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Personnel Ratios

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the ratio of officers to enlisted personnel is in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Air Force, (c) Army and (d) Royal Marine. [124477]

Mr. Spellar: The ratio of Officers to Other Ranks on the trained strengths of the UK Regular Armed Forces, as at 1 April 2000, were:





Lynx Helicopter

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the technical fault in Lynx helicopters; who will meet the cost and over what timescale; and if he will make a statement. [124673]

Mr. Spellar: The problem with Lynx Main Rotor Heads is currently being managed through better utilisation of our existing stocks of unaffected heads, including faster repair and overhaul times. The cost of this will be contained within existing funds. Urgent discussions are taking place with GKN Westland about buying replacement rotor heads as quickly as possible. It is not yet possible to estimate the cost for these orders, which will be met from the Defence Budget.

RAF Unguided Bomb Enhancement Programme

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the original planned date of completion of the RAF unguided bomb enhancement programme; what is the current estimated in-service timetable for completion; what effect in-year budget

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changes have had on the in-service timetable; when he expects to place contracts against the programme; and if he will make a statement. [124224]

Dr. Moonie: Staff Target (Air) 1248 seeks to introduce an all weather bombing capability for the RAF. The In Service Date originally assumed in the funded forward programme was 2006. This date has not changed. A contract is expected to be placed in mid-2002.

Regular Forces

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the UK Regular Forces' (i) trained strength and (ii) trained requirement in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2015. [123979]

Mr. Spellar: The long-term aim is to bring the overall trained strength into balance with the trained requirement. By 1 April 2005, both the Naval Service and the Army expect to have achieved this, with their trained requirements anticipated to be about 38,500 and 105,232 respectively. The RAF's forecast trained strength at 1 April 2005 is expected to be about 50,400, against the forecast trained requirement of 50,900.

Although the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) looked into the future as far as 2015, it is not possible to predict, beyond 2005, the detail of the future framework, owing to the changing nature of the international security environment.

Defence Procurement

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of overall spending on defence procurement is allocated to companies in (a) England and (b) Wales; and if he will make a statement. [122653]

Dr. Moonie: Spending on defence procurement is based on value for money, project by project, and is not allocated to companies on a regional basis. I refer the hon. Member to the publication "UK Defence Statistics, 1999" which details (at Table 1.9) the annual defence expenditure on equipment in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A copy is held in the Library.

MOD Police (Policy and Procedures Manual)

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when Ministry of Defence police officers will receive the new single source document containing their terms and conditions of service. [124353]

Mr. Spellar: The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) Policy and Procedures Manual will incorporate MDP terms and conditions of service. Initial chapters of the Policy and Procedures Manual including some on terms and conditions of service were distributed in electronic format on 10 May 2000. Further chapters will be distributed as soon as consultation with the Defence Police Federation has been completed.

Special Advisers

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions since 31 March 1999 (a) departmental and (b) non-departmental special advisers have travelled abroad in an official capacity. [124128]

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Mr. Hoon: During the period 1 April 1999 to the end of March 2000, special advisers in this Department travelled overseas on two occasions.

Aircraft Carriers

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when all three of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers will be operationally available. [121707]

Mr. Spellar: The three Royal Navy aircraft carriers, HMS Invincible, Illustrious and Ark Royal, undertake a rolling programme of operations and maintenance, to ensure that two ships are normally available for operational tasking. On current plans, all three would not be operationally available at the same time.

Andrew Timothy Lea

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the service record of Andrew Timothy Lea. [123557]

Mr. Spellar: In accordance with exemption 8a and exemption 12 of the code of Practice to Government Information, such details are not disclosed without the consent of the individual to whom the information relates.

RAF Feltwell

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2000, Official Report, column 513W, if he will state the reasons why RAF Feltwell is designated an RAF base. [123778]

Mr. Spellar: The designation of any Ministry of Defence site depends on which Service is responsible for its administration. For RAF Feltwell this is the Royal Air Force.

Departmental Building Costs

Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 17 May 2000, Official Report, columns 162-63W, on the projected costs of reconstructing his Department's building in Whitehall, which five buildings are to be disposed of; and what will be the savings per annum resulting from these disposals. [123586]

Dr. Moonie: The redevelopment will allow MOD headquarters activities to be concentrated in Main Building and the adjoining Old War Office, enabling the MOD to dispose of Northumberland House and Metropole Building in Northumberland Avenue, 3-5 Great Scotland Yard, St. Giles Court in Holborn and St. Christopher House in Southwark. Disposal of these properties is estimated to provide savings of £18 million a year in running costs.

Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 17 May 2000, Official Report, columns 162-63W, on the projected costs of reconstructing his Department's building in Whitehall, how many staff are to be relocated as a result of the disposal of the five buildings; and to which locations. [123585]

Dr. Moonie: The disposal of these five buildings is part of an overall reduction in Head Office staff in central London from 6,000 to 4,300 which fulfils one of the aims of the Strategic Defence Review. Some staff have already been relocated to a number of locations in the UK

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including Defence Logistics Organisation staff to Bath and Defence Vetting Agency staff to York. Work is continuing on the future destination of the remaining staff.

Ro-ro Ferries

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what percentage of time the Government expects to use each of the ro-ro ships shortly to be ordered by his Department. [122987]

Mr. Spellar: [holding answer 19 May 2000]: The Ministry of Defence requires a Strategic Sealift service which is based on the availability of six ships on graduated notice of call-up for Joint Rapid Reaction Forces (JRRF) operations. The Ministry of Defence cannot predict when this requirement may arise. In addition, during those periods when there are no JRRF operations, the Ministry of Defence will need to employ on average about four vessels to carry out routine tasks such as supporting exercises or transporting freight.

HEALTH

Influenza

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost to the NHS of (a) a hospital admission caused by influenza, (b) a doctor taking a day off work as a result of influenza, (c) an influenza vaccination and (d) a course of antiviral treatment and protection for influenza. [121963]

Yvette Cooper: Costs per finished consultant episode (FCE) for possible treatments for patients with influenza are given as follows. The cost information is based on the 1998-99 financial year and is based on costs for non-elective inpatients. Influenza features in a number of healthcare resource groupings (HRGs).
















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The cost of a doctor taking a day off work is not known. The list prices for influenza vaccines and antiviral drugs are given in the British National Formulary, copies of which are in the Library.

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