---

Hazardous Wastes

Mr. Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the United Nations Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation for damage resulting from transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal, which opened for signature on 6 March. [126234]

Mr. Meacher: The Basel Liability and Compensation Protocol was concluded on 10 December 1999 at the 5th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, after nearly 10 years of negotiation. It provides for a comprehensive regime for liability and for adequate and prompt compensation for damage resulting from the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal.

We shall shortly be consulting widely on the potential implications of the United Kingdom signing and ratifying this Protocol. These views will be taken into account in reaching a decision as to whether the United Kingdom should proceed with signature.

DEFENCE

Munitions Stocks

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps have been taken to restore stocks of precision guided and non-precision guided munitions back to pre-operation levels following operation Allied Force; and if he will make a statement; [124207]

(2) what contracts have been placed to replace (a) Paveway II, (b) Paveway III, (c) RBL 755, (d) 1,000 lb bomb, (e) ALARM and (f) TLAM expended during operations in Kosovo, listing in each case the (i) company involved, (ii) estimated date of delivery, (iii) value of the contract and (iv) cost per unit; and if he will make a statement. [124221]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 5 June 2000]: Rather than simply replace all of the weapons used, we have evaluated the need to retain the capability provided by each weapon system and whether replenishment of that weapon represents the most cost effective means of restoring that capability. Where necessary, replacement weapons were ordered both during and immediately

13 Jun 2000 : Column: 559W

after the conflict, with due consideration to previous stockholding and usage rates, to restore an appropriate level of War Reserve.

13 Jun 2000 : Column: 560W

Since the Kosovo campaign, contracts have been placed for these munitions as follows:

13 Jun 2000 : Column: 559W

Munition	Company	Approximate value (£ million)	Unit price (£)	Delivery date
Paveway II	Portsmouth Aviation	18	8,000	August 2000
RBL 755	Hunting Engineering Ltd.	7	7,000	August 2000
TLAM	Raytheon	23	1,100,000	--

13 Jun 2000 : Column: 559W

No further orders are currently required for Paveway III, 1,000 lb bombs or ALARM missiles.

Given TLAM's unique capability, knowledge of its delivery schedule could allow a potential adversary to assess the UK's stock level and operational capability; this information is, therefore, withheld in accordance with Exemption 1 (Defence, Security, and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

RAF Feltwell

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons there are no RAF personnel at RAF Feltwell. [125174]

Mr. Spellar: There is no operational requirement for RAF personnel to be based at RAF Feltwell.

Unmanned Combat Vehicles

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to develop unmanned combat vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [125424]

Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence currently does not have any plans to develop an unmanned land combat vehicle. We are, however, conducting broad research into robotics technologies and remote operation for military vehicles.

Remote control is at present used only for explosive ordnance disposal vehicles but Terrier, the replacement engineer tractor, will be fitted for, but not with, an ability for remote operation; it is likely the Future Engineer Tank will also be so fitted. The possibility of remotely operating armoured vehicles for obstacle and mine clearance roles in Bosnia was examined but not pursued.

Kosovo (Internet)

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the infrastructure components he has procured to provide internet access to all military personnel in Kosovo. [125807]

Mr. Spellar: The infrastructure components currently being procured using public funds are routers, a switch, a server, printers and modems, together with the necessary software licences.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when, and with which companies and providers, he contracted the procurement of infrastructure for access to the internet by all military personnel in Kosovo; and what the contractual in-service date is. [125806]

13 Jun 2000 : Column: 560W

Mr. Spellar: Contracts for infrastructure equipment were placed with Honeywell Controls, DELL Electronics and Tangible Benefit on 7 June. The MOD's Defence Communication Services Agency will provide the communications infrastructure and, to enable the service to be set up rapidly, the Permanent Joint Headquarters will act as the internet service provider. The service is expected to be in place by the end of this month.

Navy E-mail

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) overseas garrisons and (b) Royal Navy ships where all military personnel have access to e-mail services. [125808]

Mr. Spellar: All personnel in the Cyprus and Gibraltar garrisons have access to e-mail services via local providers, as do most personnel in the Falkland Islands.

All Royal Navy ships of frigate size and above are capable of accessing the internet, enabling the ship's company to send and receive e-mail. Minor War Vessels can access the internet when alongside, and are also fitted with the necessary equipment when deployed on operations for a prolonged period.

Communication and Information Services

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on arrangements for the delivery of communication and information services to his Department. [126065]

Mr. Spellar: The Defence Communication Services Agency (DCSA) was established on 1 April 1998 and is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of communication and information services across Defence. The RAF Signals Engineering Establishment (RAFSEE) was formed in 1982 and became a Defence Agency in November 1994. The DCSA, RAFSEE and a number of non-Agency organisations responsible for aspects of the delivery of communication and information services and supporting activities were brought together to form a single Communication and Information Services and Support (CISS) organisation under the Defence Logistics Organisation on 1 April 2000. In order to strengthen the focus of the overall CISS organisation on service delivery and to reinforce the alignment of the DCSA's responsibility, authority and accountability it has been decided to remove Agency status from the RAFSEE organisation and to expand the DCSA to encompass the entire CISS organisation.

13 Jun 2000 : Column: 561W

The removal of RAFSEE's Agency status and the expansion of the DCSA to encompass the entire CISS organisation are, of themselves, administrative procedures and will not result in any geographical relocation or redundancies for staff.

Special Investigations Branch

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officers and of what rank comprise the Special Investigations Branch; and what is the annual expenditure of the SIB broken down into relevant headings. [123887]

Mr. Spellar: The Special Investigations Branch (SIB) comprises 25 Officers and 158 soldiers, of the following ranks:

Rank	Total
Lieutenant Colonel	3
Major	12
Captain	10
Warrant Officer Class I	14
Warrant Officer Class II	27
Staff Sergeant	49
Sergeant	68
Total	183

The full cost of operating the SIB does not currently fall to a single, discrete budgetary area. For example, support costs may be satisfied at local level by the military unit with whom the SIB personnel are collocated; and, moreover, such costs are not separately apportioned. To determine the cost of operating the SIB worldwide could not, therefore, be achieved without disproportionate effort.

A provisional estimate of expenditure on the three major SIB units which operate in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Germany, for the present financial year, is detailed in the table.

Expenditure	£
Military pay	7,122,261
Civilian pay(8)	1,020,969
Contracts(9)	32,500
IT(10)	29,989
Lands and buildings(11)	28,000
Travel and subsistence(12)	244,658
Fuel and utilities	60,638
VAT receipts	-33,000
Miscellaneous(13)	423,603
Total	8,929,618

(8) In the UK and NI the SIB's functions are supported by civil servants, and in Germany by Locally Employed personnel

(9) Cleaning; Technical cleaning

(10) Installation and upkeep of both hardware and software

(11) Rents, legal fees, and minor estate improvements

(12) Vehicle hire, detached duty and daily travel

(13) Telephone costs, office supplies and logistical support

---