House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 19 Jun 2000 (pt 7)

Union Flag

Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on which Government buildings the Union Flag was flown on 2 June; and how many of these buildings are under (a) his direct control and (b) the control of the Northern Ireland Assembly. [125544]

Mr. Mandelson: The responsibility for flying the Union Flag rests with the department which has the main occupancy of each building and where that building has a flagpole. The Union Flag was flown on 2 June at Hillsborough Castle, Maghaberry, the Prison Service College, Maze and Magilligan. It was not practical to fly the flag at the YOC on that date due to defective equipment which has since been replaced. Following restoration of the political institutions on 30 May, the provision of details concerning the flying of flags on other public buildings on 2 June is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Young Offenders

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for how long the convictions of young offenders are held on record; and what is the period after which applicants are not required to declare past offences when applying for public sector employment. [125743]

Mr. Ingram: All records of convictions are held in accordance with the terms of the publication "Weeding Rules for Criminal Records", a copy of which is available in the Library. The period for which young offenders' convictions are retained depends on the age of the person when he was convicted and the seriousness of the offence(s).

A conviction where a person has been sentenced to more than 2½ years imprisonment, or the equivalent, can never become spent. There are employments where spent convictions must be disclosed and professions in which spent convictions may be taken into account in assessing a person's suitability for admission. These are set out in

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the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) Order (Northern Ireland) 1979, both of which are also available in the Library.

I am also placing in the Library of the House copies of the booklet "Your Way to a Fresh Start", which explains the operation of the legislation.

DEFENCE

Shipbuilding

Mr. Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Govan (Mr. Sarwar) of 25 May 2000, Official Report, column 612W, on shipbuilding, what progress has been made on placing the contract for the survey vessels. [127003]

Mr. Hoon: I am pleased to be able to announce that the prime contract for the procurement of two new specialist warships, known as Multi-Role Hydrographic and Oceanographic Survey Vessels, has today been awarded to Vosper Thornycroft (UK) Ltd. The contract includes the provision of 25 years contractor support for the vessels and is worth some £130 million in total over the life of the ships.

Following a competition run by Vosper Thornycroft, the sub-contract to build the ships has been awarded to Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon. The ships, which are due to enter service in 2002 and 2003, will be named HMS Echo and HMS Enterprise.

These important new warships demonstrate our commitment to the modern force structure that emerged from the Strategic Defence Review. They will be equipped with the latest survey systems, and provide a significantly enhanced surveying capability and much improved sea-keeping capability over the vessels which they will replace, which are old and increasingly costly to maintain. They will be part of the Fleet's front-line in a variety of world-wide operational roles, as well as undertaking specialist surveying tasks necessary to the long-term effectiveness of the Royal Navy.

Construction of the new ships will sustain some 500 jobs directly in the shipyard and some 300 in other suppliers, mainly in the local area.

Type 45 Destroyers

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the planned date by which the Principal Anti Air Missile System will be available to install in the first Type 45 destroyer; and if he will make a statement. [124994]

Dr. Moonie: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Paul Keetch, dated 19 June 2000:

I am writing in response to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence with regard to installation of the Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) in the first Type 45 Destroyer. This falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.

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It is planned that the various elements of the PAAMS system (including radars, the vertical launch and below deck equipment) will be installed in the first Type 45 Destroyer by early 2006. This date provides the time required for PAAMS integration, setting to work and trials to support the in-service date for the first-of-class ship of 2007.

Collaborative Procurement Programmes

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on United Kingdom participation in the United States' Future Combat System programme; [125319]

Dr. Moonie: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Robert Key, dated 19 June 2000:

I am replying to your questions to the Secretary of State for Defence on the collaborative TRACER/FSCS and the US FCS programmes. These matters fall within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.

On the future of the TRACER/FSCS collaborative programme, I can confirm that the United Kingdom requirement for a replacement armoured reconnaissance vehicle to form part of the UK's overall battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance capability remains extant. The current phase of the programme is of 42 months duration and is scheduled for completion in July 02. The programme is proceeding to schedule and both participating Governments are pleased with progress to date. In parallel, studies are being conducted to examine the potential use of unmanned air vehicles. The outcome of these studies will be used to inform the UK decision on the optimum mix of platforms, technology and sensors and the role that TRACER would play in the Army's future battlefield information gathering system. Any decision to proceed to the next project phase will be the subject of future national approvals.

A feature of defence procurement is the need to accommodate new, sophisticated systems within the resources expected to be available. Competing demands on available resources inevitably lead to priorities being kept under review. The current budgetary review process in the US, which could have implications for the TRACER programme, is being closely monitored. We are in regular contact with the US DoD on this and their FCS programme. It would be premature at this stage to speculate on the prospect of UK involvement in the FCS programme.

Animal Experiments

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Mr. Wyatt) of 5 June 2000, Official Report, column 17W, on Porton Down, if he will make a statement on (a) the species of animals involved in, (b) the number of and (c) the types of, experiments performed by the Chemical and Biological Defence Sector for the US Department of Defense. [125675]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 12 June 2000]: The work being undertaken by the Chemical and Biological Defence Sector, Porton Down, as referred to in my answer provided on 5 June, is being conducted through a contractor for the US Department of Defense. The aim of the work is to produce a fully licensed vaccine against a potential biological warfare agent. Such a vaccine would also be potentially useful in countries where the disease

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is naturally present. The study at Porton Down involves evaluating the ability of the prospective vaccine to prevent disease and to investigate safety aspects of possible use.

Details of the study are commercially sensitive and I am withholding this information under Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice of Access to Government Information.

Depleted Uranium

Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many depleted uranium shells have been fired at hard targets in the Solway Firth from DERA's Kirkcudbright ranges; and what quantity of depleted uranium was used in each of the last five years; [125717]

Mr. Spellar: Although the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) conducts the depleted uranium (DU) firings at Kirkcudbright, ownership of the range, since 1 April 1997, has rested with the Army.

There have been no deliberate firings of DU at hard targets at Kirkcudbright and, therefore, in the normal course of events there is no release of particulate dust. However, there have been three occasions in the last five years when shells have misfired and hit either the ground or the target gantry. A small amount of DU dust will have entered the atmosphere as a result of these events. Remedial action has been taken in each case and the contamination removed to the satisfaction of the regulatory bodies, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency(SEPA) and Dumfries and Galloway Council. Air samplers which have been running since 1997 have not detected any particulate DU in the atmosphere above background levels.

A total number of DU shells fired at the range in each of the past five years is as follows:

1995: 280

1996: 147

1997: 749

1998: 134

1999: 111

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