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Balkans

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the proportion of cluster munitions dropped by the RAF in Kosovo that failed to explode. [129934]

Mr. Spellar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Mr. Cohen) on 24 January 2000, Official Report, column 59W.

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what money has been allocated to the clearance of unexploded ordnance, with particular reference to cluster munitions dropped by the RAF in Kosovo. [129936]

Mr. Spellar: While British forces continue to play a part--particularly in the clearance of unexploded ordnance--clear-up and reconstruction after a conflict are matters for civil agencies within the international community rather than specifically for the Ministry of Defence.

The Department for International Development provided more than £7 million during the 1999-2000 financial year for the clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance in Kosovo. So far, a further £6.6 million has been committed in the current financial year.

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army reservists in total have served in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania since the beginning of the conflict there last year. [129935]

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Mr. Spellar: Since December 1998, we have mobilised 555 members of the Territorial Army and 253 Regular Reservists for service in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania, making a total of 808 reservists.

Ceremonial

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the benefits of (a) Trooping the Colour and (b) Beating the Retreat in formulating his policy on each ceremony. [128808]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 3 July 2000]: The Trooping of the Colour is a birthday parade laid on by the Household Division for Her Majesty the Queen as their Sovereign and Colonel in Chief. Beating the Retreat raises funds for service charities. Both events are a traditional display of pageantry and the excellent skills of our service personnel and increase the standing and esteem of the armed forces in the eyes of the public.

These are important factors in our current planning for armed forces events to be held in London annually from 2001 onwards.

Departmental Vehicles

Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 26 June 2000, Official Report, column 408W, on departmental vehicles, if he will list the number of (a) cars and (b) commercial vehicles by make and model. [129075]

Mr. Spellar: I have arranged for a list showing the number of vehicles by make to be placed in the Library of the House. A further breakdown of the 23,000 vehicles by model could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

SA80 Refit

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reasons have been given by Heckler and Koch for the SA80 refit to be carried out in Germany. [129665]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 7 July 2000]: Royal Ordnance submitted a bid to the Ministry of Defence on the basis that the bulk of the modification programme should be carried out at Heckler and Koch's Obendorf facility where the original modifications were designed and implemented. The company has indicated that to carry out the modification work elsewhere would require it to invest in the acquisition of new specialist tooling equipment and the transfer of technical expertise from Obendorf, and maintains that conducting the modification work there represents the lowest risk to the timescale and cost of the programme. Equally, early indications are that work on stripping and refurbishment of weapons prior to modification could most sensibly be done in the UK.

General Purpose Machine Gun

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current timescale is for phasing out the use of the General Purpose Machine Gun. [129667]

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Dr. Moonie [holding answer 7 July 2000]: The General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) in the Light Role is due to be withdrawn from service in 2015; those variants that are mounted onto vehicles or helicopters will be withdrawn in line with the relevant out of service date for the platform.

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the facilities (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) elsewhere which (i) manufacture the general purpose machine gun barrel and (ii) are capable of manufacturing the general purpose machine gun barrel. [129668]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 7 July 2000]: In the UK, the Nottingham Small Arms Factory, which trades as H&K UK Ltd. located within RO Nottingham, is capable of manufacturing the general purpose machine gun (GPMG) barrel. Elsewhere, the Heckler and Koch (H&K) facility at Oberndorf, Germany and the Fabrique Nationale (FN) facility at Herstal, Belgium also have the capability to manufacture the GPMG barrel.

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many general purpose machine guns (a) are in service and (b) were received into service in each of the last five years. [129666]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 7 July 2000]: There are currently some 11,300 general purpose machine guns (GPMG) in service. No purchases of the GPMG have been made in any of the last five years.

Small Arms

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what facilities in the United Kingdom are capable of high volume production of small arms at short notice; and of these, which have test and range facilities. [129664]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 7 July 2000]: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Chinook Crash

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in relation to the 1994 Chinook crash, (1) what assessment he has made of the state of health of Flight Lieutenant Tapper (a) five minutes, (b) four minutes, (c) three minutes, (d) two minutes and (e) one minute before the crash; [129288]

(2) what assessment he has made of the state of health of Flight Lieutenant Cook (a) five minutes, (b) four minutes, (c) three minutes, (d) two minutes and (e) one minute before the crash. [129289]

Mr. Spellar: The RAF Board of Inquiry determined that Flight Lieutenants Tapper and Cook were free from emotional stress, and were well rested and physically fit prior to commencing duty on 2 June 1994. A complete medical examination of their bodies was carried out after the crash by a team headed by a consultant forensic pathologist. This showed that both were in good health and had taken neither alcohol nor drugs. Nothing was found to suggest that an explosion or any noxious agent played any part in the accident. The Board of Inquiry concluded that the mental and physical state of Flight Lieutenants Tapper and Cook was most unlikely to have been a factor in the accident.

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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Pesticides

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what advice to local education authorities and to schools his Department has given on the use of the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos in proprietary products. [129992]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 10 July 2000]: Proprietary insecticides whose active ingredient is Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate, continue to be available for use within schools and in school grounds. However, the HSE/DETR, MAFF and the Advisory Committee on Pesticides are currently looking at the implications for the use of these products in the UK, following the recent American restrictions on their use.

The precautionary procedures for dealing with risks from pesticides do not depend on special instructions being issued to schools. They rely on: approved uses for products; instructions for use, on the product and the packaging; and the design of suitable containers for the products.

Teenage Pregnancy

Ms McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 16 and 17-year-old parents (a) have taken and (b) are taking part in the education maintenance allowance pilots following the publication of the Social Exclusion Unit report, "Teenage Pregnancy", in June 1999. [129254]

Mr. Wicks [holding answer 10 July 2000]: This information is not available at the present time. There is no special treatment of teenage parents in the main EMA pilots, but the evaluation should provide an indication of the numbers involved and will provide an assessment of any factors which are particularly relevant to teenage parents. The first results from this evaluation should be available towards the end of this year. Also, from September, two of the 15 original EMA pilot areas (Stoke-on-Trent and Cornwall) will test out additional flexibilities intended to help teenage parents participate in education, while still maintaining the 'something for something' principle.

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