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Nimrod Patrol Aircraft

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the fleet of 18 Nimrod MRA.4 Maritime Patrol Aircraft will be operational; why these have been delayed; how much the aircraft will cost; how much they were originally expected to cost; and if he will make a statement. [104238]

Mr. Ingram: My noble Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement (Lord Bach) announced in another place on 19 February 2003, Official Report, columns 175–77W, that, as a result of the recent agreement with BAE SYSTEMS to restructure the Nimrod MRA4 contract, the revised in-service date is 2009. This is now defined as the delivery of the sixth series production aircraft. The balance of the 18 aircraft fleet is envisaged to be delivered during the subsequent period to mid 2011. The reasons for the delay are those that are indicated by the reply my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Dr. Moonie) gave to the hon. Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer) on 10 December 2002, Official Report, columns 222–23W. The Agreement with BAE SYSTEMS recognises the delays that have occurred on this programme by deferring the start of series production of later aircraft until we have seen demonstrated performance from the first three flight trials aircraft. When an appropriate level of design maturity has been reached (and we envisage this to be in late 2005), we will then be in a position to finalise the negotiations with the Company over the production price of the remaining number of aircraft. As my hon. Friend also indicated in his statement of 19 February, the MOD has agreed to make a contribution to this restructured programme of an additional £270 million. Subject to on-going negotiations, this increase therefore brings the expected contract value to some £2,600 million at current prices. I have nothing further to add to the statement made by my hon. Friend on 19 February 2003.

Northern Ireland

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office about the establishment of a UDR Fund to recognise and support the widows and families of soldiers serving with the Ulster Defence Regiment who were murdered by terrorists in Northern Ireland. [105980]

Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence has, to date, had no formal discussions with the Northern Ireland Office about this issue. However I did meet with

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representatives from the UDR widows and widowers on 5 March 2003. This matter is being considered, although the Department is not yet in a position to make a decision on the way ahead.

SA80

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on problems with the SA80 in the conflict in the Gulf; and what steps are being taken to overcome such problems. [105513]

Mr. Ingram: Hot and dusty environments—such as those pertaining in the Gulf area—are the most demanding in which to operate small arms of any kind. The new cleaning regime introduced for the modified SA80 is minimising the effects of the harsh environmental conditions. Units have expressed confidence in the modified SA80, and its performance during operations in Iraq thus far has demonstrated that it is one of the most reliable weapons in its class.

Service Personnel

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the facilities available for families to communicate with service personnel by television. [105644]

Mr. Ingram: The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) is produced by the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC) under contract to the Ministry of Defence and provides radio and television services to most locations overseas where significant numbers of British forces are permanently stationed and, subject to practicality, to operational theatres.

Two channels of BFBS TV, plus BBC News 24 and Sky News, are transmitted continuously from the UK to a satellite covering the Greater European and middle east operational areas. The signal is distributed to 55 locations in Kuwait and from 27 March to parts of southern Iraq. BFBS TV is therefore available live at all major UK military locations in the middle east, as well as to RN andRFA ships in the area.

BFBS TV film messages from both service personnel in the Gulf and their families in the UK and Germany, and transmit these as "fillers" between TV programmes in lieu of the more usual community and welfare announcements. BFBS has a 'tie-in' with ITV's flagship programme "This Morning" (which is retransmitted on BFBS) which also provides a chance for families to see video messages from their people on operational duty. BFBS TV also communicates to the Forces via a daily news magazine programme, 'BFBS Reports' which goes out across the BFBS network.

Student Reservists

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether university student reservists called up to serve in the Gulf will be required to pay back the additional year's student loan that they may have to take out; and if he will make a statement. [104978]

Dr. Moonie [holding answer 27 March 2003]: Reservists who are full-time university students may apply to have their call-out notices revoked or deferred.

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Details on how to make such applications are given at the time call-out notices are served. The situation referred to in the question is unlikely, therefore, to arise.

ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Air Pollution

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding has been made available by her Department to tackle air pollution in Buckinghamshire in 2002–03. [105695]

Alun Michael: The Department wrote to local authorities in England on 14 February last year inviting applications for Supplementary Credit Approvals to support proposals for capital expenditure in 2002–03 on their air quality management duties under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. Milton Keynes was the only authority in Buckinghamshire to apply, and £30,000 in additional borrowing powers has been awarded. Since 1997/98 the Government's annual revenue support grant settlement has included provision to support local authorities running costs associated with these duties.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days of (a) moderate, (b) high and (c) very high air pollution there were (i) in the United Kingdom and (ii) in Buckinghamshire in 2002; and if she will make a statement on the suspected causes of high and very high readings. [106013]

Alun Michael: Air quality is now a devolved matter therefore my reply focuses on England. According to data provided by the Automatic Urban and Rural monitoring Network (AURN), the number of days air pollution at at least one AURN sites in England in 2002 was:

(a) moderate: 194.

(b) high: 25.

(c) very high: 4.

Very high readings were all related to particles (PM10). Of the 25 high readings, two were related to sulphur dioxide (SO2), four were related to ozone and the remaining 19 were all related to particles (PM10). Meteorological conditions also affects the level of all pollutants.

There is no AURN site in Buckinghamshire but all local authorities, including in Buckinghamshire, have a statutory duty under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess the local air quality in their area against the national air quality objectives. I have provided information on the five local authorities in Buckinghamshire in PQ 106012.

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the air quality strategy. [105421]

Alun Michael: The Government and Devolved Administrations' air quality policies are set out in detail in the air quality strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, published in January 2000. An Addendum to the strategy was published in February 2003. The strategy and addendum can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/index.htm.

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The strategy sets objectives for nine main air pollutants to protect human health and two objectives to protect vegetation and ecosystems. The air pollutants covered by the strategy are benzene; 1,3-butadiene; carbon monoxide; lead; nitrogen dioxide; particles (PM10); ozone; sulphur dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The Government and devolved Administrations monitor progress to meeting the objectives in the strategy through the national air quality monitoring network, which consists of over 1,500 sites. Over 120 of these sites are sophisticated, real-time monitors from which information is available hour-by-hour, 24 hours a day, via a dedicated website: www.airquality.co.uk.

Air quality monitoring indicates that we are on course or have already met objectives for six of the nine pollutants in England, namely benzene, 1,3-butadiene, carbon monoxide, lead, sulphur dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This is as a result of the measures that have been implemented over the last decade or so.

Additional measures are likely to be needed if we are to meet the nitrogen dioxide and particles objectives in certain parts of England. We are considering those in the context of the delivery of our DEFRA/DfT joint Air Quality Public Service Agreement. We are also expecting to exceed the ozone objective in parts of southern England. However we believe that internationally agreed measures are the most effective ways to tackling this pollutant as ground level ozone concentrations in southern England are influenced largely by transboundary pollution. The UK will play a key role in seeking further agreements on international measures.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in Buckinghamshire towards meeting the National Air Quality Strategy targets. [106012]

Alun Michael: Local authorities have a statutory duty under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess the local air quality in their area against the national air quality objectives for seven of the pollutants prescribed in regulations for the purpose of local air quality management. Where it is likely that the air quality objectives will not be met by the relevant deadline, the local authority must designate an air quality management area and produce an action plan setting out the measures they intend to implement to work towards meeting the air quality objectives.

Of the five local authorities in the Buckinghamshire region (Milton Keynes, Aylesbury Vale District Council, Chiltern District Council, South Buckinghamshire District Council and Wycombe District Council), only one authority (Wycombe District Council) has declared an air quality management area along the M40 motorway due to predicted exceedences of the annual mean Nitrogen Dioxide objective. Wycombe District Council has produced an action plan which has been appraised by my Department. Wycombe will now have to work with the Highways Agency and other stakeholders to look to implement the most cost-effective and proportionate measures to improve the local air quality within the area affected by the M40.

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