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MoDAS
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many companies submitted expressions of interest to his Department to provide the UK with a MoDAS; and if he will make a statement. [67417]
Dr. Moonie: 16 expressions of interest were received, in reply to the Ministry of Defence's Contracts Bulletin announcement, to provide the United Kingdom with the
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Modular Defensive Aids System. We expect to determine which systems will be taken forward into the assessment phase of the programme later this year.
Imber
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on the preservation of St. Giles' Church in the village of Imber in each of the past five years. [69239]
Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 12 April 2002, Official Report, column 640W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn).
Land Mines
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent by his Department in 2001–02 on the research and development of new technology to detect and remove land mines. [69312]
Dr. Moonie: The total expenditure on the research and development of new technology to detect and remove land mines was £9.7 million in the financial year 2001–02.
Procurement
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what difficulties have been experienced with the procurement of a further five shipsets of the principal anti-air missile system. [69934]
Dr. Moonie: Negotiations on the PAAMS production contract for the systems for ships two to six are under way. No difficulties have been experienced to date that would put at risk the in-service dates of the type 45 Destroyer.
Red Dragon Project
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the future of the Red Dragon Project Team at DARA, RAF St. Athan. [70107]
Mr. Ingram: The Defence Aviation Repair Agency Red Dragon Project Team is currently being restructured to take account of the need to move the project forward to the approval stage.
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Red Dragon Project to commence following the signing of the memorandum of intent between his Department and the WDA. [70108]
Mr. Ingram: The Red Dragon Project will shortly be at the approval stage and I expect to be in a position to announce a decision by the autumn.
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when work will commence on a single purpose-built facility for DARA's operations at RAF St. Athan. [70106]
Mr. Ingram: Subject to approval, the new build is currently planned to commence by the end of the year.
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Service Personnel (Birmingham Hospital)
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what messing, accommodation and recreational facilities are available to service personnel based at Birmingham hospitals. [69266]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 15 July 2002]: At present there is no service accommodation for permanent staff, long-term or short course students at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM). Depending on their personal circumstances and the nature of their duties, staff and students are housed either in Ministry of Defence quarters within reasonable travelling distance of the site, MOD- hired accommodation, university student accommodation, hotels or suitable bed-and-breakfast accommodation. Mess and recreational facilities at two reserve units in Birmingham (202 Field Hospital and HMS Forward) are being used by those posted to the RCDM. In the longer term, a number of options are being considered for the development of facilities for staff and students at the RCDM.
DARA, Almondbank
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to transfer MOD posts to DARA, Almondbank. [69282]
Mr. Ingram: As I advised the hon. Member in my letter dated 17 June, the Ministry of Defence has no plans to transfer any further posts to Defence Aviation Repair Agency, Almondbank in the foreseeable future.
However, a transfer of work from St. Athan will take place which can be absorbed within existing spare capacity.
MOD Holdings
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list MOD holdings; and if he will make a statement. [69552]
Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence's land holdings are listed in section seven of the National Asset Register published by HM Treasury on 19 July 2001, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. A number of disposals and acquisitions have taken place since.
RAF Bases
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the housing project at (a) RAF Halton and (b) RAF Brize Norton has been completed; what the total cost has been; and if he will make a statement. [69463]
Dr. Moonie: The project at RAF Halton to upgrade 110 service families' quarters is complete and was undertaken in three phases. The details are as follows:
| Commenced | Completed | Numbers | Cost (£ million) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase | September 2000 | July 2001 | 50 | 2.236 |
| Phase 1(a) | July 2001 | February 2002 | 50 | 2.223 |
| Phase 1(b) | January 2002 | March 2002 | 10 | 0.513 |
| Total | 4.972 |
The individual project phases started and finished on time, and within budget.
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The project at RAF Brize Norton, to upgrade 129 service families' quarters on base, began in October 2001 and is planned to finish in January 2003. The total cost is estimated at £8.512 million.
Military Sites (West Sussex)
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the military sites in West Sussex. [70038]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 15 July 2002]: There are four Ministry of Defence sites within West Sussex. Baker barracks, Thorney Island and Roussillon barracks, Chichester are regular sites and the Royal Electrical Engineers TA centre at Crawley and the Infantry TA centre at Worthing are reserve sites.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Sport
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the local programmes the Government have funded to encourage sports, indicating the level of the funding that each programme has received, broken down by region, over the last five years. [68537]
Mr. Caborn: The majority of Government funding for sport in England is channelled through Sport England. Details of its funding programmes in each region have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Criminal Records Checks
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had on broadening the Criminal Record Bureau's access to criminal records from other countries with regard to child protection for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. [68830]
Mr. Caborn: Child protection issues in relation to the Commonwealth Games are being taken forward by Manchester 2002 Ltd., the Games' organisers, in close liaison with Manchester City Council's Social Services Department. They have been working to ensure that the Games' child protection policies and procedures are consistent with relevant legislation and best practice.
In relation to Games' competitors who are under 16 years of age, Manchester 2002 Ltd. is requiring each team to provide chaperones to ensure that minors can be accompanied at all times. Assistance is being given to those teams that could otherwise not afford to meet this requirement. Manchester 2002 has asked all nominated chaperones to undergo subject access checks if they are from the UK, or via a similar scheme, if available, if from outside the UK. Otherwise teams are being required to provide a letter of support for each chaperone from someone in an official capacity.
In the case of children performing in the Games' ceremonies, provisions have been made to ensure that all minors are properly chaperoned. All chaperones have been asked to undergo subject access checks.
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Lottery Funding
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funds have been allocated, but not distributed, by each of the National Lottery distribution funds in each of the last five years. [70065]
Mr. Caborn: This information is not readily available. I will however, write to the hon. Member as soon as it has been collated, placing copies of my letter in the Libraries of both Houses.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many projects awarded lottery funding of over £100,000 have subsequently been shut down, closed or made inaccessible to the public; [70066]
- (2) how many projects awarded lottery funding of over £100,000 are (a) open to the public (i) free of charge and (ii) at a cost of below £5 and (b) not open to the public; and if she will make a statement. [70067]
Mr. Caborn: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. According to the national lottery awards database, which is based upon information supplied to us by the distributing bodies, 15,103 lottery grants of over £100,000 have been awarded up to 11 July 2002. Of these, 6,402 are capital grants, 6,077 are revenue grants and 2,624 are both capital and revenue grants.
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