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Porton Down

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 5 March 2001, Official Report, column 20W, on Porton Down, if he will place in the Library copies of each of the internal technical reports related to research involving Oripavine TL2636 identified by the chemical and biological defence sector of DERA at Porton Down. [159802]

Dr. Moonie: I will arrange to have copies of those reports on Oripavine TL2636 which have been declassified to be placed in the Library of the House as soon as possible. The remainder of the reports are currently being reviewed for declassification before they can be placed in the Library of the House. The report from the CW applications discussion group of the 17th Quadripartite CBR Conference is classified and I am therefore only releasing the section which refers to Oripavine.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 25 January 2001, Official Report, column 659W, on Oripavine, if he will place in the Library details of the evidence which suggests that following single acute doses of TL2636 there are no significant long-term effects on health. [159805]

Dr. Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to his previous question. In this response I stated that the Oripavine derivative TL 2636 is a member of the same group of drugs as morphine, and although there had been no long term follow-up studies specifically relating to this derivative, these drugs have been used clinically for many years. The evidence to which I referred is widely available in the open literature and I have placed this in the Library of the House.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ask the Medical Research Council to consult the Porton Down veterans support group regarding its advice on an independent epidemiological study for service personnel who took part in experiments at the chemical defence establishment, Porton Down. [160494]

Dr. Moonie: No. The Medical Research Council is already in contact with the Porton Down veterans support group and will consult with them as necessary.

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates officials from his Department and the chemical defence establishment, Porton Down have held meetings with the Medical Research Council since 5 March regarding its advice on an independent epidemiological study for Porton Down volunteers. [160488]

Dr. Moonie: Officials met with representatives from the Medical Research Council (MRC) at Porton Down on 5 April 2001.

8 May 2001 : Column: 16W

Departmental Spending

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a breakdown of the regional distribution of his Department's spending in the last financial year. [160455]

Dr. Moonie: This information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The Ministry of Defence is organised financially into top level budgets reflecting major outputs rather than geographical location. Expenditure records reflect this organisation and commodities purchased only.

While we do not record the majority of expenditure by region, defence expenditure on equipment by regions is detailed in table 1.9 of "UK Defence Statistics 2000", a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.

Rapid Effects System

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the budget is for the future rapid effects system; and if he will make a statement. [160343]

Dr. Moonie: At this stage we are considering only whether to adopt the future rapid effect system; no dedicated funding has yet been allocated to it.

Warrior Upgrade Programme

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Warrior upgrade programme. [160340]

Mr. Spellar: The Warrior infantry fighting vehicle upgrade programme is currently in its concept phase. Technology and procurement options are being identified for further investigation during the assessment phase.

HQ 2 Division Relocation

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the post-project evaluation of the relocation of HQ 2 Division from York to Edinburgh. [160339]

Mr. Spellar: The final stages of the reorganisation of Headquarters 2 Division have only recently been completed and we wished to see the new organisation established before conducting a post-project evaluation.

Armoured Vehicles

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armoured battlegroup support vehicles he will buy; and if he will make a statement. [160341]

Dr. Moonie: The armoured battlegroup support vehicle programme is still in the concept phase. A decision has yet to be made on the number of vehicles that we will procure.

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many multi-role armoured vehicles he will purchase; and what compensation and other costs will be payable to other project partners if the UK buy is reduced. [160342]

8 May 2001 : Column: 17W

Dr. Moonie: A review of the UK combat support vehicle requirement is currently taking place. It will not be possible to finalise the number of multi-role armoured vehicles required until this review has reported in late 2002.

The memorandum of understanding that governs the collaborative programme does not commit any of the three nations to production and makes no reference to specific production quantities. The issue of compensation payments does not arise.

Armed Forces Deployment (Ascot)

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Armed Forces, and from which units, excluding special forces, will be deployed at the Ascot week races; and if he will make a statement. [160316]

Mr. Spellar: None. Security during Ascot week is a matter for the police, who are well trained and well equipped for the task. The Ministry of Defence will, of course, consider any reasonable request for support in those areas for which the police are not trained and equipped.

Chemical Agent CR

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 27 April 2001, Official Report, column 415W, on chemical agent CR, what form the aerosol version of CR took; and what authorisation was given for aerosol CR weaponisation as (a) spray, (b) grenade, (c) canister and (d) other. [160288]

Mr. Spellar: In both 1968 and 1973, CR was authorised for use in aerosol form as a hand-held squirt device known as a self-protection aid device (SPAD).

Information on authorisation for the development and subsequent production of differing types of CR weapon is not collated centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, authorisation for CR to be held in readiness for use has always been subject to ministerial approval.

Unit Histories

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates (a) 22 Squadron SAS, (b) 14 Company and (c) the Force Research Unit were (i) established, (ii) deployed and (iii) discontinued; what specific activities were undertaken by each of these units; and what the normal complement was of each unit. [160324]

Mr. Hoon: The designation "22 SAS Regiment" was first used in 1952, for a unit formed in 1950 for operations in Malaya. The regiment remains in being.

I am withholding the further information requested under exemption 1a of the code of practice on access to Government information.

Departmental Policies (Jarrow)

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out, with statistical information,

8 May 2001 : Column: 18W

relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effects on Jarrow of his Department's actions since 2 May 1997. [153558]

Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence has a wide-ranging presence throughout the UK in terms of defence establishments and the service and civilian personnel they employ. This presence brings benefits to many communities, local economies and jobs. Also, 60,000 new defence contracts are placed each year that provide support to industry and create and sustain defence-related employment.

The Ministry of Defence has maintained a presence in the Jarrow area: within a 25-mile radius distance of the constituency, MOD direct employees totalled around 910 personnel (service and civilian) on average during the period of interest.

Since 2 May 1997, around 100 contracts with a total value of some £33 million were placed with prime contractors in the Jarrow area ¹ .

I draw attention to the Defence Analytical Services Agency report "UK Defence Statistics 2000", which contains a welfare of defence statistical information, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.

¹ The decision as to where work under a particular contract will be undertaken rests with the contractor, therefore work on a contract placed with a prime contract in the Jarrow area may well be done elsewhere: similarly, contracts placed with contractors outside the Jarrow area could lead to sub-contracts on companies in Jarrow.

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