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Sea Harriers
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Sea Harriers have been equipped with JTIDS; and at what cost. [56198]
Dr. Moonie: JTIDS has been fitted to three Sea Harrier aircraft. Two of these are development aircraft operated by BAE Systems. The costs are currently the subject of negotiation with contractors and I am therefore withholding this information in accordance with Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Bowman System
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when operational field trials of the Bowman system will commence. [56197]
Dr. Moonie: Operational field trials of the Bowman system are due to begin in November 2003 at battalion level. The battalion and additional elements of the first brigade to be converted will then conduct a further operational field trial in March 2004, which will determine whether the Bowman system can be accepted into service. A final field trial, at brigade level, is planned for August/September 2004.
Airborne Stand-off Radar
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress on the ASTOR programme; and when each of the five aircraft will be delivered to the RAF. [56199]
Dr. Moonie: The ASTOR programme is currently on course to meet its planned in-service date of September 2005. The first global express aircraft, which will be the platform for the airborne element of the ASTOR system, is now with the aircraft systems integrator. Following systems integration, aircraft deliveries to the RAF are scheduled to take place in 2004, 2005, 2006 (two aircraft) and 2007.
QinetiQ
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many bids have been received for the sale of an equity share in QinetiQ; and what proportion of the equity is proposed for sale. [56637]
Dr. Moonie: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 14W, to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key). Initial bids for the sale of an equity share in QinetiQ are due to be received on 20 May.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whom he has appointed as non-executive chair of QinetiQ; and what other interests the person has. [56625]
Dr. Moonie: As announced on 8 May in a QinetiQ press release about Sir John Egan's decision to step down, Dame Pauline Neville-Jones has been appointed as the chairman of QinetiQ, having previously been the senior non-Executive Director. Dame Pauline has worked extensively in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and
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has been chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. She is currently a BBC governor, with special responsibility for the World Service, and chairman of the Information Assurance Advisory Council. She also is a member of the Council of City University and hon. treasurer of the charity Refuge. The change of chairman will not affect the transaction timetable, which remains on track.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the bids for an equity share in QinetiQ will be judged against (a) commercial, (b) industrial and (c) strategic considerations; and if he will make a statement. [56638]
Dr. Moonie: Yes. As with all competitive bidding processes, the Ministry of Defence seeks to take into account all relevant factors, including commercial, industrial and strategic, when assessing competitive bids to ensure that the MOD meets its objectives and obtains the best value for money.
Pregnant Service Personnel
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) RAF are pregnant; what rules and regulations govern the treatment and deployments of pregnant service personnel; and if he will make a statement. [56172]
Dr. Moonie: As at 1 May, 354 members of the Army, 93 of the Royal Navy and 223 of the Royal Air Force had notified pregnancy or were on maternity leave. The rules governing maternity arrangements for servicewomen in the regular Armed Forces are contained within Defence Council Instructions and other service publications. Upon notification of pregnancy, restrictions may be placed upon a servicewoman's employment to ensure that the services can fulfil their legal obligations and responsibilities for her health and safety and that of her unborn child and to preserve operational effectiveness. For example, aircrew will not be permitted to continue their flying duties once pregnancy is confirmed, servicewomen on operations will be withdrawn, and women serving in ships will be landed at the earliest convenient opportunity.
Army Landrovers
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who manufactures the engines for the 200 series Army Landrovers; and where they are based. [55723]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 13 May 2002]: The 200 Series Landrover is not a recognised variant of the military fleet. However, all military Landrover engines are
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manufactured by Landrover at their manufacturing facility in Solihull. Landrover also has a military sales/service facility at Warwick.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Fraud
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated level of losses to fraud and corruption was in (a) her Department's Vote 1 budget and (b) her Department's Vote 2 budget for (i) 1999–2000 and (ii) 2000–01. [54702]
Estelle Morris: An estimate of the cost to my Department of cases involving fraud and corruption for the years in question is as follows:
| Vote 1 | Vote 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 4,548 | 52 |
| 2000–01 | 17,327 | 386 |
| Total | 21,875 | 438 |
The Vote 1 figure for 2000–01 includes one specific direct contractor fraud valued at £7.9 million. The figures represent 0.07 per cent. of the total Vote 1 spend and 0.006 per cent. of the total Vote 2 spend over the two years.
Education Act
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 7 May 2002, ref 53890, how many prosecutions have taken place for offences under the Education Act 1996 in each year since 1997; and what those offences were. [55602]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Under the Education Act 1996 the following are guilty of an offence and liable for prosecution:
- (1) The parent of a child who has been "cleansed" under s522 but is again "infested" or in "a foul condition" is guilty of an offence (section 525);
- (2) A parent or the employer of a child, who is a registered pupil, where that child is employed in contravention of a notice issued by the LEA either prohibiting his employment or imposing restrictions upon his employment (section 559);
- (3) The parent of a registered pupil at a school who fails to attend regularly (section 444);
- (4) Any person who is on school property without lawful authority and while there causes a disturbance or nuisance (section 457);
- (5) A parent who fails to comply with the requirement of a notice to have a child medically examined (section 506);
- (6) A parent who fails to comply with a notice requiring a child's attendance at an exam (paragraph 5(1) Schedule 26).
- Information on prosecutions provided by the Home Office for the years 1997 to 2000 is as follows:
(1) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from this table.
(2) These data are on a principal offence basis.
Source:
Crime and Criminal Justice Unit, Home Office
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