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Pensions (Armed Forces)

Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the level of pensions payable to former members of the armed services who retired in the 1970s. [136117]

Mr. Spellar: Former members of the armed services who retired during the mid 1970s were affected by policies under which increases in pay were limited, but pensions in payment continued to be fully protected against price inflation. People who retired when price inflation was running at a higher rate than pay increases could therefore receive lower pensions than those retiring before or after them.

These policies affected all those employed in the public service. The Government have no plans retrospectively to change the pensions of those who retired during this period. The pensions of all such individuals have, like those of other public servants, been fully protected against inflation since their retirement.

Royal Navy

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) reviews and (b) studies his Department is conducting on the operational capability of the Royal Navy; and if he will make a statement. [138241]

Mr. Spellar: The operational capability of the Royal Navy is kept under continual review. This allows the RN to take into consideration changing circumstances. In addition, at any one time, it is likely that a number of more formal reviews or studies with a wider remit will be taking place, any one of which may impact on the area of operational capability. It is the nature of operational issues that much of this work is classified.

Missile Barge (Brixham)

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the status is of the missile test firing barge at Brixham; and how much has been spent in berthing fees in each of the past three years. [138242]

Mr. Spellar: The missile test barge Longbow, previously used for Sea Wolf trials, has been moored at Brixham pending its conversion for use in missile firing trials for the Principal Anti Air Missile System (PAAMS) Programme. Berthing fees paid during 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 were £23,824, £24,734 and £25,834 respectively. It has been more cost-effective to retain Longbow than arrange for its disposal and then

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have to purchase anew for the PAAMS Programme. The barge is now expected to be handed over to the PAAMS contractor in 2002.

Sea Harriers

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Sea Harrier aircraft are operationally available. [138225]

Mr. Spellar: The requirement for Sea Harrier operational aircraft is 24, of which 14 are in front-line squadrons. As of 9 November 2000, all 24 aircraft were available at the required readiness.

Foreign Military Equipment

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much he has spent in the last year on the hire and use of foreign military equipment. [138239]

Mr. Spellar: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

RAF Pilots

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many RAF pilots have indicated that they wish to leave the service in each of the past 12 months. [138226]

Mr. Spellar: The number of RAF pilots who have indicated that they wish to leave the Service in each month during the 12 month period from October 1999 are shown in the table.

Year	Number of RAF pilots
October 1999	8
November 1999	3
December 1999	3
January 2000	6
February 2000	8
March 2000	8
April 2000	4
May 2000	9
June 2000	8
July 2000	3
August 2000	3
September 2000	4

Falklands Patrols

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy ships are on patrol in Falkland Islands waters. [138238]

Mr. Spellar: HMS Dumbarton Castle and Grey Rover are currently on patrol in Falkland Islands waters. The Type 23 Frigate HMS Iron Duke will arrive in the area later this month.

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Harrier Pilots

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Fleet Air Arm Harrier pilots are combat ready. [138224]

Mr. Spellar: As of 9 November 2000, there were 18 combat ready Fleet Air Arm Harrier pilots in front-line squadrons. A further 15 pilots were at their planned lower states of readiness.

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HM Forces Overseas

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number and location of HM forces overseas; and if he will make a statement. [138095]

Mr. Spellar: The following table shows the number of UK Regular Forces and Gurkhas overseas at 1 October 2000.

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	UK Regular Forces
Region	Naval Service	Army	Royal Air Force	Gurkhas	Total
Continental Europe	826	24,798	3,595	0	29,219
of which Germany	3	17,135	2,031	0	19,169
Gibraltar	365	87	115	0	567
Cyprus	7	2,543	1,137	0	3,687
Gulf	49	220	703	0	972
Far East	681	213	24	1,197	2,115
Canada	3	3,401	143	0	3,547
United States of America	76	291	136	0	503
Elsewhere(1)	2,958	1,779	780	1	5,518
All overseas	4,965	33,332	6,633	1,198	46,128

⁽¹⁾ All defence attaches and their staffs are included under "Elsewhere" and not identified within specific areas

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These figures exclude Full Time Reserve Service personnel and reservists mobilised for service in the former Yugoslavia.

Japanese POWs

Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will (1) make it his policy to pay a gratuity to British ex-service survivors of former Japanese prisoner of war camps; [136188]

(2) estimate the cost of paying a one-off £10,000 gratuity to all surviving former Japanese prisoners of war and their widows. [136189]

Dr. Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to my statement in the House on 7 November 2000, Official Report, columns 159-70.

Anti-tank Landmines

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the stocks of anti-tank landmines which are being refurbished. [137746]

Mr. Spellar: Part of the anti-tank stockpile is being refurbished to rectify an identified fault. The refurbishment programme began in March 2000 and is scheduled to be completed by October 2001.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Beef Imports

Mr. Gill: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the (a) quantity, (b) category and (c) age of beef imported into the UK from France in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [134513]

Ms Quin: The table shows (a) the quantity and (b) the category of beef imported from France for the 12 month period from August 1999 to July 2000, as recorded by the

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Overseas Trade Statistics. These statistics do not identify the age of the animal from which the beef was derived, but the sale for human consumption of any meat from animals aged over 30 months at slaughter is prohibited by the Fresh Meat (Beef Controls) (No. 2) Regulations 1996. The country from which these imports originated is not recorded in the Overseas Trade Statistics; therefore not necessarily all beef shown as being imported from France will be of French origin.

Imports of beef from France August 1999-July 2000

Description of beef	Tonnes
Bone-in, fresh or chilled	146
Boneless, fresh or chilled	504
Bone-in, frozen	543
Boneless, frozen	1,497
Offal, fresh, chilled or frozen	377
Corned beef	2,491
Other meat and offal preparations	90
Total	5,647

Note:

The data are provisional and subject to amendment

School Milk

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to raise the level of take-up of milk in schools. [134400]

Ms Quin: While the decision whether to offer subsidised school milk is essentially for the schools themselves or for the LEA, we have had and continue to have contact with local authorities and others interested in the use of the scheme. One barrier to take-up has been the perception that the scheme administration is particularly complicated. We are working with the Commission in its current review of administration to see whether there are ways this can be simplified for schools.

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