as they would to Mozambique; these would be:
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the types of experiments carried out on human volunteers at the chemical and biological defence establishment at Porton Down in the last four years. [117091]
Dr. Moonie:
This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Matthew Taylor, dated 6 April 2000:
6 Apr 2000 : Column: 554W
Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the CVR(T) tank is due to be withdrawn from service. [117130]
Dr. Moonie:
The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) is planned to be withdrawn between 2006 and 2014 as it is replaced by the next generation of vehicles.
Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons exemptions from procurement rules have been granted to the David Brown Group for the supply of transmissions for the CVR(T) tank. [117135]
Dr. Moonie:
The David Brown Group has been granted no exemptions from procurement rules for the supply of transmission mechanisms for the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)).
Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the conversion kits needed to convert the CVR(T) tank from petrol to diesel (a) will be issued free to the contractor and (b) will be purchased from his Department. [117132]
Dr. Moonie:
The conversion kits are being procured by the Department and will be provided as Government Furnished Equipment to the contractor.
Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place copies of the invitations to tender regarding the conversion of the CVR(T) tank from petrol to diesel in the Library. [117129]
Dr. Moonie:
The Invitation To Tender document contains classified information. I am withholding its release in accordance with Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to Defence, Security and International Relations.
Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has for additional improvements to the CVR(T) tank. [117131]
Dr. Moonie:
The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) fleet has been subject to many improvements, a number of which are ongoing, including a major programme to convert the vehicles from petrol to diesel. This will reduce whole life costs. Additionally, studies are in place to assess the viability of introducing Battle Group Thermal Imagers and the BOWMAN communications system to the vehicle.
Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many kits to convert the CVR(T) tank from petrol to diesel have been (a) ordered and (b) delivered to date. [117137]
Dr. Moonie:
A contract was placed with Alvis Vehicles Ltd. for the production and delivery of 1,107 Modification Kits. As at the end of February 2000, 532 Modification Kits had been delivered.
(i) An-124 could carry (a) a volume of 1,160 cu m or (b) a weight of 120 tonnes.
(ii) C-17 could carry (a) a volume of 580 cu m or (b) a weight of 76.8 tonnes.
I am replying to your parliamentary question about studies undertaken by the Chemical and Biological Defence (CBD) sector of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA).
During the last four years, the types of studies carried out on human volunteers at Porton Down have fallen into two broad categories. Firstly, there are studies concerned with the evaluation of the physical and psychological burden imposed on service personnel by wearing various items of personal protective equipment, such as the NBC suit and the current in-service respirator, under various environmental conditions.
Secondly, there are studies that evaluate the effects of various licensed drugs on military performance. These may be given to service personnel either as protection or treatments in the event of exposure to chemical or biological agents on the battlefield. The effects that are investigated in such studies would be trivial or go unnoticed in a civilian population but may be important in a military context because they could possibly degrade overall performance. An example of this type of study is the evaluation of the effects of antibiotics on the performance of those involved in tasks such as map reading.
I hope the above is helpful.
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