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11 Dec 2002 : Column 343W—continued
DEFENCE
Challenger Tanks
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts he has had with Vickers for the desertification of Challenger tanks; what components are covered under these contracts; what the date of the contracts was; what modifications were suggested by Vickers to the MoD regarding desertification; and what the MoD's response was. [86310]
Mr. Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 5 December 2002, Official Report, column 927W. There has been a wide range of discussions with Alvis Vickers Ltd. (previously Vickers Defence Systems) related to the modifications to improve Challenger 2's performance in desert conditions. I am withholding the specific details of the modification work under Exemption 1 (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access toGovernment Information.
Compensation Claims
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many claims from (a) UK and (b) non-UK citizens for compensation are outstanding against his Department for accidents; how many claims have been outstanding for more than (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) three years; and if he will make a statement; [85874]
- (2) how many outstanding claims there are for compensation for his Department from civilian employees for work-related accidents; how many are more than (a) one year and (b) two years old; and if he will make a statement; [85872]
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(3) how many outstanding claims for compensation his Department is dealing with relating to service personnel who received injuries at the time of duty; how many have been outstanding for more than (a) one, (b) two and (c) three years; and if he will make a statement. [85873]
Dr. Moonie: The claims databases operated by the Ministry of Defence and its contracted claims handlers do not record information in such a way to distinguish between claims for compensation from United Kingdom and non-UK citizens. The following table sets out the number of current outstanding personal injury related claims against MOD from both UK and non-UK citizens.
| More than one year | More than two years | More than three years | Total number of outstanding claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11,654 | 694 | 1,015 | 5,687 |
The current number of outstanding claims against the Ministry of Defence from civilian employees for work related accidents are as follows:
| More than one year | More than two years | Total number of outstanding claims |
|---|---|---|
| 534 | 298 | 1,390 |
The current number of outstanding claims against the Ministry of Defence from Service personnel for injuries suffered on duty are as follows:
| More than one year | More than two years | More than three years | Total number of outstanding claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,007 | 425 | 499 | 3,739 |
When compensation claims are submitted, they are considered on the basis of whether or not the Ministry of Defence has a legal liability to pay compensation. Where there is a legal liability to pay compensation we do so. Most claims are settled amicably on a legal liability basis without recourse to the courts.
Departmental Assets
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the value is of each agency's fixed assets (a) in Scotland and (b) elsewhere; and if he will make a statement; [86387]
- (2) what the value is of his Department's assets holdings, broken down by asset holder under the headings of (a) Land and Buildings Scotland, (b) Land and Buildings UK, (c) Land and Buildings Overseas, (d) Fighting Equipment, (e) Nuclear Submarine Fleet, (f) Nuclear Missile Capacity, (g) Heritage Assets, (h) Plant and Machinery, (i) Vehicles and (j) Investments, was in the last financial year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [86403]
Dr. Moonie: Details of Ministry of Defence asset holdings are published by HM Treasury every three years in the National Asset Register. The latest information was provided in July 2001 in Section 7 of Cm 5221 which shows values, holders and (where
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relevant) geographical locations, broken down by official asset category. Broader information on values is also published annually in the Ministry of Defence Consolidated Departmental Resource Accounts and in the annual reports and accounts of individual agencies. Copies of the National Asset Register, Resource Accounts and agency accounts have been placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Employees (Scotland)
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of each of Her Majesty's forces are stationed in Scotland; how many of his Department's civilians are (a) working in and (b) based in Scotland; what the projected totals are for (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [86405]
Dr. Moonie: The information requested for civilian staff is given in the table.
| Date | MOD civilian staff working in Scotland |
|---|---|
| April 2001 | 9,421 |
| April 2002 | 8,597 |
| October 2002 | 8,444 |
(3) Figures include full time equivalent values for part timers.
For civilian staff we can only tabulate where they work and do not make a distinction between, working in and based in, hence only one figure has been provided. Furthermore, we do not make predictions on future staffing levels and the three dates provided aim to give a representative snapshot for the periods requested.
At 1 April 2002 the number of United Kingdom regular forces personnel posted to Scotland was 14,250. This includes 4,670 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel, 3,710 Army personnel and 5,870 RAF personnel. These figures exclude full time Reserve Service, Reservists mobilised for duty, Gurkhas and members of the Royal Irish Home Service.
Information (Exemptions)
Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his Answer of 3rd December (ref 84133), under which subsection of Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information he withheld the information. [86047]
Mr. Hoon: The information was withheld under subsection 'a' of Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to information whose disclosure would harm national security or defence.
Research and Development
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what total expenditure for research and development was in the last year for which figures are available, how much of it is spent in Scotland, broken down into (a) DERA's own research sites and (b) research funded in academic and non-DERA sites; and what the names of these sites were. [86006]
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Dr. Moonie [holding answer 10 December 2002]: In financial year 2000–01 Ministry of Defence spent #2,379 million net inclusive of VAT on research and development.
It is not possible to state how much of that total figure represented expenditure in the United Kingdom or in Scotland since our data does not include a regional breakdown.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Current Affairs Broadcasting (Scotland)
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with the Scottish Executive regarding current affairs broadcasting in Scotland. [83618]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 5 December 2002]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not held any such discussions with the Scottish Executive.
Darts
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action she is taking to enable darts to be recognised as a sport. [86513]
Dr. Howells: My Department is considering the potential for amendments to the Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937 and the wider implications of any such amendment.
Films (Funding)
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many films which have received funding from the Film Council have been screened with subtitling and audio description provision. [84961]
Dr. Howells: The figures requested are not available. However, the Film Council is drawing up a wide-ranging disabilities policy, which will strengthen requirements for the provision of subtitling in Film Council funded feature films. It has also announced (a) allocation of up to #350,000 towards a pilot project to install captioning and audio description equipment in selected UK cinemas (b) allocation of a further 60,000 to make grants available to film distributors for captioning and audio describing films released on less than 100 prints (c) allocation of #40,000 in Lottery funding to invest in the research and development of a personal captioning device.
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