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Service Pensions

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the pension trough affecting personnel retiring between 1976 and 1978; and what estimate his Department has made of the cost of correcting the anomaly. [123586]

Mr. Caplin: The Government are aware of the strength of feeling among ex-Service personnel and other public servants whose pensions have been affected by periods of pay restraint. Successive Governments have concluded that it would not be affordable to increase the pensions of those affected to compensate for the effect of a pensions "trough". However, in view of the strength of concern on this issue and the fact that only indicative figures are available on the cost of remedying the position, my predecessor agreed that he would put work in hand to provide a more exact estimate of the cost of remedying the trough that occurred between 1976 and 1978. I can confirm that this work is under way. I expect this work to be completed before the summer recess and I will write to the hon. Member once the conclusions are available.

Service Personnel (Retention)

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what criteria are used by the Department for ascertaining the level of personnel retention within the armed forces; [122814]

(2) what the (a) level set for retention of personnel within the three armed forces and (b) actual level of retention within the three armed forces was in the last five years. [122816]

Mr. Ingram: The Services have detailed targets for manning levels and these reflect expectations of outflow (when personnel complete their engagements or leave for personal reasons) and recruitment plans. One way of measuring retention is by monitoring historical trends in Premature Voluntary Release (PVR) rates as a percentage of those leaving. Details of actual PVR rates over the last five years by individual Service are in the table.

PVR exit rates for UK regular forces (as percentage)

	Officers				Other ranks
	Total	Navy	Army	RAF	Total	Navy	Army	RAF
2002–03	2.8	2.5	3.4	2.1	5.0	5.3	5.5	3.9
2001–02	3.6	3.4	4.2	2.9	5.7	6.4	6.0	4.4
2000–01	3.2	2.6	4.1	2.5	5.3	4.2	6.4	4.2
1999–2000	3.1	3.6	3.5	2.2	5.6	5.2	6.4	4.2
1998–99	3.1	2.4	4.0	2.5	5.9	5.2	7.1	4.1

Note:

For the purpose of this table, PVR is defined as all exits from trained personnel which are generated by the individual except "as of right", "compassion", "redundancy" and "services no longer required". Those leaving at the end of their engagement from trained or commission are therefore excluded, but all notice givers are included.

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We also monitor manning shortfall areas, and if shortages or imbalances are detected in a specific area, we look to address this by using targeted retention measures. There are a wide range of initiatives in hand across all three Services aimed at improving retention and seeking to increase the return of Service obtained from individuals.

Sunset Clauses

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to include a sunset clause in all new legislation promoted by his Department unless a specific case can be made to exclude a sunset clause. [120855]

Mr. Caplin: Revised Regulatory Impact Assessment guidance, "Better Policy Making: A Guide to Regulatory Impact Assessment", was published on 28 January 2003. It advises policy officials to consider time limiting or sunsetting at an early stage of policy development and gives specific examples of where sunsetting may be appropriate.

Most Ministry of Defence legislation relates to the armed forces, and it would be unusual for sunset clauses to be appropriate. Nevertheless, the periodic Armed Forces Acts, which extend the life of the Army and Air Force Acts 1955 and the Naval Discipline Act 1957, do so for only five years at a time and, thus, may be regarded as having a form of inbuilt sunsetting. However, where new primary or delegated legislation that may have an effect on business is introduced, the MOD will consider whether a sunset clause or other arrangements are appropriate on a case by case basis.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Ministerial Travel

Bob Russell: To ask the Leader of the House when he last used the London Underground in connection with his official duties. [124603]

Peter Hain: Since my appointment as Leader of the House on June 12, I have not made any use of the London Underground as my office in 2 Carlton Gardens is within easy reach of the House of Commons.

Staff

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Leader of the House how many staff his office had in each year since 1997; and what they cost in each year. [122297]

Peter Hain: The number of staff employed in the Office of the Leader and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, where available, is as follows:

From	Number of staff
July 1998	8
November 1999	10
August 2000	11
January 2002	12

The post of Deputy Leader of the House of Commons was created in July 1999.

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Full costs for 2002–03, including Ministerial and Special Adviser salaries were £670,971.10.

Additional information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TREASURY

Appointments

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the people appointed to ad hoc posts within his Department bearing the titles of advocate, Tsar, adviser, champion and comparable titles since May 1997; what their job title is or was; what their role is or was; whether they were or are being paid; what the total cost of each such person was in each financial year, including expenses and benefits; what the expected cost of each such person is in 2003–04; to whom they are accountable; and if he will make a statement. [112462]

John Healey: The following special adviser appointments have been made:

Ed Balls


Ian Austin


Ed Miliband


Spencer Livermore


Nicola Murphy


Charlie Whelan ¹


Andrew Maugham ¹


Paul Andrew ¹


¹ No longer in post.

In addition, the Chancellor has appointed Chris Wales, Shriti Vadera, Paul Gregg, Maeve Sherlock and Stewart Wood to the Council of Economic Advisers.

Sue Nye has been appointed as an unpaid adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Under Exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, details of individual salaries are not disclosed in order to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned.

Burma

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which companies import goods made in Burma into the UK. [124510]

John Healey: HM Customs and Excise is responsible for collecting and recording statistics on the movement of goods with other countries. Information on individual importers and consignments is recorded from customs documents submitted at import. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, information relating to individual importers cannot be disclosed. Exemption 13 of the Open Government Code applies.

European Economic Convergence

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the required increase in housing supply in order to balance supply and demand; what discussions he has had with the Deputy Prime Minister on this subject; and whether the estimates he

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has made of the required increase in housing supply take into account the protection of (a) rural areas, (b) the countryside and (c) greenbelt land. [121437]

John Healey: The Government are taking forward the existing reviews of regional plans covering the high-demand growth areas in the south east as the means for realising the additional growth potential of 200,000 homes identified in my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's statement of 5 February 2003, Official Report, column 273, on "Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future". Regional Planning Bodies will be required to consider the case for additional growth in the longer term when preparing new regional spatial strategies, and to take account of volatility in the housing market and the need to promote macro-economic stability as part of delivering sustainable development.

Mental Health

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many of his staff have taken sick leave due to mental health problems in the last year; [111974]

(2) how many sick days were lost over the last year by his Department through staff mental health problems. [112070]

John Healey: Cabinet Office publishes an annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service". The statistics show reasons for absence including mental disorders. The most recently published figures for the calendar year 2001 were announced by Ministerial Statement on 19 December 2002, and copies placed in the Library of the House. The sickness absence figures for 2002 will be announced in due course.

The Chancellor's Departments are committed to managing sickness absence effectively, and in meeting the 2003 target for reduced sickness absence as set out in the Service Delivery Agreements (SDA).

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