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Members of Parliament (Military Visits)

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether hon. Members are required to obtain permission from his Department to visit military bases in their constituencies; and if he will make a statement. [166383]

Mr. Caplin: Yes.

Nuclear Contingent Liability Arrangements

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what developments have taken place in respect of the proposals made on 11 March to alter the contingent liability arrangements covering the submarine reactor fuel core factory and Neptune test reactor; and if he will place in the Library the new documentation produced on this matter. [166038]

Mr. Ingram: No objections were raised against the contingent liability arising from non-insurance that was proposed in the Departmental Minute dated 11 March 2004.

The Rolls-Royce Core Factory and Neptune facility continue to be fully covered by commercial third party nuclear insurance. When the commercial insurance ends in 2005, the facilities should then be indemnified by the Crown by means of clauses within procurement contracts for submarine reactor fuel and related services. The contracts include details of sensitive nuclear materials and industrial processes and I am withholding them in accordance with Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information (which relates to defence, security and international relations).

Private Military Companies

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate how many army officers have requested early leave from their contracts to work for private military companies. [166135]

 
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Mr. Caplin: Army officers apply for early release through the Army Retirements Board. In the last six months the total number of officers requesting Premature Voluntary Retirement has been 346. There is no requirement to specify future employment intentions but we are aware that at least three of the 346 have applied to leave with the intention of joining private military companies other than the United Kingdom defence industry.

Reservists

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons mobilised reservists are not receiving timely pay statements; how many reservists are affected; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all reservists receive timely pay statements. [165140]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 1 April 2004]: We accept that some reservists' pay statements did not get delivered on time during Op Telic. This meant that some reservists did not know they were being paid or how much they were being paid. Late or non-delivery of pay statements was attributable to delays in the administrative process of taking the reservist on strength at the Theatre unit.

This issue was identified during the Op Telic lessons identified process and action is in hand to improve the administrative systems in use. We have witnessed a significant improvement in the administrative process of taking the reservist on strength as units move into permanent infrastructure and improved communication links. In the main members of the TA called out for Op Telic 4 are now joining their respective units in their peacetime locations and administrative procedures are now being completed prior to deployment which minimises the shortcomings experienced with IT in Theatre.

While there is no central record of the number of individuals who did not receive pay slips or who experienced delays in their delivery, I understand that the extent of the problem was limited and that the vast majority of reservists did receive pay slips on time.

Tain Air Weapons Range

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours the Tain Air Weapons Range was in use for training operations in 2003 and in each of the preceding four years. [166068]

Mr. Caplin: The following table shows the number of hours aircraft operated over Tain Air Weapons Range in the requested years.

	Hours in use
1999	946
2000	833
2001	616
2002	788
2003	770

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sorties were undertaken using the Tain Air Weapons Range in 2003 and each of the
 
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preceding four years, indicating (a) those flown by RAF aircraft and (b) those flown by non-RAF aircraft. [166069]

Mr. Caplin: The following table shows the total number of passes made by aircraft at Tain Air Weapons Range, broken down by RAF and non-RAF aircraft, in the requested years. The number of sorties undertaken, each of which could involve one or more passes, is not recorded.

	Number of RAF aircraft passes	Number of non-RAF aircraft passes
1999	23,479	213
2000	20,709	484
2001	13,651	1,026
2002	21,743	755
2003	22,875	1,302

War Pensioners

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he is having with the Royal British Legion on the subject of the proposed Armed Forces Compensation Scheme for war pensioners. [166459]

Mr. Caplin: Ministers and officials have maintained a regular dialogue with the Royal British Legion during the development of the new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. As detailed scheme rules are developed, this dialogue will continue. The MOD recognises the value of the experience and expertise offered by ex-Service organisations such as the Royal British Legion.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Allotments

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance his Department provides to councils regarding budget allocations for allotments. [166055]

Keith Hill: It is for each allotment authority to decide for itself how much of its resources to devote to allotments. Revenue Support Grant is an unhypothecated block grant and this means that authorities may use it for any purposes. In most cases, rent will be the only income from an allotment site and the level of these is a matter for the relevant allotment authority to determine, taking into account the cost of managing the site, local needs, any special circumstances and the requirements of the Allotments Act 1950.

The publications "Growing in the community: a good practice guide for the management of allotments", and "Allotments: a plot holders' guide", provide comprehensive advice and good practice, including that concerning rents, for local authorities and allotment plot holders and were distributed to a wide audience.

Asbestos

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of buildings occupied by (a) staff of the Department and (b) staff of the Department's
 
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executive agencies have been surveyed for the purpose of identifying the presence of asbestos prior to implementation of the control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. [159372]

Yvette Cooper: The proportion of buildings of the Deputy Prime Minister surveyed for the purpose of identifying the presence of asbestos are:

(a) Seven of the 11 buildings occupied by ODPM staff

(b) 77 of the 96 buildings occupied by staff of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's executive agencies and Government offices.

Although the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for the buildings occupied by Government Offices, they carry out functions on behalf of 10 Departments.

Not all buildings are required to be surveyed as the use of asbestos in buildings has been prohibited since 1992. The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 do not require surveys in such cases.

Some of the surveys noted above are not yet complete in that the final reports are still awaited. However all asbestos surveys in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister occupancies required by the Regulations will have been completed by 21 May 2004.

BACS

Brian White: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress his Department has made to manage the changeover from the Bank Automated Clearing System to the new BACSTEL-IP system for electronic payments. [164321]

Yvette Cooper: Discussions are under way, with our current supplier, regarding a number of options for managing the changeover from the Bank Automated Clearing System (BACS) to the new BACSTEL-IP system for electronic payments.

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