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11 Nov 2003 : Column 181W—continued
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the visits made by Ministers in his Department in each of the last five years, broken down by constituency. [136913]
Mr. Caplin: This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Procurement Costs
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost was of procuring (a) each
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Eurofighter Typhoon, (b) one Challenger II battle tank, (c) one Type 45 destroyer, (d) one Astute submarine and (e) one Nimrod aeroplane. [136809]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 10 November 2003]: Unit production costs (UPC) for major equipment programmes, where these are practical to construct, can be found within the information given in the Ministry of Defence Major Projects Report (MPR). Those figures are estimated in accordance to methodology agreed with the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO expect to publish their MPR 2003 in December and copies will be available as normal in the Library of the House.
Current estimated unit production costs for the projects listed are as follows:
| Programme | Comment | MPR UPC (£ million) |
|---|---|---|
| Typhoon | MPR 03 | 56.8 |
| Challenger II battle tank | Challenger II last appeared in the MPR in 2000 as delivery concluded in FY 2001–02 | 3.7 |
| Type 45 destroyer | MPR 03. (Includes PAAMS missile systems) | 552.7 |
| Astute class submarine | The current estimated total resource cost for the three boats on contract of £3.6 billion includes design, development and other costs specific to a first of class. These costs would not be attributable to further buys should any subsequent orders be made. The National Audit Office has agreed that a it would be misleading to produce a UPC for Astute at this stage. | — |
| Nimrod MRA4 | No UPC is provided in the MPR, however an indicative figure has been given here. For Nimrod MRA4, a significant part of the Agreement with BAE Systems announced on 19 February by the Minister for Defence Procurement was the separation of production from design and development until we have seen demonstrated performance from the first three aircraft used for flight trials. The indicative production cost of Nimrod MRA4 will thereafter be influenced by the outcome of these design and development results, timing of build and appropriate contractual negotiations. | 60 |
It should be noted that unit production costs are on a resource account basis and exclude development costs.
Recruitment
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were recruited to each of HM armed forces in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by region. [137502]
Mr. Caplin: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave on 17 September 2003, Official Report, column 754W, and 29 October 2003, Official Report, columns 222–27W, to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).
Secondments
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants in his Department are seconded to other (a) Governments, (b) organisations and (c) companies; to which; for how long; and if he will make a statement. [136522]
Mr. Caplin: Information available on Ministry of Defence civil servants seconded to other Governments is not held centrally. As at 3 November 2003 personnel currently seconded from the Department to companies and organisations is outlined in the following two tables:
| Company | Number of personnel seconded | Start date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| LogicaCMG | 1 | April 2002 | April 2004 |
| Rolls Royce PLC | 1 | July 2002 | July 2004 |
| Thales, France | 1 | July 2002 | July 2004 |
| Admiral | 1 | July 2002 | July 2004 |
| Atomic Weapons Establishment | 1 | August 2002 | August 2004 |
| BAE Systems | 2 | November 2002 | November 2003 |
| January 2003 | January 2004 | ||
| Lloyds Register | 1 | November 2002 | November 2004 |
| March 2003 | March 2005 |
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Submarines (Radiation)
Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to what type of radiation (a) submariners and (b) radiation workers are exposed when they leave radiation-controlled areas on board submarines. [137697]
Mr. Caplin: Both submariners and radiation workers leaving radiation-controlled areas may be exposed to very low levels of gamma and neutron radiation on board the submarine, if the reactor is operating. The construction of the submarine, and controls on occupancy of all areas, ensure that the amount of such radiation received by personnel is below Ministry of Defence's self-imposed limits, which are themselves well below all legal limits. If the reactor is shut down, the gamma and neutron radiation falls to natural background radiation levels.
Territorial Army
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many resignations from the Territorial Army have been tendered in each of the past 10 years; and how many have been received in 2003 to date. [137726]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 10 November 2003]: Data are not held centrally on the number of tendered resignations from the Territorial Army prior to 1998. Once the information from 1998 onwards has been collated, I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Unmanned Aircraft
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on research on unmanned aircraft in each of the last 10 years. [137339]
Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has a long-established research programme into Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), with a total of approximately £40 million invested over the past 10 years. The figures for annual expenditure on this research programme are provided in the table.
It should, however, be noted that these figures detail the expenditure on UAV-specific research only: research into technologies such as aerodynamics, stealth and sensors is of relevance to UAVs but has a wide range of applications.
| Spend (£ million) | |
|---|---|
| 1994–95 | (5)1.0 |
| 1995–96 | (5)1.0 |
| 1996–97 | (5)1.0 |
| 1997–98 | (5)1.0 |
| 1998–99 | 2.1 |
| 1999–2000 | 3.7 |
| 2000–01 | 5.1 |
| 2001–02 | 5.1 |
| 2002–03 | 10.8 |
| 2003–04 | 10.4 |
(5) Estimate figures—no exact data available.
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US Military Helicopters
Mr. Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what United States of America military helicopters are based in the UK. [137387]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 10 November 2003]: The MH-53M Pave Low is the only United States military helicopter based in the United Kingdom. Seven of these aircraft are currently based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Cross-border Mergers
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on EU proposals on (a) union consultation and (b) board room representation in cross-border mergers. [137422]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The European Commission has not yet made any new proposals for an EC directive regarding cross-border mergers.
Depleted Uranium
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what health protection measures are in place at aircraft manufacturing plants where depleted uranium counter weights are installed in aircraft wings. [136720]
Mr. Browne: I have been asked to reply.
Work with depleted uranium is governed by the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99) enforced by the Health and Safety Executive and any employer working with depleted uranium has duties under those regulations.
The use of depleted uranium as a counter weight installed in aircraft wings presents little radiological risk and so few, if any health protection measures are required by the IRR99. It is only when the depleted uranium is machined or in some way dispersed as a dust that, because it can be inhaled or ingested, it presents any significant radiological risk. The IRR99 would then require protection measures such as adequate local ventilation and/or the use of appropriate respiratory protection and protective clothing to minimise those risks.
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