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HOUSE OF COMMONS

Refurbishment Costs

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee if he will estimate the total cost of the new kitchens in the Parliamentary Estate during (a) the past two years and (b) the next year. [100033]

Mr. Dennis Turner: This is a matter for the Director of Parliamentary Works; I have asked him to reply to the hon. Member.

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Theft

Mr. Ashton: To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee how many cases of theft have been reported to the police and security services in the Commons and the Lords for each of the past five years; how many prosecutions have been made; and what proportion of these reports were from staff. [101037]

Mrs. Roe: This is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms; I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.

DEFENCE

Recruitment (Fiji)

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what he estimates the cost of the British Army recruitment programme in Fiji was in the last financial year. [100754]

Mr. Spellar: The cost in the current financial year of the Army selection visit to Fiji currently under way is estimated to be some £104,000.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the second round of interviews for Fijian applicants to the British Army will take place. [100755]

Mr. Spellar: There are currently no plans to repeat the Army selection visit to Fiji once the current backlog of applications is dealt with.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many interviews for Fijian applicants to the British Army have taken place in the last three weeks; and if he will make a statement. [100753]

Mr. Spellar: As at 26 November, a total of 400 Fijian nationals had been through the selection process in Fiji. Of these, 200 were successful and will be called forward to the UK over the next three months to undergo the final stages in the process before starting training. A further 78 applications have been deferred for various reasons, but the applicants have the opportunity to resolve the cause of their deferment before the end of the selection visit.

Gurkhas

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will recruit more Gurkhas into the British Army to bring the force up to operational strength. [100429]

Mr. Spellar: It is already planned that to alleviate under-manning we have extended the Gurkha Reinforcement Companies and are introducing a second Gurkha Engineer Squadron and a second Gurkha Signals Squadron. There are 3,500 Gurkhas serving with the British Army and this represents the optimum to alleviate under-manning in the short term while taking account of excess manpower when we revert to full manning.

Atomic Weapons Establishment

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress in selecting a contractor to manage and operate the Atomic Weapons Establishment from 1 April 2000. [101282]

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Mr. Hoon: I am pleased to announce that following the completion of negotiations a contract will be awarded today to AWE Management Ltd. (comprising SERCo Defence Support, British Nuclear Fuels plc and Lockheed Martin Corporation). The two unsuccessful consortiums have been informed. The AWE workforce and trade unions will be told of the outcome today.

The principal features of the contract are:

The contract, commencing on 1 April 2000, is for an initial period of 10 years with an option to extend to a 25 year term with an injection of private capital. The value of the initial contract is some £2.2 billion.

The delivery of the UK's nuclear warhead programme, as outlined in the Strategic Defence Review, will not be affected by the change in contractor.

The AWE sites and all assets remain in Government ownership. Appropriate safeguards have been established to protect sensitive UK information and to maintain the UK's independence in nuclear matters.

The safety of the public, the AWE workforce and the environment remain of paramount importance. Aldermaston and Burghfield will continue as nuclear licensed sites and subject to independent regulation by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) and the Environment Agency (EA). The MOD Compliance Officer will also retain the authority and responsibility to cancel the contract and to instruct the contractor to cease operations if there is a serious breach of the MOD's requirements.

Notice Periods (Navy)

Ms Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to alter the current notice periods for Officers, RN Ratings and RM Other Ranks applying to leave the Naval Service. [101313]

Mr. Spellar: A common notice period of 12 months will be introduced for Officers, RN Ratings and RM Other Ranks who wish to leave the Naval Service from 1 June 2000. This will represent a significant improvement to the terms of service of personnel in the Naval Service. Currently, Officers who apply to retire voluntarily must wait for up to 15 months to leave the Service. RN Ratings and RM Other Ranks are required to provide 18 month's notice.

As a consequence of this change, the minimum period of service on the trained strength by RN Ratings and RM Other Ranks, following completion of initial training, will be reduced from 4 years to 3½ years from 1 June 2000.

Officers, RN Ratings and RM Other Ranks who submit notice applications on or before 31 May 2000 will remain subject to existing notice periods. However, personnel may apply on an individual basis for these to be adjusted so that no more than 12 months are served from 1 June 2000.

Administration of Oaths

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the rules governing the conduct of officers who take, or administer to other officers, (a) religious, (b) sectarian and (c) other oaths while serving in HM armed forces. [100174]

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Mr. Spellar: The regulations governing the conduct of officers who take, or administer oaths to other officers are as follows:

(a) Religious

Service Chaplains do not take an oath specifically for the Chaplain's Branch. No oath is taken if a Serviceman converts to a different religion while in service.

(b) Sectarian

Sectarian oaths form no part of Service life and would not be tolerated.

(c) Other

Courts Martial

Members of a court-martial shall take an oath or affirm. In addition, evidence given by witnesses before a court martial shall be given after an oath of affirmation in accordance with the following regulations:

(i) Naval Court Martial Rules--Section 60 of the Naval Discipline Act (NDA) 1957.

(ii) Section 93 of the Army Act (AA) 1955.

(iii) Section 93 of the Air Force Act (AFA) 1955.

Summary Dealing

(i) Evidence on oath or affirmation--Naval Summary Discipline Regulations 1997, Regulation 12, written under sections 43, 52E and 52 of the NDA 57.

(ii) This does not apply to officers in the Army.

(iii) Under Rule 17 of The Investigation and Summary Dealing (RAF) Regulations 1997, evidence heard before a Commanding Officer is taken on oath.

Boards of Inquiry

(i) No oath is taken by members of the RN or RM when subject to the NDA. However, an individual may be warned, and if thought to be lying, then this would constitute an offence under the NDA 57.

(ii) Under Section 135 of the AA 55, the Board of Inquiry (Army) Rules 1956, evidence before a Board of Inquiry is taken on oath.

(iii) Under Section 135 of the AFA 55 and the Board of Inquiry Rules, evidence before a Board of Inquiry is taken on oath.

Affidavits

(i) In the case of RN officers and RM officers when subject to the NDA, the Book of Regulations 11, App 3--Emergency Laws (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 1953 "An Act to empower certain persons subject to the Naval Discipline Act to take affidavits and declarations outside the UK" covers affidavits taken outside of the UK.

(ii) Under Section 204 of the AA 55, when serving overseas, officers above the rank of Major and Army Legal Services officers above Captain, may take affidavits and declarations.

(iii) Under Section 204 of the AFA 55, when serving overseas, officers above certain rank, and officers in the Legal Branch of the RAF May take affidavits and declarations.

Attestation

(i) Officers in the RN or RM when subject to the NDA do not swear an oath.

(ii) Entrants to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) who are enlisted as officer cadets, are attested into the Army in the same way as soldiers and use the same oath. The procedures for this are included in the AA 55 (Part 1)(Regular Army) Regulations 1992.

(iii) Non-graduate officer entrants to Initial Officer Training are enlisted as officer cadets and are attested into the RAF in the same way as airmen, and use the same oath, under Section 2 of the AFA 55. Graduate officer entrants are invited to make a voluntary oath of allegiance in the same form as the oath of attestation.

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