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23 Feb 2004 : Column 14W—continued
Recruitment
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence up to what percentage of its liability the (a) Royal Corps of Signals, (b) Corps of Royal Engineers, (c) Infantry, (d) Royal Logistics Corps, (e) Royal Armoured Corps, (f) Royal Artillery, (g) Royal Air Force and (h) Royal Navy is allowed to recruit. [155204]
Mr. Ingram: The Army, and individual capbadges within the Army, do not recruit as a percentage of liability. The Army is resourced to approximately 94 per cent. of liability in FY 2004–05; this defines, through a process of detailed manpower forecasting, the level of recruits required each year. The Director of Manning (Army) divides the total requirement of new recruits each year by capbadge and this will be consistent with the Army Board's endorsed manning priorities. The level of funding is set to increase gradually to nearly 99 per cent. of its liability by 2008.
In the Royal Navy and the RAF, recruiting targets are set in order to provide a level of input that will sustain manpower levels in the long-term against the projected requirement. Both Services strive to recruit 100 per cent. of their manning target in any one financial year. Royal Navy recruiting targets are variable and not a fixed percentage of the requirement.
Reserve Forces
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many reservists who are fit for role are available for mobilisation.[R] [154877]
Mr. Caplin: As at 31 January 2004, the number of Volunteer Reservists who were currently fit for role and available for mobilisation was 19,810. In addition, 112,040 members of the Regular Reserve were also available for mobilisation.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2003, Official Report, column 273W, how many Royal Fleet auxiliaries are employed in Scotland. [155189]
Mr. Caplin: There are currently no Royal Fleet Auxiliaries permanently based on-shore in Scotland.
Surplus Equipment
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sales of surplus equipment have been
23 Feb 2004 : Column 15W
approved in the last 12 months, broken down by (a) equipment type, (b) country to which it was sold and (c) value; what further equipment is being considered for sale to other countries; and if he will make a statement. [154456]
Mr. Ingram: The contracts signed by the Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency (DSA) in the calendar year 2003 for equipments directly sold (in some cases still to be exported) on a Government-to-Government basis are listed as follows:
| Equipment | Country |
|---|---|
| Type 23 Frigate HMS Sheffield | Chile |
| 6 Watchman Auto Radar Displays | Finland |
| Various 105MM light gun spares | Republic of Ireland |
| Various test/training equipment | Jordan |
| 95 Scammell Commander Tank transporters | Jordan |
It is not our practice to reveal sales values and, so as to protect third party commercial confidentiality, I am therefore withholding that information in accordance with Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
The DSA markets most capital equipments declared surplus to requirements to overseas Governments for further use. It is currently actively marketing Landing Ships Logistics, Combat Vehicles Reconnaissance (Tracked), Sea Harrier and Sea Kings (among other primary equipments).
Welsh Regiments
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers in Welsh regiments in Iraq have not been issued with flak jackets. [150358]
Mr. Ingram: There is sufficient Enhanced Combat Body Armour in Iraq for every member of the armed forces who requires it.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers in Welsh regiments are fighting in Iraq. [150369]
Mr. Ingram: As at 11 February 2004, 486 soldiers were serving in Iraq with the Royal Regiment of Wales.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers in Welsh regiments have been killed in Iraq, broken down by cause of death. [150370]
Mr. Ingram: As at 11 February 2004, three soldiers who were serving with Welsh regiments have been killed in Iraq. All these deaths were the result of operational accidents.
23 Feb 2004 : Column 16W
LEADER OF THE HOUSE
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Brady: To ask the Leader of the House how many days on average his Office took in Session 2002–03 to give a substantive answer to a parliamentary Question for ordinary written answer; and what the greatest number of days taken to answer such a question was. [155926]
Mr. Hain: On average, it took my office 2.5 days to give a substantive answer to an ordinary written parliamentary question 1 .
The greatest number of days to answer such a question was nine days (excluding recess days).
Performance on handling parliamentary questions is available on the Leader of the Commons website www.commonsleader.gov.uk.
- 1 Questions tabled during Session 2002–03 included those to the President of the Council
TREASURY
National Statistics
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new cases of osteosarcoma have been diagnosed in (a) children, (b) adolescents and (c) adults in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [155079]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew George dated 19 February 2004:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many new cases of osteosarcoma have been diagnosed in (a) children, (b) adolescents and (c) adults in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
- Newly diagnosed cases of osteosarcoma are coded to malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage. It is not possible to say exactly how many such cases are osteosarcoma, because some records do not identify the specific cell type. Of the total numbers of cases of malignant neoplasms of bone and articular cartilage, osteosarcomas represent about 50% in children and adolescents and about 25% in adults.
- The numbers of registrations of newly diagnosed cases of malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage in England for the age groups requested for the years 1991 to 2000 (the latest available year) are given in the table below. The age groups; children, adolescents and adults are those used in recent published studies of the incidence of cancer in England.
| 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children (aged under 15) | 41 | 37 | 51 | 50 | 63 | 51 | 49 | 47 | 58 | 55 |
| Adolescents (aged 15–24) | 72 | 73 | 63 | 52 | 75 | 56 | 75 | 76 | 59 | 68 |
| Adults (aged 25 and over) | 254 | 252 | 228 | 249 | 277 | 296 | 276 | 252 | 305 | 312 |
| Total | 367 | 362 | 342 | 351 | 415 | 403 | 400 | 375 | 422 | 435 |
Note:
For the years 1991 to 1994, International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision Code (ICD-9) code 170. For the years 1995 to 2000, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes C40 and C41.
Source:
Office for National Statistics.
23 Feb 2004 : Column 17W
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many patients have died in circumstances where the primary tumour was an osteosarcoma in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [155080]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew George dated 19 February 2004:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many patients have died in circumstances where the primary tumour was an osteosarcoma in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
- No figures are available on the number of deaths from osteosarcoma because it is defined in terms of cell type, and this information is not collected at death registration. Deaths from osteosarcoma are included in figures for malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage.
- The number of deaths from malignant neoplasm of bone and articular cartilage in England in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available are given in the table below.
| Year | Number of deaths |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 187 |
| 1994 | 188 |
| 1995 | 175 |
| 1996 | 214 |
| 1997 | 212 |
| 1998 | 195 |
| 1999 | 201 |
| 2000 | 202 |
| 2001 | 248 |
| 2002 | 229 |
Note:
For the years 1993 to 2000, International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision Code (ICD-9) code 170. For the years 2001 to 2002, International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (1CD-10) codes C40 and C41.
Source:
Office for National Statistics
Mrs. Roche: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to achieve the Government's targets of (a) ending child poverty by 2020, (b) halving it by 2010 and (c) reducing it by a quarter by 2004–05; and if he will make a statement. [154363]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions gave to her on 12 February 2004, Official Report, columns 1590–91W.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average weekly income was in each ward in each principal seaside town in England and Wales in the last month for which figures are available, listed in descending order with Welsh Seaside Town clusters disaggregated. [154942]
Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 19 February 2004:
- As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about average weekly income in each ward in principal seaside towns. (154942)
23 Feb 2004 : Column 18W
- The Office for National Statistics does not produce earnings estimates at the requested level of detail for current wards. The lowest geographic area for which these estimates are produced from the New Earnings Survey is local authority and unitary authority level. The latest available figures for average weekly earnings at this level relate to April 2003 and are published on the National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme labour/NES2003 Analyses By Region/NES2003 Analyses By Region.pdf
- The estimates given in the New Earnings Survey are for the gross earnings of employees who are members of Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) schemes. They do not include income from other sources, or the earnings of individuals who are not members of such schemes.
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