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Cyprus

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what effect the handover of land under the offer made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the revised 3rd draft of the Kofi Annan plan for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus is expected to have on the operation of the British sovereign base areas in Cyprus; and if he will make a statement; [100267]

(2) what land is to be handed over under the offer made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the revised 3rd draft of the Kofi Annan plan for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus; what assets and facilities are situated there; what that land is used for; and if he will make a statement. [100268]

Mr. Hoon: In order to help secure a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, the Government decided to offer accede parts of the United Kingdom's Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) which are no longer essential for military purposes. The offer consists of 45 square miles, just under half of the total area of the SBAs.

The areas in question are mainly agricultural and residential and do not contain military infrastructure. There will be no adverse impact on the ability of British Forces Cyprus to carry out its tasks. We will also

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continue to perform the same tasks of civil administration in the areas remaining within the SBAs. Our offer was made within the context of UN negotiations to bring about a settlement and is conditional on the settlement being adopted and ratified by all parties. If either side rejects the UN proposals, or the proposals are rejected in a referendum by either side, the offer will become null and void.

Archives

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were employed in the departmental file stores in each year since 1997; how many have been transferred to the private sector; and if he will make a statement. [98857]

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Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence has 13 main archive facilities. By far, the largest is the central Records Repository that is located at Hayes in West London. The repository houses the bulk of the MOD's archived material but there are other, smaller, MOD record stores in locations around Great Britain. The following table shows these locations with staff numbers for the years 1997 to 2003 with explanatory notes. Only staff who work 'hands on' in a file store are included. The figures reflect established numbers ie they do not take into account temporary staff vacancies at any time, and they are based on permanent full-time equivalent staff. All posts are civil service unless stated in the notes. The total number of staff that were/are employed in departmental file stores in each year are shown in the last row of the table. To date 42 civil service members ofstaff have transferred to the private sector over the period.

Site	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003(to date)
Central Repository, Hayes(7)	60	62	62	70	65	66	69
MOD, London	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
RN personnel records, Portsmouth	4	3	3	3	3	3	4
RN personnel records, Gosport(8)	8	9	7	4.5	4	5	6
RM personnel records, Gosport	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Army personnel records, London	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Army personnel records, Glasgow(9)	36.5	74	66	67	64	35	33
RAF personnel records, Innsworth, near Gloucester	13.5	13.5	17	16	14	13.5	13
Home Guard records, Droitwich Spa	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
RAF historical records, Bentley Priory	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
MOD civilian personnel records, Llangenech	9	9	9	9	7	7	7
War Pensions records, Preston(10)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Armed Forces medical records, Shoeburyness	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Total	148	187. 5	181	186. 5	174	146. 5	149

⁽⁷⁾ None of the posts have transferred to the private sector yet but the MOD repository at Hayes has been considered for contractorisation in recent years as part of the public private partnership (PPP) initiative. This PPP project is a collaborative pan-government venture, led by the MOD and involving 13 other government organisations. The project has recently been granted approval to appoint a preferred bidder with a view to a contract possibly being in place during the summer of 2003. Some of the civil servants currently employed at the site may transfer to the incoming provider when the contract takes effect. Their terms and conditions will be protected in line with the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations.

⁽⁸⁾ On 1 January 1998 Electronic Data Systems (EDS) took over responsibility and eight members of staff transferred across from the civil service.

⁽⁹⁾ On 1 October 2001 EDS took over responsibility and 34 members of staff transferred across from the civil service. Prior to EDS taking over responsibility, the file store also included mail operations for a large part of the MOD Glasgow organisation. It is not possible to accurately separate mail operations staff from file store staff. However, it is reasonable to assume that file store staff would have numbered around 35 in the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001.

⁽¹⁰⁾ MOD war pension records are held by the War Pensions Agency at Preston, however, these are stored in a Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) facility that is staffed entirely by DWP civil servants. Therefore it is not included in this MOD answer.

Depleted Uranium

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what stocks of depleted uranium weapons are held in the theatre of conflict around Iraq; and under what conditions they would be used. [100278]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 3 March 2003]: We have a duty to provide our troops with the best available equipment with which to protect themselves and to succeed in conflict. Depleted Uranium (DU) tank ammunition is judged to be the most effective weapon against armour. United Kingdom forces currently deploying to the Gulf have DU munitions available as part of their armoury for potential operation.

I am withholding the information requested on stocks of DU weapons in accordance with Exemption 1 (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

HMS Montrose

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the HMS Montrose refit will be complete; how much it will cost; whether it is on budget; what the target date is for completion; when the ship will be ready for service; and if he will make a statement. [99547]

Mr. Ingram: HMS Montrose's refit at Rosyth is planned for completion in February 2004 and following associated sea trials, she is expected to be ready for operational deployment later that month. The final refit cost will be agreed once all work is completed, but is expected to be just under £23 million. This exceeds the original budget as it now reflects possible changes in labour rates and takes into account additional work identified after the budget had been set.

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Joint Strike Fighter

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the requirement for externally mounted Brimstone and ASRAAM missiles for the future Joint Strike Fighter has been removed; and what missiles will be fitted to the future Joint Strike Fighter as alternatives to the requirement for externally-mounted Brimstone and ASRAAM. [98235]

Mr. Ingram: While the design of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), to be known in United Kingdom service as the Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA), provides for the external and internal carriage of ASRAAM and Brimstone, the external carriage of weapons would adversely impact on the aircraft's radar signature. Our weapons strategy for JSF is still evolving, but internal carriage of weapons is required in the high threat environments in which we expect FJCA to operate. On current plans, therefore, FJCA will carry both ASRAAM and Brimstone internally. It is not currently considered cost effective for FJCA to carry these weapons externally as well.

Meteor Programme

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written Ministerial statement of 8th January, Official Report, columns 158–96W, on Meteor, when month 1 of the programme will be. [99604]

Mr. Ingram: Month 1 of the Meteor contract was January 2003.

NBC Suits

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what different sizes of NBC suit are available (a) to British forces, and (b) to British forces in the Gulf; and if he will make a statement. [99362]

Mr. Ingram: The NBC suit, issued to all British forces regardless of service or location, is available in five standard sizes: extra-small, small, medium, large and extra-large. Additionally there is a 'Special Measure' facility that allows the procurement of made-to-measure suits for extreme sizes.

Nuclear Weapons

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps the Government is taking to fulfil its obligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty (a) to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and (b) to move actively towards the elimination of UK nuclear weapons. [99671]

Mr. Hoon: The United Kingdom has an excellent record in fulfilling its NPT obligations both on non-proliferation and on nuclear disarmament.

In order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons the Government has taken the following measures to create regional nuclear weapon free zones and help stop non nuclear weapon states from acquiring the ability to produce and test nuclear weapons:

Ratified the relevant protocols to the Treaty of Raratonga (South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone) and signed and ratified the relevant protocols to the Treaty of Pelindaba (African Nuclear

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Weapon Free Zone) as well as to the Antarctic Treaty and the Treaty of Tlatelolco (Latin American and Caribbean Nuclear Weapon Free Zone);

Supported Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones in Central Asia, South East Asia, and the Middle East, and is in negotiations with the relevant states for the first two of these;

Continued to press for negotiations to begin at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty;

Ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and promoted its early entry into force.

To gain implementation of further non-proliferation measures aimed at preventing the diversion of civil nuclear material to military nuclear programmes the UK has:

Supported universal application of Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements;

Urged all States that have not yet done so to conclude and bring into force Additional Protocols to strengthen the safeguards system.

The UK is an active member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Zangger Committee, which work to control the export and transfer of nuclear and dual use items.

To help reduce the chances of nuclear materials falling into unauthorised hands, and to terrorists, the UK is supporting amendments to improve the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials. The UK has also made significant voluntary contributions to the IAEA's Nuclear Security Fund, established after September 11. We have pledged a total of 750,000 over three years.

To help address the nuclear proliferation risk posed by the nuclear legacy left by the Former Soviet Union the UK committed in July 2002 up to $750 million over 10 years towards the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. This includes a programme to help dispose of surplus Russian weapons grade plutonium so that it cannot be used in weapons. In the three year period ending March 2004 the UK will spend up to 84 million for the development of other programmes to deal with nuclear security and safety risks in the Former Soviet Union.

The UK continues actively to support efforts to resolve the unanswered questions about Iraq's nuclear programmes. We have also deplored North Korea's announced intention to withdraw from the NPT and supported IAEA resolutions aimed at achieving North Korea's compliance with its safeguards obligations. The Government has strengthened its ability to take action against anyone in the UK or UK citizens abroad seeking to develop, obtain or use nuclear weapons and created new offences for those seeking to do so.

To actively move towards the elimination of UK nuclear weapons the UK has:

Withdrawn and dismantled the RAFs freefall nuclear bomb so that Trident is now our only nuclear weapons system;

Reduced our operationally available stockpile to fewer than 200 warheads, which is a reduction of more than 70 per cent. in the potential explosive power of our nuclear forces since the end of the Cold War;

Dismantled the UK's last Chevaline warhead in April 2002;

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Reduced the readiness of our nuclear forces. Only a single Trident submarine is now on deterrent patrol, carrying 48 warheads. The submarine on patrol is normally on several days5 "notice to fire" and its missiles are de-targeted;

Placed fissile material no longer required for defence purposes under international safeguards and all enrichment and reprocessing facilities in the UK are now liable to international inspection;

Been more transparent about our nuclear and fissile material stockpiles and begun a national historical accounting study for fissile material produced;

Published an initial summary report on the verification of the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons. The Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston is undertaking work on this issue.

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