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12 Mar 2004 : Column 1772W—continued
Civil Service Code
Adam Price: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what procedures are followed when a breach of the Civil Service Code is suspected; and who is responsible for their oversight. [161044]
Mr. Alexander: Departmental Staff Handbooks, which incorporate the Civil Service Code, define the standards of conduct required of civil servants within individual departments, the penalties they may incur if they fall short of them, and the arrangements for raising breaches or concerns under the Civil Service Code.
Emergency Planning College
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much has been spent at the Emergency Planning College at Easingwold on new classrooms and accommodation over the past two years; and how much was spent on new training equipment in the same period. [158982]
Mr. Alexander: Work Started in August 2003 on a £7 million programme to replace the Emergency Planning College's student residential accommodation, training and seminar rooms, library, research facilities and integral IT and audio-visual training equipment. The programme will provide a modern learning environment for the new courses that the college will deliver from September 2004 onwards.
Owing to the planned demolition of the old classroom block to make way for the new building, the college has limited expenditure on new training equipment in the past two years to £10,000, the minimum necessary to sustain teaching in temporary accommodation.
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The College has a range of other projects to enhance its training, including development of a distance and e-learning capability, which involves spending £180,000 over the next four years on systems, materials and products.
EU-sourced Legislation
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of statutory instruments introduced by his Department in (a) 1996–97 and (b) 2002–03 had the European Union as their legislative source. [160050]
Mr. Alexander: None of the statutory instruments introduced by the Cabinet Office in 1996–97 or 2002–03 had the European Union as their legislative source.
DEFENCE
Defence Fire Service
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the transfer of the Defence Fire Service to a public private partnership would require parliamentary approval. [159637]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 8 March 2004]: The Airfield Support Services Project (ASSP) is seeking the most cost effective and viable solution for the provision of airfield support services, including wider fire services, without compromising operational capability and/or safety. No decision has yet been made about the outcome of this project and we will only do so following full and careful consideration of all the options. Although we are moving towards this point, I am not yet in a position to say exactly when this will be.
If a Public Private Partnership were to be chosen as the preferred way ahead for ASSP, the Secretary of State would retain his position as the Fire Authority and no change in legislation would be required.
Defence Finance
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the final provision and outturn for Request for Resources 1 Provision of Defence Capability, were in cash terms, for financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [161037]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Deployment
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the (a) Royal Navy and Royal Marines, (b) Army and (c) Royal Air Force trained strength were deployed on operations and other military tasks for each quarter for (i) each calendar year from 1997 to 2001 and (ii) 2003. [161036]
Mr. Ingram: Information has only been collected in the form requested since the beginning of financial year 2001–02. Figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03 were
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published in the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2002–03 (HC1125). Comparable figures for the first three quarters of 2003/04 are:
| 2003–04 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| April to June | July to September | October to December | |
| Royal Navy (incl. Marines) | 18.7 | 12.8 | 14.0 |
| Army | 46.9 | 23.2 | 22.9 |
| Air Force | 16.5 | 13.0 | 12.9 |
These percentages do not include personnel preparing for operations or recovering from operations.
Similar information on the percentage of trained strength committed to operations in 2000–01 was published in the December 2001 answer given on 10 December 2001 to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Official Report, column 532W), but this was not on a directly comparable basis.
Summary information on commitment levels for 1998–99 and 1999–2000 was published in the respective Ministry of Defence Performance Reports (CM4520, Cm. 5000). Again, this information was not compiled on a comparable basis to that set out above. Quarterly information on these years, and further information for years predating the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Documents
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which documents are held by his Department written by (a) P. H. Pearse, (b) Thomas J. Clarke, (c) Thomas Macdonagh, (d) Edward Daly, (e) William Pearse, (f) Michael O'Hanrahan, (g) Joseph Mary Plunkett, (h) John MacBride, (i) Sean Heuston, (j) Michael Mallin, (k) Eamonn Ceannt, (l) Con Colbert, (m) Thomas Kent, (n) Sean MacDiarmada, (o) James Connolly and (p) Sir Roger Casement. [156303]
Mr. Ingram: I am not aware of any documents held by the Ministry of Defence written by those listed. However, a full answer could be given only after detailed research covering a large number of documents, which would involve disproportionate cost. The National Archives at Kew holds records (primarily in class WO71) relating to these individuals which were formerly held by MOD.
Falkland Islands
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of the military base at Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands. [160245]
Mr. Ingram: Mount Pleasant Complex is the base for the majority of British military forces in support of the mission of Commander British Forces.
Gibraltar
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role the Ministry of Defence is playing in the 300th anniversary of British rule in Gibraltar; and if he will make a statement. [158264]
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Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the Statement made to the House on 27 November 2003 (columns 224–225) by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.
Iraq
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Iraqi men have died while being held in British military custody in Iraq; what the cause of death was in each case; and if he will make a statement. [158033]
Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 4 December 2003, (Official Report, column 127W) to my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen).
Cause of death is not something for investigating Royal Military Police personnel to determine.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the investigation into the death, in British custody, of Baha Mousa, in Iraq; when the investigation is likely to be completed; and whether the findings will be made public. [146515]
Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 March 2004, Official Report, column 1050W. The result of the investigation will be made public in due course.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will hold an independent public inquiry into the deaths of the six Royal Military police officers from the Colchester garrison who were killed in Iraq. [151785]
Mr. Hoon: The Royal Military Police's Special Investigations Branch is conducting a thorough investigation into the deaths of the soldiers. The conduct of such investigations is independent of the Army's chain of command. When the investigation has been completed a full report will be given to the families concerned. I will make public as many of its findings as possible, subject to operational and other security constraints.
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