---

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1157W—continued

Continuous Attitude Surveys

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when he expects the next continuous attitude surveys in each service will be (a) conducted and (b) published; in what format the report of the surveys will be published; and if he will make a statement; [130849]

(2) what plans he has to publish the armed forces continuous attitude surveys; and if he will make a statement. [130848]

Mr. Caplin: The next Continuous Attitude Survey (CAS) for the Royal Navy will be issued at the end of September with a report expected at the end of December 2003. For the Army the next survey is scheduled to be sent out in December with a report due in the spring. For the RAF the next survey will be issued on 1 November with the results reported later next year. The RAF report with the 2002 results will however be produced on 1 November. All three reports are produced electronically and distributed to internal stakeholders.

Copies of the questions asked in each of the CASs are held in the Library of the House. There are no immediate plans to publish the answers. We are however reviewing the range of survey material to release and appropriate ways of putting it into the public domain.

Daedalus Site

Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department is proposing to make further use itself of the Daedalus site at Lee-on-the-Solent. [131263]

Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence continues to assess the scope for estate rationalisation across the whole of mainland Great Britain. Areas such as Portsmouth, Gosport, and Fareham currently accommodating a high incidence of MOD activity are a particular focus for this work.

The Daedalus site may present an opportunity to facilitate rationalisation within these areas or elsewhere. No specific recommendations, for the Daedalus main site, have yet been made and it will be some time before the necessary studies have been conducted and completed.

Defence Diversification Agency

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress towards creating a Defence Diversification Agency. [130381]

Mr. Ingram: The Defence Diversification Agency (DDA) was created in 1999 as part of the then Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). In July 2001 the DDA became part of the Ministry of Defence head office when QinetiQ plc and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratories were created out of DERA.

Over the four years it has been operating the DDA has made very good progress. It has assisted over 2,000 firms with access to MOD's knowledge bases and

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1158W

facilitated more than 400 contracts to transfer defence technology and know how into the civil sector. DDA has also arranged for more than 40 commercial technology offerings to be made to MOD programmes, which has resulted in some 20 contracts to date.

Defence Equipment Exhibition

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what subsidy is provided by his Department to the Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition held in London in September 2003; and if he will make a statement. [129914]

Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 20 May 2003, Official Report, columns 677–78W) which gave an estimate of the direct cost to the Ministry of Defence of DSEI 2003. The final cost of the exhibition remains to be established.

Departmental Finance

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of (a) operating cost statements, (b) statements of recognised gains and losses, (c) cash flow statements and (d) the fixed asset register maintained by his Department's management groupings since the financial year 1999–2000. [130747]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial information is maintained by his Department's management groupings. [130748]

Mr. Ingram: A management grouping is the lowest level at which a complete set of financial ledgers is kept. The Department's management grouping holds all the accounting information necessary to prepare the management grouping resource accounts. It also provides the relevant accounting information to the Top Level Budget (TLB) holder to enable the TEB to prepare its resource account submissions for the publication of the overall departmental resource accounts.

Departmental Relocation

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the possible benefits of moving his Department out of London; and if he will make a statement. [130222]

Mr. Caplin: The Department's estate strategy was set out in 'In Trust and On Trust', published in 2000. The aim is to create a defence estate of the right size, shape and location through corporate management of the estate. The implementation of this strategy has informed our active engagement in the Independent Review on Public Sector Relocation—the Lyons Review—and will continue to do so.

In recent years the Department has relocated a significant amount of defence activity from London. The reviews and evaluations that inform these decisions have generally been undertaken internally, rather than commissioned from external consultants. We evaluated the relocations of the Defence Procurement Agency,

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1159W

and the Meteorological Office as part of our submission to the Lyons Review, which generally welcomed the actions taken by the Ministry of Defence.

Depleted Uranium

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 8 July 2003, Official Report, column 701W, on depleted uranium, what agreement was reached with the United States about use of depleted uranium munitions. [129821]

Mr. Caplin: Decisions on the release of information on the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions by United States Forces during the recent conflict in Iraq are a matter for the US Department of Defence. There are currently no plans to produce a combined report of DU firings by United Kingdom and US Forces.

Electromagnetic Guns

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment has been made of the effects on the environment of the US electromagnetic gun tests at Dundrennan; [130247]

(2) when the trials of the new US electromagnetic gun at Dundrennan are expected to conclude; [130248]

(3) whether a review is planned of the safety procedures involved in the US electromagnetic gun trials at Dundrennan; [130463]

(4) what representations have been received from the local community on the dangers involved in the trials of the US electromagnetic gun at Dundrennan. [130464]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence and the United States Army have been working together on a collaborative research programme into the Electro-Magnetic gun at Dundrennan range, in Kirkcudbright, since 1993. In December 2002, we jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US to continue this long-standing project agreement until 2009.

Extensive tests have proven that the electro-magnetic radiation from the gun is negligible and that it has no effect on the environment.

The safe operation of defence ranges is of paramount importance. Safety procedures at Dundrennan have been tried and tested over the last 10 years without incident. Risk assessments are conducted prior to each series of firings and strict operating procedures are followed. Safety procedures are constantly reviewed and updated in line with the progress of the trial, and all safety procedures are independently audited.

We have received a limited number of representations from the local community regarding the possible dangers associated with the Electro-Magnetic gun testing at Dundrennan. The correspondence received specifically focuses on the perceived use of depleted uranium, but also reflects some general concerns, which have been generated by articles in the press. The Electro-Magnetic gun's projectiles do not contain depleted uranium, nor do they contain any explosives.

The high velocity of the projectile round generates the penetrative effect, not the projectile's mass or density.

6 Oct 2003 : Column 1160W

European Armaments Policy

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the contribution of a European armaments policy to the development of the European security and defence policy; and what contribution his Department has made to the plans of the European Commission to develop such a policy. [130805]

Mr. Ingram: The Government are committed to playing a leading role in the development of European security and defence policy. Working with other European Union partners, we are actively engaged in the creation of an inter-Government Agency in the field of defence capabilities, development, research, and acquisition. The Agency, which will be capability focussed, will, inter alia, promote and enhance European armaments co-operation with the aim of contributing to the military equipment needs of member states in a cost effective and efficient manner. The Government's view of the Commission's initiative to develop European armaments related proposals are set out in the Explanatory Memorandum on European Community Document entitled: "Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Social and Economic Committee of the Regions "European Defence—Industrial and Market Issues: Towards an EU Defence Equipment Policy" Reference Number 8484/03 [COM (2003) 113 final] dated 15 May 2003, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. The Government notes that armaments are primarily a matter for European Union member states with any contribution from the Commission being in support of national Governments' initiatives.

---