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Departmental Vehicles
Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) cars and (b) commercial vehicles operated by his Department were manufactured (i) in the UK, (ii) in the EU and (iii) elsewhere. [122259]
Mr. Battle: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's policy is to purchase vehicles on the basis of value for money. We are also required to comply with the UK's international obligations under the EC Public Procurement Directives. The statistics cover vehicles in the UK and at posts overseas. The majority of our fleet is manufactured in the UK.
| Place of manufacture | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | EC | Elsewhere | |
| Home Fleet | |||
| Cars | 13 | 5 | 0 |
| Commercial vehicles | 13 | 15 | 1 |
| Overseas Fleet | |||
| Cars | 594 | 159 | 285 |
| Commercial vehicles | 54 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals for Home and Overseas Fleets | |||
| Cars | 607 | 164 | 285 |
| Commercial vehicles | 67 | 15 | 4 |
17 May 2000 : Column: 160W
DEFENCE
Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Regiment
Mr. Anthony D. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the long term location of the Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Regiment currently based at RAF Honington. [123004]
Mr. Spellar: The Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Regiment, which was established as a joint initiative in April 1999, following recommendations arising from the Strategic Defence Review, will be permanently based at RAF Honington.
The Regiment was established at RAF Honington as a successful joint initiative in April last year, following the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review, and was fully operational by December. The Regiment's operational capability will comprise nuclear, biological and chemical detection, reconnaissance and survey and will combine these aspects with expertise in decontamination techniques. This is a critical enabling capability--and the Regiment will be invaluable in reducing the risk to our armed forces who deploy in dangerous areas like the Gulf.
Sierra Leone
Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many flights by Antonov 124/100 aircraft have been chartered by his Department to West African destinations associated with the crisis in Sierra Leone; on what dates; what loads were carried in each case; and how many refuelling stops were required en route. [122533]
Mr. Hoon: As of 1200 hours 16 May, five Antonov 124/100 sorties have been chartered by the MOD to West African destinations associated with the crisis in Sierra Leone: three flights on 8 May 2000; one flight on 9 May 2000; and one flight on 13 May 2000. Each flight carried between 61 tonnes and 82.5 tonnes of store and equipment. Refuelling stops were not required.
Naval Funding
Mr. Quentin Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the Royal Navy's budgeted fund allocation for 2000-01; and what was the corresponding budget for the previous five years. [122113]
Mr. Spellar: The operating costs of the Ministry of Defence are managed by 11 Top Level Budget (TLB) holders. Major equipment and research programmes are managed separately. Prior to 2000-01 there were three discrete TLBs covering the main activities of the Royal Navy, however, from 2000-01 a new tri-service TLB has been created to manage the Departments logistics activities--the Chief of Defence Logistics (CDL) TLB. This budget includes the costs of the Navy as well as the Army and RAF and it is not possible separately to identify the single service elements; the budget is managed as a whole. Equipment procurement costs are also managed centrally the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and are therefore also excluded.
For 2000-01 the budgets set for the two remaining Navy TLBs is £1,693 million. The total budget for the CDL TLB is £4,854 million.
17 May 2000 : Column: 161W
The Navy Budget for the previous five years was as follows:
| Year | £ million (actuals) |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 3,879 |
| 1996-97 | 3,761 |
| 1997-98 | 3,714 |
| 1998-99 | 3,765 |
| 1999-2000 | 3,698 |
Lord Levy
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 27 March 2000, Official Report, column 25W, if Lord Levy has requested any further defence briefings since 25 March 1999. [118284]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 11 April 2000]: No.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 27 March 2000, Official Report, column 25W, for what reason Lord Levy was given a briefing on Syria by the Chief of Defence Intelligence; and if Lord Levy received security clearance prior to receiving that briefing. [118283]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 11 April 2000]: On 25 March 1999, the Chief of Defence Staff asked the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI) to see Lord Levy, as he judged that this would be of benefit to him prior to his visit to the Middle East carrying messages for the Prime Minister. Lord Levy did not receive security clearance for this specific meeting as he already holds the appropriate clearance.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which officials Lord Levy has received briefings on the Middle East. [119671]
Mr. Hoon: I refer to my answer of 27 March 2000, Official Report, column 25W. Lord Levy has not been briefed on the Middle East by any other Ministry of Defence officials.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 27 March 2000, Official Report, column 25W, (1) what assistance was offered by Lord Levy to the Chief of Defence Staff during his visit to Israel last September; [118280]
- (2) which meetings Lord Levy attended during the Chief of Defence Staff's visit to Israel; and what was the subject of those meetings; [118279]
(3) to which Israeli officials Lord Levy made representations regarding the Chief of Defence Staff's visit to Israel; [118305]
(4) what preparatory work was done in Israel by Lord Levy for the Chief of Defence Staff's visit last September; [118304]
(5) if the Chief of Defence Staff discussed arms sales during his visit to Israel. [118285]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 11 April 2000]: The British embassy in Tel Aviv prepared and arranged the Chief of Defence Staff's visit to Israel. Lord Levy and HM
17 May 2000 : Column: 162W
Ambassador accompanied the Chief of Defence Staff to a call on Prime Minister Barak. A range of matters of mutual interest were discussed. Arms sales were not discussed.
Bahrain
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Chief of Defence Staff visited Bahrain; whom he met; what topics were discussed; and who was in his accompanying delegation. [118286]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 11 April 2000]: General Sir Charles Guthrie last visited Bahrain between 25 and 27 February 2000. He met the Amir of Bahrain, the Crown Prince, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, the Chief of Staff of the Bahrain Defence Force, Vice Admiral Moore of the US Navy and UK personnel deployed in Bahrain. They discussed aspects of the UK's bilateral relationship with Bahrain and a variety of regional issues. General Guthrie was accompanied on the visit by his Deputy Principal Staff Officer and Aide De-Camp. Our Ambassador to Bahrain was present during the calls on Bahraini officials and the Defence Attache escorted throughout.
Nuclear-powered Submarines
Mrs. Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the maximum design accidents assessed by the Nuclear Powered Warships Committee following a near instantaneous loss of primary circuit coolant which are in place for the Swiftsure and Trafalgar nuclear powered submarines in operation near and in the Devonport Royal Dockyard; what is the anticipated frequency of MDA per reactor year; what is the core inventory in terms of the fission products Kr, Xe, I, Te, Cs, Sr, and Ru for the nominated MDA for a reactor that (a) is at Plant State A and (b) has recently been derated to Plant State B on the basis of the Standard Core History for the average reactor in-core life for the currently operational Core Z fuel charge; if he will place in the Library copies of his Department's BR1, BR 3018, BR 3019, BR3020, BR 3025 and BR 3030 documents and where appropriate the documents that have superseded them; and if he will make a statement; [121412]
- (2) if, in relation to the refitting and refuelling of Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines at Devonport Royal Dockyard, he will provide the Reference, MDA or Design Basics Accidents (a) applicable to periods (i) when the boat is under repair in the dry dock facility, other than when refuelling, (ii) when the boat is being defuelled in preparation for refuelling for the nuclear reactor, including the transition of the irradiated fuel to the dockyard storage locality and (iii) when the boat is out of commission and awaiting decommissioning without and with irradiated fuel in the reactor core and (b) relating to the treatment, packaging and storage of past and present arisings of radioactive waste undertaken and held at the Dockyard; and if he will make a statement. [121348]
Mr. Spellar: Response plans for a nuclear accident during submarine operations, including refitting, refuelling, fuel and waste handling, within HM Naval Base and the Royal Dockyard, Devonport are firmly based on detailed analysis and comply with appropriate legislation (in particular the Ionising Radiations Regulations). Probabilistic techniques are employed where appropriate in this analysis.
17 May 2000 : Column: 163W
The radioactive inventories and source terms used in this analysis are classified, because they are related to sensitive information about the design of naval propulsion reactors. I am, therefore, withholding this information under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. However, work is underway within my Department to respond to the forthcoming Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulation (REPPIR) which are expected to require that some aspects of the hazard assessments are made available to the public. Some information of this nature is already available in the document DEVPUBSAFE.
I am placing a copy of Joint Service Publication JSP392 (Instructions for Radiological Protection , which replaced Book of Reference BR3020) together with BR3030 Vol. 1, in the Library of the House. The other documents listed are classified and I am, therefore, withholding them under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
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