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War Pension Scheme
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost has been of running the war pension scheme appeals process in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [44019]
Dr. Moonie: Records are not maintained by the War Pensions Agency of the costs of preparation of war pension appeals.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims for war pensions there have been in each of the last five years; how many were successful on their first application; how many have failed and then been agreed on appeal; how many have been refused on appeal; and if he will make a statement. [44021]
Dr. Moonie: For each of the last five years, the following numbers of first claims to war disablement pension were made.
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| Claims | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 27,660 |
| 1996–98 | 17,201 |
| 1998–99 | 14,072 |
| 1999–2000 | 11,810 |
| 2000–01 | 11,015 |
However, data on claims for war pension are not recorded in a format which can provide information on the success or failure of those claims or the numbers against which an appeal was lodged.
Golden Jubilee
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Department has spent on the Queen's Jubilee in each of the past three years; how it was allocated; and if he will make a statement. [44584]
Dr. Moonie: Her Majesty the Queen requested that additional expenditure on her Golden Jubilee be kept to a minimum. The armed forces are organising a royal visit which will take place in Portsmouth in late June and the Ministry of Defence will fund the cost of providing a Golden Jubilee medal to eligible service personnel. Wherever possible any expenditure on these two projects will be from its existing financial allocation. There was no identifiable expenditure on the Golden Jubilee in financial year (FY) 1999–2000. In FY 2000–01 there was an estimated £31,500 associated with planning for the Golden Jubilee and thus far in FY 2001–02 a further £1,155,000 has been spent, including the costs of supplying and issuing about 40,500 Golden Jubilee medals. Additional expenditure is anticipated in the coming FY.
Courts Martial
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to amend the Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000. [41098]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 18 March 2002]: The Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000 amended the Army and Air Force Acts 1955 and the Naval Discipline Act 1957 (the Service discipline Acts), primarily to provide for the judicial supervision of pre-trial custody and to introduce a right of appeal against findings and sentences imposed summarily.
All discipline procedures are kept under review. We shall be considering whether any changes will be required to the aspects dealt with in the 2000 Act when the Service discipline Acts are replaced by a single piece of discipline legislation covering all the Services. We are also assessing whether any modifications may be necessary as a result of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Morris v. the United Kingdom, although that judgment was directly concerned with court martial procedures rather than the areas covered by the 2000 Act.
Territorial Forces
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of staff of his Department are members of the Territorial forces; and if he has a strategy to encourage members of staff to become members of the Territorial forces. [44072]
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Dr. Moonie: Details of those civil servants within the Ministry of Defence with a Reserve Forces liability are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
An important element of the MOD's ongoing campaign to strengthen and encourage the Reserve Forces is to highlight the development benefits that Reserve Forces' training and experience can offer to individuals and, consequently, their employers. These benefits are highlighted within my own Department and staff are encouraged to consider a whole range of volunteering activities, including the Reserve Forces, as part of their personal and career development. Managers within the MOD are required to support those with reserve commitments and by so doing we aim to set a positive example to other employers.
Warship Modernisation Project
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether funding is available to undertake the transfer of HM naval bases to the three bidding contractors under the Warship Modernisation Project; and if he will make a statement. [44736]
Mr. Ingram: Should partnering proceed, we would not be transferring the ownership of the Naval Bases. They would remain within the control and ownership of the Ministry of Defence. We would be transferring only the delivery of certain outputs of the Naval Bases to the potential partners. Any costs arising from this would be funded from existing provision.
Stolen Equipment
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 31 January 2002, Official Report, column 498W, on stolen equipment, whether the computer equipment stolen from his Department was (a) new and unused and (b) used; and what was the nature of the data stored on such items in each case. [42638]
Dr. Moonie: Reported cases of theft are held centrally on a summary basis only. They relate to items suspected of being stolen and so it cannot be assumed that theft actually applies in every case. The provision of comprehensive details relating to age, utilisation and nature of data stored in respect of each item of computer equipment suspected of being stolen could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Iraq
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that Iraq does not have the capability to use (a) nuclear, (b) chemical and (c) biological weapons of mass destruction. [44311]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
For 12 years now the UK has been at the forefront of efforts to persuade Iraq to comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions by dismantling its weapons of mass destruction capability, under the supervision of UN weapons inspectors. We have taken military action when Iraqi intransigence has left us with no other option. We have made clear that we would be prepared to do so again if necessary.
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WALES
Public Relations Consultants
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent by (a) his Department and (b) bodies for which it is responsible on external public relations consultants in each of the last four years. [27403]
Mr. Paul Murphy: This information is not readily available.
Departmental Website
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the total cost of his Department's website was in real terms in each of the last four years; and how many hits it received in each of those years. [36206]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The total cost of the Welsh Office website between 1 April 1998 and 1 July 1999 was £7,867.
The Wales Office was not charged for the running of its website between 1 July 1999 and 1 September 2000.
The cost of running the website—including the development of a bilingual site—between 1 September 2000 and 31 August 2001 was £5,699.
Information relating to the number of hits is not held centrally.
Cynon Valley
Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales on levels of multiple social deprivation in the Cynon Valley; and what measures are being taken to provide a co-ordinated response to inequalities. [40534]
Mr. Touhig: My right hon. Friend and I meet regularly with the First Secretary and his Cabinet Colleagues, to discuss a range of issues affecting Wales.
I recognise that several parts of the Cynon Valley rank relatively highly in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation.
The Government and the National Assembly are working in partnership to build a fairer and more inclusive society in which everyone can benefit from rising prosperity. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has already announced several measures aimed at increasing fairness for people and their communities. These include tackling child poverty, providing security in old age, rewarding saving and creating a fair and efficient tax system.
I understand that a number of projects in the Cynon Valley are being supported by the Assembly through various funding channels, including the Local Regeneration Fund.
Czech Republic
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the Welsh companies with fewer than 0.1 per cent. of their global work force employed in
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companies in Wales which will be accompanying the Under-Secretary of State for Wales on his forthcoming visit to the Czech Republic. [41432]
Mr. Touhig: No companies with fewer than 0.1 per cent. of their global work force employed in Wales, accompanied me on my recent visit to the Czech Republic.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the companies accompanied by the Under- Secretary of State in his Department on the visit to the Czech Republic in the week commencing 11 March. [41433]
Mr. Touhig: The companies that accompanied me were:
- Adams Consulting Engineers Ltd. (Mold, Flintshire);
Garner Southall Partnership (Llandrindod Wells, Powys);
HPA Property Ltd. (Gorseinon, Swansea);
Invest E Ltd. (Welshpool, Powys);
MIGs (Cardiff);
RPS Chapman Warren (Cardiff);
Y Faenol Cyf/The Vaynol Estate (Bangor, Gwynedd).
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