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Service Women
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what duties have been extended to women members of each service since 1997; and what has been the cost of implementing those extensions. [34831]
Mr. Ingram: From April 1998, all posts in the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were opened to women. From July that year, some 1,300 specialist posts attached to the Royal Marines were also opened to women. No costs associated with these extensions are identifiable.
Tomahawk Cruise Missile
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on joint-design work between the Royal Navy and the US Navy on the torpedo tube-launched Tomahawk cruise missile; and if he will make a statement. [32891]
Dr. Moonie: The Block IIIC Tomahawk missiles currently in service with the Royal Navy are launched from submarine torpedo tubes. The next generation, Tactical Tomahawk Block IV, missile is currently designed for vertical launch only. Jointly funded UK-US studies to assess the feasibility of launching the Block IV missile from submarine torpedo tubes have been successfully completed, and further development work is planned to start later this year, subject to completion of contractual negotiations.
Spearfish Torpedo
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in upgrading the Royal Navy's Spearfish torpedo; and if he will make a statement. [32890]
Dr. Moonie: Spearfish is currently in the process of replacing Tigerfish as the Royal Navy's Heavy Weight Torpedo. Contracts for Concept work for a Mid Life Update of the Spearfish torpedo have been placed with QinetiQ and BAE Systems Electronics Ltd. Underwater Weapons Division, Waterlooville. The contracts have been let progressively from November 1998 and work is on-going.
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Manpower
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the manpower of each service was in each year since 1997; and how many vacancies were reported. [34834]
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Mr. Ingram: The manpower strength of each of the services since 1 April 1997 and the surplus/deficit against the trained requirement are as follows.
| 1 April 1997 | 1 April 1998 | 1 April 1999 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service | Trained strength | Surplus/(deficit) | Trained strength | Surplus/(deficit) | Trained strength | Surplus/(deficit) |
| All services | 197,390 | -8,325 | 193,914 | -8,025 | 190,506 | -8,732 |
| Naval Service | ||||||
| Total | 41,680 | -1,231 | 40,356 | -1,581 | 39,071 | -1,872 |
| UK Regulars | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FTRS | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Army | ||||||
| Total | 101,514 | -4,845 | 100,881 | -4,594 | 99,674 | -5,597 |
| UK Regulars | 97,756 | -5,597 | 97,452 | -5,080 | 96,300 | -6,089 |
| FTRS | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gurkhas | 3,758 | 752 | 3,429 | 586 | 3,374 | 492 |
| Royal Air Force | ||||||
| Total | 54,196 | -2,249 | 52,677 | -1,850 | 51,761 | -1,263 |
| UK Regulars | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FTRS | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1 April 2000 | 1 April 2001 | 1 January 2002 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service | Trained strength | Surplus/(deficit) | Trained strength | Surplus/(deficit) | Trained strength | Surplus/(deficit) |
| All services | 190,419 | -8,000 | 189,026 | -9,438 | 187,789 | -9,397 |
| Naval Service | ||||||
| Total | 38,877 | -986 | 38,539 | -1,358 | 37,578 | -2,189 |
| UK Regulars | 38,535 | -1,328 | 38,023 | -1,874 | 36,930 | -2,837 |
| FTRS | 342 | 342 | 516 | 516 | 648 | 648 |
| Army | ||||||
| Total | 100,334 | -6,062 | 100,381 | -6,592 | 100,914 | -6,059 |
| UK Regulars | 96,475 | -6,611 | 96,285 | -7,641 | 96,373 | -7,553 |
| FTRS | 486 | 486 | 646 | 646 | 919 | 919 |
| Gurkhas | 3,373 | 63 | 3,450 | 403 | 3,622 | 575 |
| Royal Air Force | ||||||
| Total | 51,208 | -952 | 50,106 | -1,488 | 49,297 | -1,149 |
| UK Regulars | 50,993 | -903 | 49,847 | -1,517 | 48,995 | -1,186 |
| FTRS | 215 | -49 | 259 | 29 | 302 | 37 |
(8) FTRS: Full Time Reserve Service, ie for Naval Service and Army FTRS individuals serve in vacant regular posts and there is therefore no separate requirement for these. RAF FTRS strength figures comprise Full Commitment (FC), Limited Commitment (LC) and Home Commitment (HC). FC individuals in the RAF serve in vacant regular posts, whereas LC and HC establishments are shown as a separate requirement.
Note:
Figures are for UK Full Time Personnel and therefore exclude the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, mobilised reservists, Gibraltar Permanent Cadre and Naval Activated Reservists.
Taliban and al-Qaeda Prisoners
Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners taken by allied Afghan forces subsequently escaped from Afghanistan to Pakistan; by what means; and if he will make a statement. [33261]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
No firm information is available as the situation on the ground is very difficult. HMG take seriously the need to prevent escaped fighters from pursuing terrorist activities.
TREASURY
Advance Corporation Tax Relief
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact which the abolition of advance corporation tax relief has had on the annual savings gap of £27 billion between what people need to save and what they actually save for their retirement outlined in FSA Consultation Paper 121, paragraph 3.54. [33957]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The Government recognise the importance to individuals of saving, including as a way of providing comfort in retirement. The Government's
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strategy for encouraging more people to save is set out in "Helping People to Save", published in November 2000. The Government monitor closely developments in the savings market.
Consumers should benefit from increased choice under the FSA proposals.
Financial Products
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to limit the amount of product provided through an intermediary by a shareholder in that intermediary as part of the implementation of the proposal for abolishing limits on product-provider investment in FSA Consultation Paper 121. [33958]
Mr. Andrew Smith: This is an issue which is addressed in FSA Consultation Paper 121, in particular paragraphs 4.41 to 4.46.
Polarisation
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what impact he forecasts the abolition of polarisation will have on long-term trends in the savings ratio. [33960]
Mr. Andrew Smith: The polarisation proposals are designed to ensure increased choice and competition for consumers in the tied market for packaged investment products.
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what measures he will consider using to ensure that abolishing polarisation does not lead to a strengthening of the position in the marketplace of larger tied distributors of financial products such that there are adverse consequences for competition; [33952]
- (2) what measures he will consider using to ensure that the abolition of polarisation does not result in major tied distributors operating commission bias in the provision of packaged products. [33959]
Mr. Andrew Smith: This is an issue which is addressed in FSA Consultation Paper 121, in particular paragraphs 4.22 to 4.28, and in the proposals for enhanced disclosure in Part 5.
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from consumers' representatives regarding FSA Consultation Paper 121 on the impact on the interests of consumers arising from a consolidation in the position of larger tied financial distributors as a result of the abolition of polarisation. [33955]
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many IFAs are registered as operating in the UK; and what he estimates will be the number in operation five years after abolishing polarisation. [33954]
Mr. Andrew Smith: 6,018 IFA firms were individually "grandfathered" into the FSA at 1 December 2001, of which 4,692 had previously been regulated by the Personal Investment Authority and 1,416 were regulated by recognised professional bodies. In addition, there are about 6,500 appointed representative IFA businesses that are mainly members of the larger IFA networks. At the
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same time (in the run up to N2) 32,181 registered individuals worked for firms that were registered with the PIA.
The FSA Consultation Paper 121 analyses the likely impact of these proposals on the IFA sector at paragraphs 4.19 to 4.21.
Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what role the Universal bank will play in meeting the goals set out in FSA Consultation Paper 121. [33956]
Mr. Andrew Smith: Under the proposals for universal banking services, the Post Office Card Account will provide an electronic payment service for paying benefits and tax credits. Investments will not be part of universal banking services, so the polarisation proposals are not relevant.
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