15 Feb 2001 : Column: 191W
Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 15 February 2001
DEFENCE
Departmental Expenditure Limit
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure and the breakdown of
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expenditure was in his Department for the financial years (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98, (c) 1998-99 and (d) 1999-2000 and what the planned expenditure and breakdown of expenditure for 2000-01 is on (i) public opinion research, (ii) television, radio and newspaper advertising and (iii) direct mail. [149261]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 8 February 2001]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 June 2000, Official Report, column 135W, to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Mr. Loughton) on a similar subject. The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, excluding recruitment costs, the table gives details of expenditure against areas identified.
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| Financial year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | |
| PR Marketing and business support service | 0.733 | 0.502 | 0.844 | 1.114 | 2.834 |
| Central PR Services | 2.243 | 2.267 | 2.328 | 2.741 | 2.183 |
| National Employers Liaison Committee (Tri-Service Reserve Forces) | 1.098 | 1.089 | 1.055 | 0.877 | 1.000 |
| Scholarships | 10.730 | 4.720 | 4.371 | 0.751 | 0.700 |
| Sales Promotion (DESO) | 1.408 | 3.299 | 1.064 | 1.819 | 1.600 |
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Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals there are to amend his Department's Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2000-01. [151190]
Mr. Hoon: The Government have decided that, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate for Class VI Vote 1 Defence for 2000-01, the following change should apply:
- the Ministry of Defence Departmental Expenditure Limit will be increased by £781.341 million from £22,820.341 million to £23,601.683 million.
The Supplementary Estimates will also provide for changes in the general pattern of expenditure, including adjustments between the Defence Procurement Agency's equipment programme and operating costs programmes.
As the increase in the defence expenditure limit will be met from the reserve, it will not add to the planned total of public expenditure in the current year.
Defence Medical Services
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving medical officers in each specialty are not fully fit for deployment; for what reasons; and if he will make a statement. [149892]
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Dr. Moonie [holding answer 13 February 2001]: The medical downgrading categorisation system with the armed forces covers a wide range of different levels of medical downgrading. Personnel recorded as medically downgraded may still, therefore, be capable of undertaking their full duties, albeit with restrictions, for example to their geographical location. To give an indication of this, of the 42 Army personnel included in the totals, only seven are assessed to be undeployable. Against this background, the number of medical officers, including trainees, who are medically precluded from unlimited deployment is shown by speciality. The particular nature of medical downgrading could not be provided without disproportionate effort.
| Specialty | Number |
|---|---|
| Anaesthetics | 7 |
| General Medicine | 5 |
| Orthodontics | 1 |
| Paediatrics | 1 |
| Psychiatry | 7 |
| Occupational Medicine | 10 |
| General Duties Medical Officers | 2 |
| General Practice | 29 |
| Genito-Urinary Medicine | 1 |
| General Surgery | 3 |
| Rheumatology and Rehabilitation | 1 |
| Public Health Medicine | 1 |
| Pathology | 1 |
| House Officers | 7 |
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military medical posts in each of the specialties in defence of secondary care are filled by civilian doctors; what percentage of the establishment figure for each specialty this represents; and if he will make a statement. [149893]
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Dr. Moonie [holding answer 13 February 2001]: I will write to the right hon. and learned Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Chinook Crash
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many helicopters, broken down by type, other than Chinooks, were stationed in Northern Ireland in May and June 1994; and where they were based; [150405]
- (2) what other helicopters were available at the base in Northern Ireland from which Chinook DZ 576 departed on its last flight on 2 June 1994; how many of each type there were; and how many passengers each type could have transported from RAF Aldergrove to the destination of ZD 576. [150407]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: Figures for the number of helicopters stationed in Northern Ireland in May and June 1994 are no longer held. However, details of the notional number of helicopters available for tasking in December 1994 are shown. Notional numbers of helicopters available for tasking in May and June 1994 would have been very similar. Figures for the number of passengers which each aircraft can transport are also shown.
- 11 Gazelle (2 passengers)
- 7 Lynx (9 passengers)
- 2 Sea Kings (17 passengers)
- 7 Wessex (6 passengers)
- 7 Puma (12 passengers).
All of these aircraft were based at RAF Aldergrove except for the following:
- Armagh--2 Lynx
- Belfast--1 Gazelle
- Bessbrook--2 Lynx, 1 Puma, 1 Sea King
- Dungannon--1 Wessex
- Omagh--1 Gazelle, 1 Puma, 1 Wessex
- Portadown--1 Gazelle.
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: The air frame manufacturers, Boeing Helicopters, provided on site assistance to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch Inspector. Subsequently, between June and December 1994 Boeing also provided extensive assistance with the investigation of the wreckage while it was laid out at DRA Farnborough and further specific assistance was provided on items returned to Boeing Helicopters Philadelphia for examination and testing.
The RAF Board of Inquiry into the accident consulted Boeing and obtained computer simulations of possible flight paths and associated data concerning flight control parameters.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the sound levels in decibels are inside the passenger area of a Chinook helicopter. [150402]
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Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: The noise in the passenger cabin of a Chinook Mk1 aircraft was measured over a series of 25 sorties during August 1993 and the mean levels were 103.5 decibels and 87.8 decibels. Such measurements are not available for the Chinook Mk2 aircraft, but would not be significantly different.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many of the passengers who were killed in the Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre travelled by aircraft to the base from which they departed in Chinook ZD 576; [150404]
- (2) on how many occasions Flight Lieutenants (a) Cook and (b) Tapper had flown helicopters and of what types over or adjacent to the Mull of Kintyre between 1 June 1993 and 2 June 1994. [150406]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: The details requested in these two questions are not known.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Chinook helicopters were flown (a) into and (b) out of Northern Ireland on 2 June 1994; and what their flight times and routes were. [150410]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: No Chinook helicopters flew into Northern Ireland on 2 June 1994. One flew out, that being Chinook ZD 576 which left RAF Aldergrove at 17.42 hours, en route to Fort George.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) (a) when, (b) where and (c) by whom helicopter ZD 576 was fitted with FADEC; and when the aircraft (i) entered service with the armed forces and (ii) was built; [150414]
- (2) if he will list the way points of the flight of Chinook helicopter ZD 576 on 2 June 1994, indicating the altitude which the aircraft was supposed to maintain between each way point. [150412]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how long tasking records of helicopter flights are normally retained; in what form they are stored; how long they are retained in the case of an accident; and if the tasking records of the last flight of helicopter ZD 576 have been retained. [150409]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: Tasking forms recording helicopter flights in Northern Ireland are retained for six years. However in the case of an accident the relevant tasking record for the day it occurred will normally be held as part of the Board of Inquiry papers, for as long as it is necessary to retain the latter. The 2 June 1994 tasking record for Chinook ZD 576 is still retained with the RAF Board of Inquiry report.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and which Chinook helicopters were stationed in Northern Ireland in the months of May and June 1994; and from which bases they operated. [150403]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: At that time two Chinook helicopters were detached to Northern Ireland. In May 1994 these were Mk1s until
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31 May when ZD 576, the first Chinook Mk2 to operate in Northern Ireland, was delivered to RAF Aldergrove, and one of the Mk1s was flown back to RAF Odiham. All the Chinook aircraft in Northern Ireland operate out of RAF Aldergrove and return there at the end of the day's tasking.
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when it was decided, and by whom, that Chinook helicopter ZD 576 would be used on the flight on which it crashed on 2 June 1994. [150411]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 14 February 2001]: The flight was tasked by the Joint Air Tasking Operations Centre (JATOC) in Northern Ireland on 1 June 1994.
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