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Defence Medical Services
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what psychiatric and mental health service staff are employed in the Defence Medical Services. [45935]
Dr. Moonie: As at 1 January 2002, there were 11 Consultant Psychiatrists and 81 Registered Nurses (Mental Health) serving in the Defence Medical Services (DMS). In addition, there were 11 medical officers undergoing Consultant Psychiatrist training, and 20 mental health nurse trainees. Civilian mental health staff are also employed in the United Kingdom and overseas in support of the DMS, some of whom are filling vacant military posts.
Deployment
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the mean percentage is of the British Army which has been deployed on operations in each year since 1998. [45697]
Mr. Ingram: The mean percentage of the British Army deployed on operations in each year since 1998 is shown in the following table.
| Calendar year | Mean percentage of Army deployed on operations(6) |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 25 |
| 1999 | 24 |
| 2000 | 24 |
| 2001 | 21 |
| 2002(7) | 20 |
(6) The mean percentage of the British Army deployed on operations for years 1998, 1999 and 2000 includes personnel from the Royal Irish (Home Service) and Mobilised Reserves.
(7) As at 1 March.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what meetings were arranged for Defence Ministers to meet the US Assistant Secretary for Defence during his recent visit to London; and if he will make a statement on the outcome of the meetings. [45696]
Mr. Ingram: A meeting was arranged for 18 March 2002 between myself and the United States Assistant Secretary of Defence but because of business in the House, it did not take place. The Assistant Secretary did have discussions with officials.
Injuries
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims have been made for compensation from the MOD for muscular-skeletal injuries during Army training in each year since 1995 from (a) men and (b) women. [46261]
Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence does not record separately cases brought against the MOD for muscular- skeletal injuries during Army training. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Warships
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for modernising warship repair and maintenance. [46336]
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Mr. Hoon: The Government have decided on arrangements which will secure better value for money for warship repair and maintenance for the Royal Navy.
The Ministry of Defence has considered a number of options, including internal proposals to improve efficiency, proposals for further improvements from the MOD trade unions, and proposals from the existing dockyard companies. All options offered significant benefits compared with the current cost of undertaking warship repair and maintenance, but the company proposals offered the best overall value for money.
I have therefore decided to proceed with partnering arrangements with the companies. Subject to the satisfactory conclusion of negotiations, contracts will be placed later this year with Devonport Management Ltd., Fleet Support Ltd. and Babcock Naval Services Ltd. (a newly formed subsidiary of BRDL) for the provision of engineering support and related services at the naval bases at Devonport, Portsmouth and the Clyde. The Ministry of Defence has also agreed with the dockyard companies that a larger proportion of the surface ship refit and repair programme will be opened up for competition, with corresponding improvements in value for money. Taken together, these approaches will deliver efficiency improvements of over £300 million over the next five years.
These arrangements will involve the transfer of nearly 3,000 posts to the partnering. The Ministry of Defence will work closely with trade unions to ensure this transfer can be achieved as smoothly as possible.
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the work programme of DERA. [45368]
Dr. Moonie: DERA was disestablished on 1 July 2001 as part of the DERA PPP and two new organisations, Dstl and QinetiQ plc, were formed. The split of DERA, and thus the work programme, was done on the basis of capabilities; the principle being that the work that could not easily be transferred to the private sector remained within the Ministry of Defence, the rest became part of QinetiQ's business.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the representations he has received from defence manufacturers on the transfer of parts of DERA to the private sector. [45685]
Dr. Moonie: On completion of formal consultation on the DERA PPP process in June 2000, 19 written responses had been received from industry, including defence manufacturers. An industry forum was subsequently held to provide an opportunity for a detailed discussion of the PPP proposals before decisions were made on the way ahead. Rather than publish the individual representations, which would require the approval of the relevant organisations, the key points have been summarised in the Ministry of Defence responses about consultation to the Defence Select Committee and trade unions. The summary was published by the Defence Select Committee in its fifth report of session 2000–01 titled "The Draft Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Trading Fund Order 2001 at Appendix 3". In general, industry
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regarded the PPP proposals as workable and indicated a willingness to liaise with MOD to ensure that they were implemented in a way that best meets defence interests.
Consultation with industry has been a regular feature of the PPP process and has taken the form of informal workshops, meetings, briefings and seminars. Contact has generally been focused through the trade associations or other relevant professional bodies such as the Defence Industries Council, Defence Manufacturers Association and Association of Independent Research and Technology Organisations. Officials managing the PPP process are also in regular contact with the National Defence Industry Council's appointed industry liaison officer.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
National Lottery
9. Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the national lottery has raised to date; and how much has been spent in Bedfordshire. [43150]
Mr. Caborn: The national lottery has raised £12.19 billion at the end of December 2001 with £34,087,878 awarded to Bedfordshire to date.
19. Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the distribution of New Opportunities Fund national lottery money, with specific reference to demographic area. [43160]
Tessa Jowell: The New Opportunity Fund's programmes are designed to ensure a fair geographic spread of lottery money. For some of its programmes, the fund targets particular areas in order to ensure that funding reaches those in the greatest need.
27. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the total value of national lottery ticket sales to date. [43169]
Mr. Caborn: The total value of national lottery tickets sold from the launch in November 1994 up to and including the draw for the main online game on 9 March 2002 was £36,494,475,733.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will give details of the outcome of her Department's discussions with national lottery distributors regarding increasing the efficiency of the distribution of lottery funding. [45716]
Mr. Caborn: The Department has agreed with distributors a series of measures with a view to halving the overall National Lottery Distribution Fund balance by 2004. We propose to identify any elements in the Statement of Financial Requirements or policy directions which hinder faster payment and a bolder forward commitment policy and make amendments where this is consistent with good financial management; and to review whether more discretionary powers need to be introduced into the financial directions to enable distributors to assess applications in a way more commensurate with the risk involved.
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In addition, distributors have identified a range of methods which they may be able to use to reduce balances more quickly. These include adopting a bolder approach to commitment, leading to extra awards; improving systems for cash management; and reducing the time between an in-principle commitment being made and the first draw-down of funds. We will share best practice on measures employed by different distributors to reduce balances.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria will be used for choosing which authorities are eligible to receive lottery money through the National Lottery Fair Share initiative; and if she will make a statement. [45901]
Mr. Caborn: Those local authority districts which will benefit from Fair Share have already been chosen according to whether they are deprived and are receiving less than the median per capita amount of lottery funding.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she will take to help disadvantaged areas which do not receive a proportionate share of National Lottery awards and who have not been placed on the list of disadvantaged areas eligible for the National Lottery Fair Share initiative. [45900]
Mr. Caborn: Fair Share is one of several targeted initiatives operated by the lottery distributors. The Government are committed to ensuring that all areas benefit from lottery funding. We have challenged other lottery distributors to draw up their own lists of areas not receiving their fair share of lottery funding and target their resources on these.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how she will ensure that disadvantaged areas receive a proportionate level of lottery funding after the completion of the National Lottery Fair Share initiative in 2005. [45899]
Mr. Caborn: We will consider what further steps might be taken once we have begun to evaluate the effectiveness of Fair Share.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost is of setting up the National Lottery's joint community fund and New Opportunities Fund Fair Share project; if she will give a breakdown of these costs; and from which budget the costs will be taken. [45346]
Mr. Caborn: The New Opportunities Fund and the community fund are required to meet their running costs from their share of the National Lottery Distribution Fund. It is not possible at this stage to disaggregate the running costs that will accrue to the two distributors from administering Fair Share.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 18 March 2002, Official Report, column 45W, what consideration she gave to including Tewkesbury in the list of areas under the targeted lottery initiative. [46132]
Mr. Caborn: The selection of Fair Share areas was a matter for the community fund and the new opportunities fund, based on broad criteria set by the Government.
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Tewkesbury was not selected as a Fair Share area because it is not one of the 100 most deprived local authority districts in England.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 18 March 2002, Official Report, column 45W, how much each of the 51 areas listed under the targeted lottery initiatives has received in National Lottery funding. [46131]
Mr. Caborn: The following table gives the value of lottery awards made in the 51 English Fair Share areas.
| English local authorities | Lottery award totals |
|---|---|
| Ashfield | 4,969,982 |
| Barking and Dagenham | 12,878,997 |
| Barnsley | 20,531,215 |
| Basildon | 2,615,620 |
| Blackpool | 8,346,303 |
| Blyth Valley | 4,150,301 |
| Bolsover | 7,637,701 |
| Bolton | 33,727,019 |
| Bournemouth | 9,244,798 |
| Brent | 138,228,766 |
| Burnley | 8,150,550 |
| Darlington | 6,843,302 |
| Derby | 23,905,119 |
| Doncaster | 60,909,039 |
| Dudley | 21,902,069 |
| Ellesmere Port and Neston | 5,795,148 |
| Enfield | 19,688,961 |
| Great Yarmouth | 6,803,257 |
| Hyndburn | 4,306,746 |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | 41,257,139 |
| Kirklees | 35,868,837 |
| Knowsley | 14,368,675 |
| Luton | 11,508,015 |
| North East Lincolnshire | 7,109,709 |
| North Somerset | 11,905,771 |
| Oldham | 16,837,828 |
| Pendle | 5,077,803 |
| Peterborough | 19,032,272 |
| Portsmouth | 63,524,605 |
| Rochdale | 17,343,934 |
| Rotherham | 36,696,975 |
| Salford | 86,495,731 |
| Sandwell | 33,400,102 |
| Sefton | 18,576,783 |
| Solihull | 6,531,320 |
| St. Helens | 18,166,887 |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 18,566,799 |
| Swindon | 21,726,787 |
| Tameside | 11,754,532 |
| Telford and Wrekin | 19,684,276 |
| Tendring | 5,343,771 |
| Thanet | 10,434,744 |
| Trafford | 13,662,061 |
| Wakefield | 31,383,468 |
| Walsall | 34,700,659 |
| Waltham Forest | 16,941,245 |
| Wansbeck | 4,342,966 |
| Waveney | 4,595,907 |
| West Lancashire | 4,861,777 |
| Wigan | 23,675,368 |
| Wirral | 18,108,749 |
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