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Renewable Energy

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on plans to upgrade the UK's transmission system to accommodate increased capacity coming from renewable energy; and how this will affect (a) the export interconnector between Scotland and England and (b) existing coal and nuclear power stations in Scotland. [109232]

Mr. Wilson: The Scottish Transmission Companies have recently announced that they will start advanced planning work on strengthening the transmission infrastructure in Scotland to accommodate the potential of renewable energy in Scotland. As such the increased potential generation has no direct impact on the export interconnector between Scotland and England or the existing coal and nuclear power stations in Scotland.

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Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the role of Scotland in contributing to the UK meeting its renewable energy obligations; and how she intends to accommodate increased renewable capacity in Scotland. [109233]

Mr. Wilson: Adding to its established strength in hydro power, Scotland is poised to make a major contribution to the expansion of renewable energy in the UK. Major new wind farms are in prospect and scope for the development of wave and tidal energy is being explored.

These renewable resources will often be located in less populated areas in the north and west of Scotland. We will need to transform the electricity transmission network to allow for this new generation to be delivered to customers. I shall shortly be publishing the report of the Transmission Issues Working Group which has costed the option of connecting up to 6GW of new renewable energy generation in Scotland. The Scottish Transmission Companies have recently announced that they will start advanced planning work on strengthening the transmission infrastructure in Scotland to accommodate the potential of renewable energy in Scotland.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the (a) installed capacity of onshore wind turbines in Great Britain and (b) average annual output generated by those turbines. [109848]

Mr. Wilson: The available information shows that in 2001 the installed capacity of onshore wind turbines in Great Britain was 388 MW and that these turbines generated 853 GWh of electricity.

Royal Mail

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the policy of the Royal Mail on issuing stamps which do not include the Queen's head. [109943]

Mr. Timms: These are matters that fall within the day-to-day responsibility of Royal Mail and I have therefore asked the Chairman to reply direct to the hon. Member.

DEFENCE

Cluster Munition

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current failure rate is for each type of cluster munition. [109682]

Mr. Ingram: Weapons containing cluster munitions are currently in service with the Army and Royal Air Force. The Army systems consist of (a) Shell 155mm HE Extended Range Bomblet Shell (ERBS) which has a proven maximum bomblet failure rate of 2 per cent. and (b) Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) M26 bomblets which have a failure rate, between 5 per cent. and 10 per cent. The failure rate is largely dependant on ground conditions and range.

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The RAF system consists of the BL755 cluster bomb; recent statistics show an overall failure rate of 6 per cent. in line with expectations. We have previously stated a failure rate for the BL755 of "approximately 5 per cent."; the figure has now increased not because the weapon is less reliable but because the parameters used to compile the statistics have changed.

Field Hospitals

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will reverse the decision to withdraw 33 Field Hospital from the Gulf. [110180]

Mr. Ingram: The personnel from 33 Field Hospital returned to the United Kingdom at the beginning of April. This was later than planned to enable contingency medical cover early in the course of operations should it be required. Fortunately it was not. The cover provided by two remaining UK field hospitals, currently the 34 Field Hospital and 202 Field Hospital (V), along with the medical facilities of coalition partners, is sufficient for the foreseeable future. There is therefore no plan to redeploy 33 Field Hospital.

Future Aircraft Carrier

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many aircraft will be procured for the future aircraft carrier project; what the estimated date is of delivery of the first aircraft; and in which financial year peak procurement expenditure will fall. [110262]

Mr. Ingram: While no final decisions have yet been taken, our planning assumption is based on 150 of the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) which will operate from land bases as well as the future carriers. No production contract for the aircraft has yet been placed but current planning assumptions are based upon the first aircraft being delivered to the Operational Evaluation Unit in 2009 and peak procurement expenditure falling in Financial Year 2011–12.

Iraq

Mr. Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make arrangements for the care of animals in Baghdad Zoo. [109429]

Dr. Moonie: No. Coalition forces are working with community leaders to ensure that law and order is re-established as soon as possible to try to ensure Baghdad's institutions are protected from harm or damage.

Mr. Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what evidence British troops have found since the start of the war of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction; [107834]

(2) if he will list weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. [109384]

Mr. Hoon: To date, the main focus for coalition forces has been the establishment of a safe and secure environment in Iraq. This is a necessary precursor to the full achievement of our campaign objectives, as set out in the document placed in the Library of the House on 20 March 2003.

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There is no doubt that Saddam had programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. Evidence of these programmes could take any of several forms, for example, samples of chemical or biological agents, delivery systems, research or production facilities, documentation or interviews with relevant Iraqi personnel. No conclusive evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction has yet been discovered, but investigations are at an early stage. We expect gathering and collating evidence from the various sources to be a long and complex task.

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the sites in Iraq and their locations which were mentioned by the Prime Minister in his statement to the House of 14th April (a) where searches have been begun for chemical or biological weapons and (b) which are possible sites for weapons of mass destruction. [110178]

Mr. Hoon: All of the sites referred to by the Prime Minister are potentially related to Iraq's programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons. Further sites are being identified as investigations develop. There is a potential for evidence to be disturbed if sites are announced in advance, and investigations may require more than one visit. Currently, therefore, we do not plan to give precise details of sites, their locations or what investigations have taken place until investigations are complete.

Such sites are only one potential form of evidence of Iraqi programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction. Others forms of evidence could include samples of chemical or biological agents, delivery systems, documentation or interviews with relevant Iraqi personnel. We currently expect gathering and collating evidence from these various sources to be a long and complex task. We will aim to release information concerning evidence of Iraqi WMD programmes when and where appropriate, as we did before the conflict began. It would be inappropriate to release anything at this early stage, as this could be incomplete or inaccurate.

Multinational Defence Co-operation

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on co-operation on the (a) SEAD capability and (b) electronic warfare; and if he will make a statement. [109348]

Mr. Ingram: The United Kingdom continues to co-operate with Germany and Italy in a programme of 'Twinning' of Tornado squadrons for SEAD roles, with all three nations participating in exercises and training. A new UK SEAD concept and policy is being developed which addresses co-operation issues. We have established an advanced UK-based SEAD exercise that will be held later this year and to which several nations have been invited; more will follow.

Within NATO, we are fully engaged in the development of an Electronic Warfare capability, contributing to NATO databases and the updates to NATO policy and doctrine. We also have a number of bilateral arrangements in place in this area to ensure continued co-operation, capability development, support and force protection.

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