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Staff Numbers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed by his Department. [106294]

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. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff were employed by his Department in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [106964]

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

Submarines

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the projected size is of the nuclear submarine fleet excluding the SSBNs. [139598]

Mr. Ingram: In line with the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, current plans are that the Royal Navy's Swiftsure and Trafalgar class nuclear attack submarine

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(SSN) force level will reduce to 10 vessels by 2006. The Swiftsure and Trafalgar class vessels will be progressively superseded by new Astute class capability through a phased replacement programme towards the end of this decade.

After 2006, there will be variations each year in the number of SSNs, depending on the precise schedule of the decommissioning of in-service boats and the entry into service of the new capability. Final decisions on the overall size of the Astute class have yet to be taken.

Territorial Army

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from members of the Territorial Army regarding the length of their tours of duty in Iraq. [138439]

Mr. Caplin: Ministers have received nine letters and e-mails from members of the Territorial Army, expressing concern about the length of their tours of duty in Iraq.

Transport Aircraft

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to purchase C-17 aircraft; and if he will make a statement. [140217]

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. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many C-130J Mark 5 aircraft have been delivered; and how many are serviceable; [140383]

(2) what his estimate is of the out of service date for the C-130K fleet; [140384]

(3) what work is planned to upgrade the C-130K fleet; and whether this will include upgrading of the wings. [140385]

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

Type 45 Destroyers

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Type 45 destroyers his Department estimates would normally be needed to protect a future aircraft carrier in a war zone. [139593]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 May 2003, Official Report, column 152W.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Type 45 destroyers would be capable of continuous deployment in cycles based upon the purchase of (a) nine, (b) 10, (c) 11 and (d) 12 such vessels. [139594]

Mr. Ingram: The Royal Navy does not seek to maintain continuous deployments of individual ship types, the only exception being the Vanguard class submarine. Instead, we aim to balance capability across the fleet against current and potential tasks. The modern

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Type 45 destroyers will have increased availability and improved capability beyond that of the Type 42s that they are due to replace.

Typhoon

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the expenditure on tranche 2 of Typhoon combat aircraft will be allocated; and whether those funds will be used to develop a ground attack capability. [139277]

Mr. Ingram: The commitment of some £200 million on tranche 2 of Typhoon has been allocated to cover a range of activities designed to reduce risk and provide a measure of protection to the overall Typhoon programme. These activities include; Computer Risk Reduction Programme, Obsolescence reduction, Equipment Development and other Long Lead Time activities. It is planned that an element of this funding will be used to develop ground attack capability.

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to convert the order for a second tranche of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft into aircraft with ground attack capability. [139278]

Mr. Ingram: The Eurofighter Typhoon will be a multi-role aircraft and will have an initial ground attack capability. Thereafter, it will progressively benefit throughout tranche 2 from an enhanced ground attack capability, as part of the planned incremental acquisition programme. The enhancements are likely to cover datalink and avionics upgrades and integration of a range of air to ground weapons.

Vaccines

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of whether each vaccine administered to service personnel deployed in Iraq was used according to the manufacturer's guidelines; whether all vaccines used are licensed in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [134737]

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

Weather Reports

Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the Meteorological Office weather reports on television and radio exclude the temperature in Fahrenheit. [140037]

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

Website

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the content and design of his Department's website. [139337]

Mr. Caplin: In recent years, especially during times of conflict, the Ministry of Defence's website (www.mod.uk) has become an increasingly important

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medium for explaining what we do and why we do it, to audiences across the world. It is also a vital tool in communicating with our own people.

Content is continually assessed and reviewed both in terms of meeting public and internal demand.

Recent assessments have included a usability study of the site's business to business information services. The results of this study will be used in the implementation of a redesigned business to business portal. An evaluation of internet content also forms part of the Defence Information Infrastructure project which will be used to inform future developments of the site.

Whistleblowing

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there is public interest immunity in whistleblowing cases for (a) serving soldiers in Her Majesty's armed forces, (b) medical and welfare staff in his Department, (c) administrative personnel and other civil servants in his Department and (d) lawyers attached to his Department. [139911]

Mr. Caplin: Under the provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, the Act covers all Ministry of Defence civil servants including medical, welfare, administrative and civilian lawyers attached to the Department. The Act does not apply to members, or former members, of the armed forces.

Wind Farms

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his assessment of the effect of wind farms on military radar facilities. [140199]

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

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Arson

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost to the criminal justice system of court proceedings and sentencing for arson was in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002. [125533]

Ms Blears: I have been asked to reply.

I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Bechtel

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the contracts for consultancy and other work carried out by Bechtel for agencies responsible to his Department and its predecessor in each year since 1997, stating in each case (a) the nature of the work, (b) the value of the contract and (c) the duration of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [137885]

Yvette Cooper: There have been no contracts awarded to Bechtel since 1997 by agencies responsible to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or to its predecessor Departments.

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Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many single, homeless (a) women and (b) men were in bed and breakfast accommodation in England in March. [135013]

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 27 October 2003, Official Report, column 102W. Detailed data supplied by local authorities in respect of March 2003 are currently being validated and provisional analyses are expected to be available before the end of December. I will write to the hon. Member when the information is published.

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