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Gibraltar

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy ships will visit Gibraltar for the tercentenary celebrations. [160484]

Mr. Ingram: Plans have been made for the Royal Navy to support the tercentenary commemorations. I am withholding details of future ship programmes, under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information for security reasons.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will visit Gibraltar in 2004. [160487]

Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made to the House on 27 November 2003, Official Report, columns 224–25 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence.

Iraq

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his oral answer of 26 January 2003, Official Report, column 8, on Iraq, to the hon. Member for Stockton, South (Ms Taylor), what resources were in theatre but did not reach front-line forces in time for deployment. [151711]

Mr. Hoon [holding answer 29 January 2004]: A full report on Operation TELIC entitled "Operations in Iraq: Lessons for the Future" can be found on the MOD's website (www.mod.uk in the "Publications and Reports" section). The report identifies several factors as being responsible for delivery problems that occurred in theatre. These include the asset tracking systems in place and the short period of time available for preparation and planning of deployment. Specific items that suffered from delivery problems in theatre include some vehicle spares and personal kit such as, desert combat clothing and Enhanced Combat Body Armour plates. Where there was a lack of equipment, priority was given to those personnel on the ground whom commanders judged to have the greatest need. We have drawn lessons from this and other recent operations, such as improving our asset tracking capability, and are always looking for ways in which to enhance our logistics performance.

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of civilian deaths arising from attacks by insurgents in the British zone in Southern Iraq since the official cessation of hostilities. [153872]

Mr. Ingram: It is not possible to estimate the number of civilian deaths which might be attributable to insurgent attacks.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2004, Official Report, column 790W, on Iraq, how many rounds were issued to the Royal Military Police Personnel who lost their lives in Al Majarr Al Kabir on 24 June 2003; and if he will make a statement. [160227]

Mr. Ingram: A Board of Inquiry (BOI) is being convened today, to examine the circumstances in which the 6 Royal Military Policemen died. The BOI will address a wide-ranging series of questions including the

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issue of equipment to the men prior to their departure for Al Majarr Al Kabir. I would not wish to speculate on the BOFs conclusions.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants are searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. [160604]

Mr. Ingram: On 9 March 2004 there were 22 UK civil servants attached to the Iraq Survey Group, which is responsible for the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the British members of the Iraq Survey Group have not been provided with direct access to the Iraqi Government declaration on its weapons of mass destruction programme dated 8 December 2002. [161188]

Mr. Hoon: The Iraqi Declaration on WMD programmes consists of 12,093 pages, some 3,500 of which are written in Arabic. The declaration covers Chemical Weapons, Biological Weapons, Nuclear and Missile activities. The full document is available in hard copy in London and Washington, with supporting documents and translations of relevant pages of Arabic available in soft copy. Although the ISG do not have immediate access to a full copy of the declaration, British members can access relevant parts through London, whenever they wish.

Met Office

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the asset value of the Meterological Office; what the cost in 2003–04 to his Department is of this organisation; and if he will make a statement. [156603]

Mr. Caplin: The Met Office operates as a Trading Fund and is self-financing.

The only direct cost of the Met Office to the Ministry of Defence as owner is a cost of capital charge which is made by the Treasury on all assets held by the MOD. The published accounts of the Met Office show that at 31 March 2003 its net assets were £159,498,000.

RAF St. Athan

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made on the joint provision of leisure facilities at RAF St. Athan by the Ministry of Defence and the local authority for use by military and civilian personnel; and if he will make a statement. [160744]

Mr. Ingram: In December 2003, following discussions between MOD, the Welsh Development Agency and Vale of Glamorgan council officials, a firm of external consultants was appointed to undertake a study into the feasibility of a leisure centre that could be used by both Service personnel and the local community. They are due to report in April 2004.

Regimental Artefacts

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence apart from the colours displayed in Windsor

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Castle, where the regimental silver and other artefacts of the Irish regiments disbanded in 1922 are held; and if he will make a statement. [158838]

Mr. Caplin: When the five Irish Infantry Regiments, together with the South Irish Horse, were disbanded in 1922, some items of Regimental memorabilia were reclaimed by donors or dispersed among former officers and NCOs. Some Regimental books were deposited at the Public Record Office, now the National Archives. Otherwise, the greater part of Mess silver and artefacts now belongs to the National Army Museum, which is the Regimental Museum for the disbanded Irish Regiments. Canadian silver and artefacts of the 1st Battalion Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadian) are now in the Museum of the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario.

Territorial Army

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel (a) joined and (b) left the Territorial Army in each month during (i) 2002 and (ii) 2003, and what the reason for departure was in each case. [157149]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 5 March 2004]: Reliable inflow and outflow data for the TA are not currently available and for the same reason it is not possible to provide reasons for departure.

Warships

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what increase in capability would result from the upgrading of the gun turret on a Type 45 destroyer to house (a) a 127 mm and (b) a 155 mm gun, instead of a standard 115mm gun. [158141]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 4 March 2004]: The overall capability offered by the Type 45 destroyer's gun is not related simply to the calibre of the barrel, but to the ammunition which could be used.

The standard 115 mm (4.5
) gun is capable of delivering conventional munitions to a range of up to 27 km. 127 mm and 155 mm guns would be capable of firing munitions to a range of 75–80 km. They would also be capable of firing modern guided munitions and, in the case of the 155 mm gun, these would be considerably heavier than the 115 mm gun's conventional munitions.

The design of the Type 45 includes space and weight margins which would allow for the fitting of an improved Medium Range Gun, should such a requirement emerge. There is no such requirement at present. In the case of a 155 mm gun, this would also depend on the maturity of its technology, as there are no such naval guns yet in service world-wide.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected decommissioning dates are of (a) HMS Newcastle, (b) HMS Cardiff, (c) HMS Glasgow, (d) HMS Liverpool, (e) HMS Norfolk and (f) HMS Iron Duke. [160772]

Mr. Ingram: The present decommissioning dates for each ship are as follows.

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	Decommissioning dates
HMS Newcastle	2007
HMS Cardiff	2008
HMS Glasgow	2009
HMS Liverpool	2009
HMS Norfolk	2014
HMS Iron Duke	2020

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Type-42 destroyers to be fitted with the Warship Electronic Chart Display and Information System. [160773]

Mr. Ingram: The Warship Electronic Chart Display and Information System (WECDIS) will be fitted to the following Type 42 Destroyers: HMS Exeter, HMS Liverpool, HMS Nottingham, HMS Southampton, HMS Edinburgh, HMS Gloucester, HMS Manchester and HMS York.

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