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20 May 2003 : Column 669W—continued
Tax Returns
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target the Inland Revenue has set for the number of individual taxpayers filing self assessment tax returns on the internet by 2005; and if he will make a statement. [114706]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue Public Service Agreement 2003–2006 posted on the Inland Revenue Internet site on 14 February 2003 sets out the targets for electronic filing.
The Inland Revenue has set a target of 25 per cent. of SA returns filed electronically by 2005–06. This includes SA returns filed electronically, including but not differentiating those filed by agents. Electronically means Filing by Internet Service (FBI) or Electronic Lodgement Service (ELS).
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Unemployment
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the latest unemployment claimant count was in (a) Scotland and (b) Fife. [114609]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. MacDougall dated 20 May 2003:
- As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the latest unemployment claimant count for Scotland and Fife.
- In April 2003, there were 103,385 claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance benefit in Scotland, and 8,591 claimants in the Fife Local Authority District.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Education Funding
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the specific and targeted grant funding allocated by his Department, other than general grant related funding, to local authorities and schools (a) in each region of England and (b) in total in (i) 2001–02, (ii) 2002–03 and (iii) 2003–04 (estimated). [113209]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.
Examination Results
Mr. Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils gained (a) A*-A grades in five or more subjects and (b) A*-B grades in five or more subjects (i) in areas which are wholly selective and (ii) in areas which are wholly comprehensive in their provision of secondary education in the last year for which figures are available. [110190]
Mr. Miliband: The information is as follows:
(i) Within the LEAs deemed wholly selective the following percentages of pupils achieved grades A*-A and A*-B in five or more GCSEs in 2002:
- A*-A grades in five or more GCSEs: 15.1 per cent.
- A*-B grades in five or more GCSEs: 32.1per cent.
(ii) Within the LEAs deemed wholly comprehensive the following percentages of pupils achieved grades A*-A and A*-B in five or more GCSEs in 2002:
- A*-A grades in five or more GCSEs: 8.6per cent.
- A*-B grades in five or more GCSEs: 23.1 per cent.
(iii) The following percentages of pupils in all maintained schools in England achieved grades A*-A and A*-B in five or more GCSEs in 2002:
- A*-A grades in five or more GCSEs: 9.7 per cent.
- A*-B grades in five or more GCSEs: 24.6 per cent.
The comparisons above take no account of the value added by the LEAs concerned. They are not adjusted for differences in pupils' prior attainment, nor to reflect the
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fact that selective LEAs, in aggregate, have lower levels of socio-economic disadvantage. 11 per cent. of pupils in wholly selective authorities are known to be eligible for free school meals, compared to 17 per cent. in wholly comprehensive authorities.
DEFENCE
Aircraft Carriers
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the French Government are to be allowed privileged access to commercially sensitive information in connection with the CVF project; and if he will make a statement. [113903]
Mr. Ingram: A Letter of Intent setting out the responsibilities of both countries in respect to the exchange of CVF information was signed by the then Chief of Defence Procurement and his French counterpart in April 2003. This makes clear that the provision of technical data between the United Kingdom and France is subject to security and commercial constraints, including those that might touch upon the interests of third parties.
Boer War
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at how many sites in South Africa are British service personnel who died during the Boer War thought to be buried; what estimate his Department has made of the cost of maintaining these burial sites; how much the British Government contributes towards the maintenance of these burial sites; and if he will make a statement. [113502]
Dr. Moonie: There are over 350 separate sites containing the graves of British service personnel in South Africa, including isolated graves dug where soldiers fell. These sites contain approximately 20,000 individual graves.
The Government currently contributes £15,000 per annum to the South African Heritage Resources Agency for the maintenance of British war graves.
Canberra
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of options to replace the Canberra PR9; and if he will make a statement. [113958]
Mr. Ingram: The Canberra PR9 reconnaissance aircraft is an important component of our overall Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance capability. We are currently assessing the ways in which the aircraft's particular capabilities could be provided, and enhanced, in the future.
Chartered Transport Aircraft
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on chartering transport aircraft in the past six months. [113952]
Mr. Ingram: During the six-month period, November 2002 to April 2003, the Ministry of Defence has spent some £50.3 million on the chartering of commercial
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transport aircraft. This figure is provisional and subject to final audit. The majority of this ad hoc chartering was in support of operations in Iraq, including the strategic leg of the casualty evacuation process. Charter aircraft have also been required to support other operations, including the transfer of Service personnel from Germany and Northern Ireland to cover the fire dispute, the deployment of the Spearhead Lead Element to Sierra Leone, plus routine trooping.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of regional variations in staff turnover in his Department. [112745]
Dr. Moonie: There has been no recent assessment specifically of regional variations in civilian staff turnover in the Ministry of Defence. Total civilian staff turnover is regularly assessed at corporate level, along with turnover for corporately-managed groups of staff (including senior managers and corporate development schemes). Responsibility for management of most civilian staff has been delegated to Top Level Budget Holders and Agency Chief Executives, who make their own assessments of local turnover levels as they judge necessary.
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States administration in respect of low-cost production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. [114891]
Mr. Ingram: We do not expect to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on the production of Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the United Kingdom before 2006.
Gulf War Widows
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he will take to support widows and partners of service personnel who died in the Gulf conflict. [114811]
Dr. Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 May 2003, Official Report, columns 452–53W, to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Redcar (Ms Baird).
Honours
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officials in his Department have received honours; and how many honours are held by his officials, broken down by category of honour. [111485]
Dr. Moonie: The Ministry of Defence does not maintain comprehensive data about honours held by its civilian officials. However, the awards received by MOD civil servants in the period from the New Year Honours List 1998 to the New Year Honours List 2003 inclusive comprise: K-4; CB-11; CBE-16; CMG-3; OBE-64 and MBE-149.
20 May 2003 : Column 673W
Iraq
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many children, up to the age of 14, have been injured in the military conflict in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [111189]
Mr. Ingram: We have no means of verifying the number of children under 15 years of age injured during the conflict in Iraq. In carrying out attacks against Iraqi military objectives, all feasible precautions were taken to avoid, and in any event to minimise, incidental loss of civilian life or injury to civilians.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Defence Logistics Organisation was first notified to begin contingency plans for deployment in Operation Telic; and when it first began deploying equipment to the Gulf as part of Operation Telic. [112024]
Mr. Ingram: Existing Ministry of Defence planning assumptions take account of a range of possible operational contingencies. On 24 September 2002 my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear, in relation to events in Iraq, that alongside diplomacy there must be genuine preparedness and planning to take action if diplomacy fails. Staffs of the Defence Logistics Organisation were involved in contingency planning for potential operations in Iraq.
The main deployment of equipment to the Gulf began on 15 January 2003, although some equipment and ammunition was pre-positioned in Cyprus slightly before this.
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Iraqi, (b) US, (c) British and (d) other (i) combatants and (ii) civilians have been killed as a result of military action in Iraq. [112346]
Mr. Ingram: Thirty-five British servicemen have lost their lives to date in the course of operations in Iraq. In addition, we are aware only that two United Kingdom journalists lost their lives while reporting inside Iraq.
The number of United States casualties is a matter for the US Government.
We have no means of ascertaining the numbers of Iraqi military or civilian lives lost during the course of operations in Iraq, although we made every effort to keep any impact upon the Iraqi civilian population to an absolute minimum.
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