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28 Apr 2003 : Column 49W—continued
Energy Policy
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement, in relation to his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible, on (a) the amount of energy consumed, (b) spending on (i) energy and
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(ii) energy efficiency measures, (c) the amount saved through energy efficiency measures and (d) energy policy in each of the last five years. [108865]
Dr. Moonie: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
EU Defence Summit
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK has been invited to participate in the defence summit being held by EU countries on 29 April; and what his policy is on a core group of EU countries developing common defence policies independently of the wider European Union. [109156]
Mr. Hoon: No. The Belgian Prime Minister has invited his counterparts from France, Germany and Luxembourg to a multilateral meeting on 29 April to discuss defence issues. The character and nature of these countries' defence policies and the linkages between them, outside the framework of the European Union, is a matter for them.
Exhibitions
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list events at which his Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which his Department is responsible have exhibited in each of the last three years, stating for each (a) the purpose of exhibiting, (b) the cost of exhibiting and (c) the number of staff attending for the exhibition. [107622]
Dr. Moonie: The information is not held centrally in the form requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. I am therefore unable to provide a substantive answer under the terms of Exemption 9 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Finnish Air Force
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken to increase co-operation between the RAF and the Finnish Air Force; whether joint training for RAF Harriers and Finnish F-18s has been achieved; whether training for Finnish pilots in air-to-air refuelling has been achieved; and if he will make a statement. [109349]
Mr. Ingram: United Kingdom/Finnish defence relations are good and are growing closer, with relations between the Finnish Air Force and the RAF benefiting from successful bilateral co-operation. Useful training for RAF Harriers and Finnish F-18s took place as part of joint activities in 2001, which followed discussions instigated by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. During this activity, two Finnish Air Force pilots were certified in air refuelling, and talks have taken place to discuss the possibility of further training. Naval Harriers are planned to participate in a Finnish exercise in June this year.
Firefighters' Dispute
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the continuing impact of possible industrial action by firefighters on the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force. [109180]
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Mr. Ingram: The provision of emergency fire cover continues to be carefully balanced with other demands on the services, allowing the maintenance of maximum flexibility for contingency tasking and operational deployments, as well as protection of public safety during firelighters' strikes.
Nevertheless, the longer service personnel are held ready to provide emergency firefighting cover the greater the penalty to other activities is likely to be. The impact was felt from the outset of firefighter training last year, by all three services across a wide spectrum of their normal activity, although it is not practicable to distinguish between the three services. Wherever possible, adjustments have been made to operating procedures and manning levels to ensure that the impact is kept to a minimum.
Forces Training
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure was on training in the (a) Royal Navy and Royal Marines, (b) Army and (c) RAF; and how much was spent by each service in Scotland in the last year for which figures are available. [86008]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 10 December 2002]: The best available estimates for the amounts spent by the Services' Training Agencies in 2001–02 on individual training for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force are respectively:
| Service | £ million |
|---|---|
| Royal Navy | 386 |
| Army | 838 |
| Royal Air Force | 554 |
These figures are on a full resource accounting basis.
For the Royal Navy, a small proportion of trainee days are spent in Scotland, but separate costs are not recorded for these activities by the Naval Training and Recruiting Agency. The Army Training and Recruiting Agency estimates that its total expenditure in Scotland in the current financial year will be some £18 million. The majority of the RAF Training Group Defence Agency's training establishments are based in England and Wales, but the cost of their Outdoor Activity Centre at Grantown-on-Spey in Scotland for the current financial year is £648,000.
The cash costs of Royal Marines individual training for financial year 2001–02 were £43 million. It is not possible to identify separately Royal Marines training expenditure in Scotland.
Training costs falling to the Front-Line Commands are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Former Prisoners of War
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many of the civilians with addresses abroad who have not qualified for the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war have proven internment but are rejected on the bloodlink
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criteria; and how many have spent their working lives in the United Kingdom and gone abroad on retirement; [109173]
- (2) how many of the civilians with addresses abroad who have benefited from the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war were evacuated in 1942; how many of those paid prior to the end of May 2001 would not satisfy the new bloodlink criteria; how many do not hold United Kingdom passports now; and how many did not hold British passports at the time of internment; [109171]
(3) how many of the civilians with United Kingdom addresses who have benefited from the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war were evacuated in 1942; how many of those paid prior to the end of May 2001 would not satisfy the bloodlink criteria introduced on 25 June 2001; and how many did not hold British passports at the time of internment; [109170]
(4) how many of the civilians with United Kingdom addresses who have not qualified for the ex gratia scheme for former Far East civilian prisoners of war have proven internment but are rejected on the bloodlink criteria. [109172]
Dr. Moonie: Approximately 800 claims from civilians including surviving spouses with addresses abroad were rejected on the bloodlink criteria. It is not known how many have proven internment. Approximately 300 claims from civilians including surviving spouses with United Kingdom addresses were rejected on the bloodlink criteria; of these approximately 100 have been able to prove internment.
It is not known how many of the rejected claimants spent their working lives in the UK and went abroad on retirement. These and other statistics are not available, because the details necessary to produce them were not required or sought from claimants as part of the process of verification of claims.
French Ship Attachments
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on French ship attachments to UK task groups. [109351]
Mr. Ingram: French ships are occasionally attached to United Kingdom Naval Task Groups on a purely bilateral basis. The most recent attachments were those of FS Primauguet to the Naval Task Group (NTG) 2003 between 17 and 29 January 2003 and the French Minehunter, FS Cassiopee, to a Royal Navy Mine Countermeasure Group between 21 January and 7 March 2003. This followed the successful integration of FS Aconit during the NTG 2000 deployment. Such integration between our naval forces is considered routine business.
Gibraltar Guard Ship
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy vessel last carried out the duty of Gibraltar Guard Ship; and which warship is on station carrying out those duties. [109158]
Mr. Ingram: The Royal Navy presence in Gibraltar is provided by The Gibraltar Squadron. The Squadron usually comprises two patrol vessels. This is appropriate
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to the current assessment of requirements. Currently, on a temporary basis, there are four patrol craft in Gibraltar whilst the task is transferred to vessels reassigned from Northern Ireland. HMS Ranger and HMS Trumpeter are the outgoing patrol craft, HMS Scimitar and HMS Sabre are the incoming patrol craft. No frigate or destroyer is deployed as a Gibraltar Guard Ship.
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