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Service Accommodation
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many properties were contained in his Department's married quarters estate on 1 October; and how many are held by his Department in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) overseas. [133370]
Mr. Caplin: Figures for Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in mainland United Kingdom are currently only available as at 30 September 2003 and are shown as follows.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| England | 45,207 |
| Scotland | 4,238 |
| Wales | 1,118 |
| Total | 50,563 |
Figures for SFA elsewhere are currently only available as at 1 April 2003, as shown in the following table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| HQNI | 3,180 |
| Germany | 14,479 |
| Cyprus | 2,330 |
| Falkland Islands | 55 |
| Gibraltar | 576 |
| PTC(1) | 1,040 |
| Total | 21,660 |
(1) PTC (Personnel Training Command): includes Ramstein, Brunssum, Izmir, Naples, Lisbon and Stavanger.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many units within the married quarters estate are in (a) Standard 1 condition, (b) Standard 2 condition, (c) Standard 3 condition and (d) Standard 4 condition; [133371]
- (2) how many service personnel are housed in (a) Standard 3 and (b) Standard 4 properties within his Department's married quarters estate; and what plans he has to reduce this number. [133375]
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Mr. Caplin: The total number of houses in mainland United Kingdom that have been assessed for condition (more than 98 per cent. of stock) at the four standards for condition were categorised as below as at 17 October 2003.
| Standard | Total number |
|---|---|
| 1 | 23,413 |
| 2 | 22,692 |
| 3 | 3,502 |
| 4 | 179 |
Properties currently at the lower two standards will be the first to be targeted for disposals as demand falls over the next few years.
Figures for the number of houses from within the Standards 3 and 4 that are currently occupied are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units within his Department's married quarters estate have been upgraded in each of the last five years; and what proportion of these were upgrades to the entire estate. [133373]
Mr. Caplin: The number of houses brought up to Standard 1 for Condition in mainland United Kingdom in each of the past five financial years was:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | (2)— |
| 1999–2000 | 1,308 |
| 2000–01 | 2,733 |
| 2001–02 | 3,340 |
| 2002–03 | 1,440 |
(2) Figures not collected at that time
None of these years includes an instance where the entirety of any one estate was brought up to Standard 1. A number of estates are now fully at Standard 1 but these have been addressed in phases, over a number of years, to minimise disruption to both occupants and
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Service operational requirements. Currently, just over 50 per cent. of the core stock is at Standard 1 and over 90 per cent. of families are in properties at either Standard 1 or 2.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to publish the conclusions of his Department's Business Process Review of the Management and Delivery of Defence Housing; and if he will list those consulted in this review. [133374]
Mr. Caplin: I expect the Business Process Review of the Management and Delivery of Defence Housing to be published in the spring of 2004. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library of the House. To date, a wide range of stakeholders have been consulted including those involved in the delivery of Defence housing, their customers, other Government Departments, the trade unions and relevant bodies in the private sector. The final report will contain a full list of those consulted.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's married quarters were empty as at 30 September; and what proportion of this represents his Department's management margin required for managing change. [133378]
Mr. Caplin: At the end of September there were some 8,500 empty married properties in mainland UK. Of these:
- Over 1,500 are held for future deployments
Some 900 are in the course of disposal during 2003–04 with additional properties identified as non-core and for disposal in 2004–05
Some 550 are empty undergoing or awaiting modernisation
The Defence Housing Executive's management margin for managing change requires an on-going continuous review to ensure delivery of homes to Service families. As at 31 March 2003, the management margin (i.e. the proportion of working stock vacant) was 13.6 per cent. The DHE's long term target is to reduce this to no more than 10 per cent. by financial year 2005–06.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what his Department's disposal targets are for married quarters estate stock in each of the next five years; [133382]
- (2) what his Department's targets are for reducing the void rate levels in the married quarters estate; and if he will make a statement. [133380]
Mr. Caplin: Targets set for the Defence Housing Executive (DHE) are not expressed in terms of numbers of houses for disposal but as the progressive reduction of void rates in order to achieve, by 2005–06, a management margin of 10 per cent. (the management margin is the proportion of vacant working stock required to manage change).
Some 12,000 properties have been released by DHE for disposal since January 2000. In addition, over 900
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properties are expected to be released during 2003–04. To maintain progress towards the long term target of 10 per cent., a greater number of disposals is likely to be needed during 2004–05, and in subsequent years, depending on demand.
Reserve Forces
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will bring forward revisions to the Reserve Forces Call-out and Recall (Financial Assistance) Regulations 1997, S.I., 1997, No. 309. [133080]
Mr. Caplin: Work on revising SI 1997/309 (The Reserve Forces (Call-out and Recall) (Financial Assistance) Regulations is ongoing, and when it is concluded, I will make an announcement in the House. A consultation paper with proposals for revising the financial assistance available to reservists under SI 309/97 when called out into permanent service will be available at the earliest opportunity.
Vaccines
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what advice the Deputy Chief Medical Officer gave on administering pertussis vaccine together with anthrax vaccine to service personnel prior to the 1991 Gulf War. [134574]
Mr. Caplin: I refer the hon. Member to the Ministry of Defence paper: "Background to the use of Medical Countermeasures to Protect British Forces During the Gulf War (Operation GRANBY)" dated October 1997, a copy of which is in the Library of the House and available on the Internet at: http://www.mod.uk/issues/gulfwar/info/medical/mcm.htm, and to my noble Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement's written answer of 9 October 2003, Official Report, House of Lords, c. WA70.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which vaccines administered to Service personnel prior to the 1991 Gulf War were not licensed for use in the United Kingdom; and what reports he has received that vaccines were not given in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. [134575]
Mr. Caplin: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to have a public inquiry into the use of vaccines by the Department prior to the 1991 Gulf war; and if he will make a statement. [134621]
Mr. Caplin: The Government are not convinced that such a public inquiry would help answer the basic question of why some Gulf veterans are ill. We have not ruled out the possibility that we may look at this again if circumstances were to change, but in the present circumstances, it is only through the programme of independent scientific and medical research initiated by the Government that we are ever likely to be able to establish the causes of Gulf veterans' illnesses.
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