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HMS Sheffield

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the Exocet missile system was removed from HMS Sheffield; what replacement system HMS Sheffield will carry over the next 10 years of its service life; and if he will make a statement. [140711]

Mr. Spellar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) on 8 June 2000, Official Report, column 338W.

Mustard Gas (Pigs)

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 16 November 2000, Official Report, column 741W, on mustard gas and pigs, whether the company testing the model cream for treating mustard gas burns is a British company; whether untreated controls are being run; and how many and what species of animals were used in (a) 1998, (b) 1999 and (c) 2000 to date. [140725]

Dr. Moonie: The purpose of the on-going work involving mustard gas and pigs at the Chemical and Biological Defence Sector of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) is to develop better protection for UK servicemen should mustard gas be used as a weapon against them. All testing, including that for the cream for protection against mustard gas injury, is carried out by DERA at Porton Down.

Each animal acts as its own control. That is, a small amount of mustard is applied to sites on the back that both have, and have not, been pre-treated with the protective barrier cream.

All the animals involved are large, white domestic pigs. The study involved six animals per year for 1998 and 1999, and a total of ten animals in 2000 to the current date.

30 Nov 2000 : Column: 722W

Military Attacks (NATO States)

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department will make publicly available plans and other documents it has obtained from the archive of (a) the Soviet Union and (b) other Warsaw Pact countries since the end of the Cold War, relating to possible military attacks on NATO states. [136236]

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

Porton Down

Mr. Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by (a) species, (b) numbers involved and (c) nature of the research, the experiments carried out on animals at Porton Down in each of the last five years. [141021]

Dr. Moonie: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations regarding future court action he has received from lawyers representing the families of servicemen who underwent experiments at Porton Down. [141063]

Dr. Moonie: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Kosovo

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are for joint NATO and Yugoslav Army patrols between Kosovo and Serbia. [141062]

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

Andrew Weir

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has signed the contract for the roll-on, roll-off ferries with Andrew Weir. [140977]

Mr. Hoon: Not yet. Negotiations to finalise the details of the agreement are continuing with AWSR Shipping Ltd.

Trident

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what account his Department takes of the number of anti-ballistic missiles deployed by other countries when determining the number of warheads deployed on United Kingdom Trident submarines. [141158]

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

National Missile Defence

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 30 October 2000, Official Report, columns 505-06W, on national missile defence, if he will set out the views of the UK to which he referred. [141159]

30 Nov 2000 : Column: 723W

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

POWs (Germany)

Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many protected personnel were prisoners of war in Germany during the Second World War; and how much pay was deducted by his Department from those protected personnel; [141147]

(2) what assessment he has made of the shortfall in pay to protected personnel who were captured and held by Germany as prisoners of war during the Second World War. [141146]

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

National Parks

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days in each of the last 10 years have land in national parks been closed to the public because of military training; and which national parks were affected in each year. [141112]

Dr. Moonie: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

School Results

Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on trends in the qualifications achieved by pupils at (a) Key Stages (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three, (b) GCSE and (c) A-level in schools run by his Department over the last 10 years. [141111]

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

Kursk Submarine

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the Royal Navy LR5 submersible rescue vessel deployed to rescue the Kursk submarine did not proceed with the operation; and if he will make a statement. [140909]

Mr. Hoon: The Royal Navy Submarine Search and Rescue Service, which includes the rescue submersible LR5, was deployed to the Barents Sea in support of a major operation assembled by the Russians to rescue the crew of the submarine Kursk. Overall command of this operation remained at all times in Russian hands. The decision on whether or not to deploy the LR5 depended on an inspection of the Kursk by specialist Norwegian divers. Tragically, following that inspection, the Russian authorities confirmed that all on board the Kursk had died. The LR5 was not therefore required and the Royal Navy Submarine Search and Rescue Service was withdrawn.

Christmas Deployments

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of (a) the RAF, (b) the Army and (c) the Royal Navy he expects to be (i) serving abroad and (ii) deployed in front-line duties between 24 December

30 Nov 2000 : Column: 724W

and 2 January 2001; what percentage of overall strength of each force this represents; and if he will make a statement. [139757]

Mr. Spellar: The current estimate of the number of personnel who will be serving abroad and deployed in front-line duties over the Christmas and new year period is as follows:

	Naval service	Army	RAF
Estimated numbers serving abroad	5,100	34,500	6,600
As a percentage of trained strength	13	35	12
Of those serving abroad, estimated numbers deployed on operations are	4,000	6,200	3,800
As a percentage of trained strength	10	6	7

Notes:

1. All figures rounded to the nearest 100

2. Data exclude Mobilised Reservists

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provisions have been made to ensure family contact on 25 December, 31 December and 1 January 2001 for those members of the armed forces who will be separated from their families on these dates; and if he will make a statement. [139758]

Mr. Spellar: We attach great importance to service personnel deployed on overseas operations being able to keep in touch with their families throughout the year. It is for this reason that personnel deployed on operations are given 20 minutes' publicly funded telephone time each week. Previous concerns about the adequacy and reliability of the welfare telephone services in some overseas theatres have been resolved by the introduction of Project Welcome. This welfare telephone service is deployed in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy, Kosovo, Bosnia and Sierra Leone and aboard some of the operationally deployed ships and RFAs (Royal Fleet Auxiliaries). Free blueys (aerogrammes), e-blueys and concessionary parcel rates are also provided. We are also in the process of introducing free access to e-mail facilities.

Meetings have been held with the contractor responsible for providing the operational telephone welfare service (Project Welcome) to ensure that it is robust enough to cope with the extra demand that will be placed on it over the Christmas period. Measures to give service personnel on operations extra concessionary rates over the Christmas period, for calls beyond their free allowance, are also under consideration.

For ships at sea who are not covered by Project Welcome funding has been secured to provide personnel with 10 minutes free call time over the Christmas period.

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