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16 Mar 2004 : Column 199W—continued
Drugs
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many convictions there were for drug-related offences among armed forces personnel in calendar year 2003. [161306]
Mr. Caplin: The number of convictions under the Service Discipline Acts for drug related offences in each of the three Services for the calendar year 2003 is as follows:
| Armed forces | Number of convictions |
|---|---|
| Naval Service | 9 |
| Army | 10 |
| RAF | 2 |
Drugs misuse may also be an aggravating factor in other offences.
Environmentally Sustainable Procurement
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in what ways environmentally sustainable procurement strategies within the Department have driven innovation in the design and supply of products. [159100]
Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 10 March 2004, Official Report, columns 1542–43W.
The Ministry of Defence is fully involved in the work of the interdepartmental Sustainable Procurement Group (SPG), and is also contributing to the development of the procurement section of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.
To address all aspects of sustainable procurement across the Ministry of Defence, we established in 2003 a Sustainable Procurement Working Group (SPWG). To date, the SPWG's primary focus has been on the environmental aspects of equipment procurement and reviewing progress on departmental compliance with policies for procuring sustainable timber, food and construction.
Future Rapid Effects System
Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will make a decision on the Future Rapid Effects System; and if he will make a statement. [157443]
Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 27 January 2004, Official Report, column 245W to the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth).
Gibraltar
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) which military bands will visit Gibraltar in 2004; [160483]
- (2) which regiments will visit Gibraltar for the Tercentenary celebrations; [160485]
(3) what role the Royal Air Force will play in the Tercentenary celebrations of Gibraltar; [160486]
16 Mar 2004 : Column 200W
(4) what part the Royal Marines will play in the Tercentenary celebrations in Gibraltar. [160517]
Mr. Ingram: Plans are in hand for the following regiments to visit Gibraltar as part of the Tercentenary commemorations:
On 20 March, 60 Support Squadron Royal Engineers (on exercise in Gibraltar) will exercise the right of the Corps of Royal Engineers to march through Gibraltar. The Band of the Royal Engineers will provide marching music.
19/5 (Gibraltar 1779–83) Battery Royal Artillery will fire the Royal Gun Salute in Gibraltar on 21 April on the occasion of HM the Queen's Birthday.
Detachments from 19/5 Battery, 23 Commando HQ Battery, 22 Battery and 21 Battery, together with a detachment from the Royal Engineers and the band of the Prince of Wales Division, will take part in the Queen's Birthday Parade on 10 June.
Small detachments from the following regiments will take part in the following military ceremonial events:
| Ceremonial events | |
|---|---|
| The Royal Anglian Regiment | Ceremonial Guards on 8 May and 12 June |
| The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment | Ceremony of the Keys on 13 May |
| The Light Infantry | Ceremony of the Keys on 13 May |
| The Queen's Lancashire Regiment | Ceremonial Guard on 17 July |
| The King's Own Royal Border Regiment | Ceremonial Guard on 31 July |
| Coldstream Guards | Ceremonial Guard on 18 September |
| Grenadier Guards | Ceremony of the Keys on 14 October |
A small detachment from Royal Air Force Gibraltar will take part in the Queen's Birthday Parade on 10 June.
In early autumn and over the weekend 3–5 September, Royal Air Force Gibraltar will commemorate Battle of Britain Day with a series of private and public events. The Band of the Royal Air Force College will perform in public.
The Royal Marines will be taking part in two important ceremonial Tercentenary events: the Queens Birthday Parade which will be held on 10 June 2004 and the Granting of the Freedom of the City to the Royal Navy on 4 August 2004.
Queens Birthday Parade (10 June 2004)
For this parade the Commando Logistic Regiment RM will be providing a guard which will consist of 40 all ranks. The services and regiments taking part in this parade are those that hold the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar; that is the Royal Marines, the Royal Regiment of Artillery, the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment whose colour will be trooped.
Granting of the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar to the Royal Navy (4 August 2004)
The Royal Marines will provide an element of service personnel who will receive the Freedom. Specifically, a Band of the Royal Marines and a troop of 30 will be on parade on this important and historic event.
Military Bases (Contamination)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 10 March, Official Report, columns 1490–91W, on military bases (contamination),
16 Mar 2004 : Column 201W
(1) if he will place in the Library a list of the land quality assessments prepared across the defence estate since 1995; [161905]
- (2) for what regional areas within the defence estate this information is gathered; and whether the data is collected by the Defence Estates Agency. [161981]
Mr. Caplin: I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Ministerial Speeches
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many speeches he made between 9 June 2003 and 1 February 2004; and where a copy of each speech can be obtained. [156156]
Mr. Caplin: Between 9 June 2003 and 1 February 2004, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made 11 speeches. This figure does not include speeches in the House nor addresses to the internal Ministry of Defence audience. Copies of three of these speeches are currently available on the departmental website, at: www.news.mod.uk/news/press/news speeches.asp. The page is currently in the process of being updated, and all 11 will be available there shortly.
Defence Contracts (Wales)
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list Welsh firms that have contracts with the Ministry of Defence; and how much departmental expenditure has been with these firms in each year since 1997. [158897]
Mr. Ingram: The Department's records show that the suppliers listed have received MOD contracts under which some or all of the work involved will have been performed in Wales. All these suppliers have received payments on these contracts exceeding £1 million in the financial year 2002–03:
- Aircraft Maintenance Support
- Alenia Marconi Systems
- BAe Systems
- Brama Brown and Root and Marshall
- Cogent Defence and Security
- Cowlin Construction Enersys
- Dara
- General Dynamics UK
- Golley Slater and Partners
- Irvin-GQ
- Ilanelec Precision Engineering
- North Midland Construction
- Qinetiq
- Sodexho Defence Services
- Thales Air Defence
- Thales Optics
- The Royal Mint
- Watkin Jones and Son
- WS Atkins Facilities
The value of the contracts where some or all of the work will have been performed in Wales during the period 1997–98 to 2002–03 is as follows.
16 Mar 2004 : Column 202W
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 100 |
| 1998–99 | Not available |
| 1999–2000 | 125 |
| 2000–01 | 141 |
| 2001–02 | 252 |
| 2002–03 | 227 |
Defence Staff (Wales)
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the changes in Ministry of Defence staff in Wales for the November 2003 to January 2004 quarter. [158895]
Mr. Caplin: Staffing levels and changes for Ministry of Defence civilian staff in Wales (full-time equivalent figures for industrial and non-industrial, permanent staff, excluding Royal Fleet Auxiliaries and those on career breaks, long term sick leave, secondments etc.) are as follows:
| Date | Civilian staff |
|---|---|
| January 2004 | 3,880 |
| December 2003 | 3,900 |
| November 2003 | 3,940 |
| October 2003 | 3,950 |
This includes Trading Fund staff.
Full time equivalent is a measure of the size of the workforce that takes account of the fact that some people work part-time.
When rounding civilian staff numbers to the nearest ten, numbers ending in five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Changes are calculated from unrounded data, and then rounded to the nearest 10.
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