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6 Feb 2003 : Column 400W—continued
Marchwood
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what effect the Greenpeace protest outside the Sea Mounting Centre at Marchwood has had on embarkations from the military port. [95876]
Mr. Ingram: The Greenpeace protest resulted in delays to the loading of and the subsequent sailing of four chartered ships, of some one, two, seven and eight hours respectively.
Military Services Ltd
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the potential liability of the UK Government is with respect to International Military Services Ltd; and if he will make a statement. [93714]
Mr. Hoon: International Military Services Limited (IMS) is in dispute with the Government of Iran over the termination terms of contracts let in the 1970s for the supply of tanks and armoured recovery vehicles. The contracts were repudiated by Iran during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Attempts to negotiate a settlement have so far failed and the case has been referred to the International Chamber of Commerce for arbitration. The arbitration tribunal reached a decision on IMS's liability to the Iranian Ministry of Defence in 2001, but IMS is challenging the outcome in the Dutch courts. The amount of the Ministry of Defence's potential liability will be influenced by the result of the appeals process. Until that process is concluded we will not know the size of any liability. The details of the case are commercially confidential.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the total expenditure by his Department on ministerial travel (a) in the UK and (b) abroad, in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (estimated); and if he will make a statement. [92462]
Dr. Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 334W.
Missile Defence
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has concerning the use of United States bases in East Anglia as part of the missile defence programme; and if he will make a statement. [95240]
Mr. Hoon: I have no such plans.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what discussions he and his officials have had with the United States Government concerning British industry's involvement in the missile defence programme; [95241]
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- (2) pursuant to his oral statement of 15 January, Official Report, column 710, what discussions he and his officials have had, and with which companies, concerning British involvement in the US missile defence programme. [95249]
Mr. Hoon: We are currently exploring with the United States authorities and with British industry the possibility of working together in areas of direct relevance to missile defence, including participation in the US programme. Our aim is to conclude a technical Memorandum of Understanding with the US, covering Government and industrial co-operation. The creation of a Missile Defence Technical Centre (MDTC), jointly funded by United Kingdom Government and industry, is being considered to provide a focus for this future technical work. Companies consulted include BAE SYSTEMS, QinetiQ, MBDA (UK), AMS and InSys.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British companies are involved in the United States missile defence system. [95257]
Mr. Hoon: We are not aware of any current direct involvement in the United States missile defence programme by United Kingdom-based companies, although BAE SYSTEMS (North America) is a participant in the US industrial team supporting
Mr. Nick Woodward
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the result was of his investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mr.Nick Woodward of the Royal Military Police outside Aldershot Barracks in November 2002; and on how many occasions Mr. Woodward was present at Deepcut Barracks. [94716]
Dr. Moonie: This incident is subject to an ongoing investigation by the civilian police and it would be inappropriate to comment further. No inquest into the death has yet been held.
While I can confirm that Mr. Woodward was neither stationed nor attended courses at Deepcut, it is not possible to tell whether he ever visited the barracks in any other capacity.
Normandy Barracks
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the result was of his investigation into the circumstances of the death of the Fijian national found dead at the Normandy Barracks in October 2002; what the cause was of his death; and what period the deceased had spent at Deepcut Barracks. [94717]
Dr. Moonie: This incident is subject to an ongoing investigation by the civilian police and it would be inappropriate to comment further. No inquest into the death has yet been held. While I can confirm that the individual in question was neither stationed nor attended courses at Deepcut, it is not possible to tell whether he ever visited the Barracks in any other capacity.
Public-private Partnership (Aircrew Training)
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he expects the public private partnership
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to provide synthetic training services for aircrew to remain within the Ministry of Defence's proposed budget. [95408]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
RAF Marham
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what accommodation has been made available at RAF Marham for personnel returning from Germany in recent months; and if he will make a statement. [95332]
Dr. Moonie : 9 Squadron and 31 Squadron returned from RAF Bruggen in the summer of 2001 to RAF Marham. They were provided with sufficient office space and accommodation for operational activities.
Family housing requirements are being successfully managed, and a current deficit in Single Living Accommodation will be addressed by the provision of 120 rooms as part of Project SLAM: construction of these additional rooms is due to start in May.
Reserve Responsibilities (Hon. Members)
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hon. Members have reserve liabilities for the armed forces. [95960]
Dr. Moonie: There is no register of hon. Members who have a reserve liability. The information requested is not centrally held and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Service Accommodation
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to increase the amount of single living accommodation with en-suite bathrooms. [95406]
Dr. Moonie : I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement of 18 December 2002, Official Report, column 58WS.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to make Z-type accommodation available to all army personnel; and when this process will be completed. [95409]
Dr. Moonie: It is intended that Z-type Single Living Accommodation (SLA) will be made available to all trained Army personnel. Where planning regulations allow, accommodation will be built to Z-type (en-suite) specifications. It is planned that a variety of SLA new build and modernisation programmes will deliver some
Shelter Project
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the work that the Ministry of Defence is conducting with the charity Shelter; and how successful this project has been. [95405]
Dr. Moonie: Shelter was selected as the specialist housing adviser to the Armed Forces Project (AFP) established at the Military Corrective Training Centre
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(MCTC), Colchester in April 2001. The project was aimed at identifying the small minority of service leavers who are vulnerable to social exclusion and helping them to avoid homelessness. It was originally funded as a pilot scheme by the Homelessness Directorate (previously known as the Rough Sleepers Unit) of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and has been funded by the Ministry of Defence since April 2002.
The AFP was established to help those service personnel who are assessed to be at risk of homeless on discharge from the armed forces after a period of detention in MCTC. The Shelter Housing Adviser provides service personnel and the families of Service personnel in detention with the best possible housing information, advice on their housing rights, and representation. The Housing Adviser, where necessary, makes referrals to local support services in the region to which personnel are moving after they leave the armed forces.
AFP also works in partnership with other MOD housing organisations such as the Joint Services Housing Advice Office (JSHAO) and the Single Persons Accommodation Centre for Ex-Service personnel (SPACES).
The Shelter AFP has to date helped over 156 service personnel and 27 service families, who were assessed to be at risk of homelessness.
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