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16 Jan 2003 : Column 707W—continued
Statutory Instruments
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many statutory instruments have been issued by his Department in each calendar year since 1979. [89850]
Dr. Moonie: The information requested is not held for the years prior to 1999. The Ministry of Defence issued the following number of statutory instruments:
| Date | Statutory Instruments Issued |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 4 |
| 2000 | 18 |
| 2001 | 10 |
| 2002 | 12 |
Strategic Sea Lift Capability
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the (a) current and (b) projected future strategic sea lift capability of the armed forces. [90102]
Mr. Ingram: Currently the Ministry of Defence has four Roll-On/Roll-Off vessels available full-time to meet our strategic sealift requirement. It is MOD policy is to charter merchant shipping from the commercial market to meet additional demands. In addition to this capability five Landing Ships Logistic (LSL) provide additional lift capability if not required for amphibious operations.
For the future, with the full introduction of our new strategic sealift service by the summer, we will have six RoRo vessels available at various degrees of readiness. Four of these vessels will be employed by MOD to meet day-to-day requirements with the remaining two vessels at lower states of readiness being available to MOD when operational situations warrant. This capability will also be augmented by four Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) (LSD(A)) which again, will be available when not required for amphibious operations. These vessels, which have a significantly enhanced lift capability, will replace current LSLs and are scheduled to come into service from 2004.
Type 23 Frigates (Chile)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to sell RN Type 23 frigates to the Chilean Navy; and if he will make a statement. [90160]
Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon Member to the answer my hon Friend the Under Secretary of State for Defence gave on 30 April 2002 Official Report, column 746W to the hon. Member for Essex, North (Mr. Jenkin).
War Pensions
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of UK veterans from conflicts
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since and including World War II have claimed war pensions (a) three years, (b) five years, (c) 10 years and (d) more than 20 years after they would have been entitled to start receiving the benefit since 1972. [91049]
Dr. Moonie: The information requested is not available in the format required and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The War Pensions Scheme is unique in that there are no time limits for claiming a war pension. As a consequence of this, the onus has always been on the veteran to make a claim and entitlement is normally only given from the date of claim.
Warship Modernisation Project
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will write to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South regarding his answer of 7 November 2002, Official Report, column 457W, concerning the Warship Modernisation Project. [84153]
Mr. Ingram: I replied to the hon. Member today.
WALES
Capita
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the contracts that have been awarded to the Capita Group by the Office. [89977]
Peter Hain: No contracts have been awarded to the Capita Group by my Department.
Correspondence
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State received from members of the public in relation to his ministerial responsibilities in 2002. [90729]
Peter Hain: During 2002 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary answered 46 letters from members of the public in his Ministerial capacity. In addition 258 letters, which had been addressed either to myself or to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, were answered on our behalf by officials.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters he received from members of the public in relation to his ministerial responsibilities in 2002. [90959]
Peter Hain: During 2002 my predecessor and I answered 307 letters from members of the public in our Ministerial capacity. In addition, 258 letters which had been addressed to either the Secretary of State or the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, were answered on Ministers' behalf by officials.
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on his Department's performance against each of its public service agreement targets. [89922]
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Peter Hain: My Department is not required to have a public service agreement because of the nature of its role and its size.
Welsh Office Assets
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the assets of the Welsh Office valued at more than #50,000, identifying in each case (a) the nature of the asset, (b) the latest estimated value of the asset and (c) the rationale for possession of the asset; and if he will make a statement. [89952]
- (a) Land and Buildings, that is, Gwydyr House in Whitehall, London SW1;
- (b) #1,7 million; and
- (c) it is the London headquarters of my Department and the location of my London office.
Freehold Land and Buildings were valued on 31 March 2000 on the basis of open market value for existing use in accordance with the XAppraisal and Valuation Manual" produced jointly by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation. The valuation has been adjusted to its level at 31 March 2002 in accordance with accounting conventions.
Welsh Office Costs
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his estimate is for the latest year for which information is available of the cost to the Welsh Office of (a) its press office, (b) its legal office, (c) its private office, (d) its briefing unit, (e) its social policy unit and (f) its finance and administration unit; and if he will make a statement. [89956]
Peter Hain: The net administration costs of my Department in 2001–02 were #2.839 million. The costs of the constituent branches are not separately identifiable.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Departmental Expenditure (Newsprint)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total expenditure of her Department was on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in 2002. [90519]
Dr. Howells: The Department's spend on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in 2001–02 was #28,234.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time equivalent staff are employed in (a) the Department and (b) each of the agencies it sponsors; and what the figures were for 1997. [90678]
Dr. Howells: The number of full-time equivalent staff employed in the Department and the Royal Parks Agency are set out in the following table.
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| Current | 1997 | |
|---|---|---|
| DCMS | 459 | 340 |
| RPA | 237 | 238 |
Ethical Banking
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what contracts have been concluded as a result of the Government's commitment to support ethical banking. [89946]
Dr. Howells: My Department uses the Bank of England for banking services and there have been no other relevant contracts concluded.
External Consultants
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total cost to her Department was of the use of external consultants in 2002. [90500]
Dr. Howells: 11 contracts were awarded to external consultants in 2002 totalling #323,820. This includes the Royal Parks Agency.
Job Sharing
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the extent of job sharing in her Department. [90868]
Dr. Howells: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has a range of policies intended to help staff to better manage work-life balance, including support for part-time and job-share opportunities. All posts are open to those wishing to work part-time or job share although there are currently no posts being filled on a job-share basis.
National Lottery
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much lottery money remains unspent, broken down by the distribution body. [91113]
Mr. Caborn: The amounts not yet drawn down from the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) are shown in the following table.
| Distributing body | Unspent balance as at 31 December 2002 (#) |
|---|---|
| Arts Council of England | 233,021,761.89 |
| Arts Council of Northern Ireland | 35,014,526.62 |
| Arts Council of Wales | 31,016,874.65 |
| Community Fund | 303,497,261.54 |
| Film Council | 72,119,368.59 |
| Heritage Lottery Fund | 1,020,616,023.34 |
| Millennium Commission | 330,359,968.55 |
| New Opportunities Fund | 937,329,787.85 |
| Scottish Arts Council | 50,812,445.67 |
| Scottish Screen | 2,839,957.24 |
| Sport England | 295,290,905.58 |
| Sport Scotland | 77,913,479.92 |
| Sports Council for Northern Ireland | 21,008,670.19 |
| Sports Council for Wales | 34,445,319.32 |
| UK Sport | 4,166,877.84 |
| Total | 3,449,453,228.79 |
At 30 September 2002, the distributing bodies collectively had made commitments, with varying degrees of firmness, totalling #3.99 billion.
16 Jan 2003 : Column 711W
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