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5 May 2004 : Column 1515W—continued

Airfield Support Services Project

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which officials involved in the preparation of Fire Study 2000 have also been involved with (a) the preparation of the Public Sector Comparator and (b) the evaluation of bids for the Airfield Support Services Project. [167250]

Mr. Ingram: The Airfield Support Services Project (ASSP) is seeking to achieve the most viable and cost effective solution for the provision of airfield support and wider fire services without compromising operational effectiveness and/or safety. Separately, Fire Study 2000 (FS 2000) investigated the potential for improved delivery of Defence Fire Services (DFS). The results of this study have been used to inform the ASSP Public Sector Comparator (PSC).

No official involved in the preparation of the FS 2000 report was a member of the ASSP PSC Working Group. Officials from the Defence Fire Service Headquarters did provide advice to the ASSP Team on what FS2000 savings were appropriate to the ASSP and an official who was a member of the FS 2000 Project Team also provided subject matter advice for the technical evaluation of industry proposals.

Armoured Mobility

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to improve armoured mobility for (a) the Army and (b) the Royal Marines; and if he will make a statement. [165384]

Mr. Ingram: There are a number of ongoing projects that improve the armoured mobility of the Army and Royal Marines.

We have procured appliqué mine blast and ballistic protection kits for the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) vehicles. We have also procured eight Supacat TEMPEST Mine Protected Vehicles (MPV) to deliver a CounterMine Vehicle (CMV) capability. Both of these capabilities are deployed on current operations.

We are procuring 401 Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) with an approved In Service Date (ISD) of November 2007 to provide protected tactical mobility for Combat, Combat Support and Combat Service Support Arms within the Army.

There are three vehicle programmes that will significantly improve the capability of the Royal Engineers' armoured mobility. We are procuring 33 TITAN vehicles to deliver the Armoured Vehicle Launcher Bridge (AVLB) capability and 33 TROJAN vehicles to deliver the Armoured Vehicle Royal
 
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Engineer (AVRE) heavy breaching capability; both have approved ISDs of December 2006. Additionally, we are procuring 65 TERRIER vehicles to deliver the Armoured Engineer Tractor (AET) capability with an approved ISD of December 2008.

A preliminary assessment has been made of the options to meet the Armoured Battlegroup Support Vehicle (ABSV) requirement in our armoured units. We are also studying the concept of a Warrior Mid Life Improvement programme. No final decisions have yet been made on these programmes and the ISDs will not be set until they pass their main gates.

We are currently completing the Concept Phase for the procurement of a family of network-enabled, medium-weight armoured vehicles to deliver the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) capability. The In-Service Date for FRES will not be endorsed until the main investment decision, but on current plans, the intention is to introduce early variants into service around the end of the decade.

For the Royal Marines we are in the process of delivering 108 All Terrain Vehicle (Protected) VIKING vehicles, which includes Troop Carrying, Command and Repair and Recovery Vehicles.

Asset Tracking

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made in acquiring an asset tracking system for the armed forces; and if he will make a statement. [165564]

Mr. Ingram: Asset tracking comprises a family of capabilities which allows visibility and management of inventory. Of these capabilities, Consignment Tracking and the Management of the Deployed Inventory were consistently identified as areas requiring attention from Lessons Identified from Operation Telic. After urgent investigation, we identified areas for investment and a number of recommendations to further improve the Ministry of Defence's consignment tracking capability, including that TAV (-) should be retained and formally supported. These recommendations are currently being considered.

Additionally, two other projects which contribute to Asset Tracking, Management of the Joint Deployed Inventory (MJDI) and Management of Materiel in Transit (MMiT) have been initiated.

Atomic Co-ordinating Offices

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff are employed in the Atomic Co-ordinating Offices in London and Washington; and what their civil service grades are. [166579]

Mr. Ingram: There are three staff employed in the Atomic Control Office, London and five staff in the Atomic Co-ordinating Office, Washington as follows:

Atomic Control Office London

1 x Band D, 2 x Band E2.

Atomic Co-ordinating Office Washington

1 x B1, 1 x B2, 1 x Band D, 1 x E1, 1 x Locally Employed Civilian.

 
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Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual running costs are of the Atomic Co-ordinating Offices in London and Washington; and out of which budget they are taken. [166580]

Mr. Ingram: The annual running costs of the Atomic Control Office, London and the Atomic Co-ordinating Office, Washington are some £70,000 and £400,000 respectively. The costs of the London office fall to the Chief Scientific Adviser's Top Level Budget (TLB); the costs of the Washington office fall to the Centre TLB.

Defence Budgets

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the (a) defence procurement budget and (b) military research and development budget for each year from 1996–97 to 2005–06 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [156607]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's cash outturn on defence equipment procurement for 1996–97 to 2000–01 is published in the United Kingdom Defence Statistics 2001 and 2002.
 
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Our cash outturn for research and development for 1996–97 is published in "UK Defence Statistics 2001". Outturn figures for 1997–98 to 2001–02 are in UK Defence Statistics 2003. R&D outturn for 2002–03, on the same basis, is published in the MOD "Annual Report and Accounts 2002–03". R&D plans for 2003–04 and 2004–05 are published in the "Office of Science and Technology Forward Look 2003". Figures are not yet available in this form for 2005–06.
£ million

	Equipment procurement	Total MOD Research and Development (R&D)(16)
1996–97	9,494	2,144
1997–98	9,373	2,314
1998–99	10,281	2,140
1999–2000	10,094	2,272
2000–01	10,408	2,240
2001–02	—	2,057
2002–03	—	2,734
2003–04	—	2,579
2004–05	—	2,629

⁽¹⁶⁾   From 2000–01 these figures are calculated on a resource basis.

Details of the MOD's "procurement" resource and capital outturn for the years 2001–02 to 2002–03 and plans from 2003–04 to 2005–06 are set out in The Government's Expenditure Plans for the MOD 2003–2004 to 2005–2006 (Cm 5912):
£ million

	Resource		Capital
	Defence Procurement Agency (DPA)	Major Customers' Research Budget (MCRB)	Defence Procurement Agency	Major Customers' Research Budget
2001–02 outturn	2,710	414	4,356	0
2002–03 (estimated outturn)(17)	5,033	417	4,385	1
2003–04 (plans)	1,968	449	4,617	0
2004–05 (plans)	2,262	454	4,920	0
2005–06 (plans)	2,221	465	5,656	0

⁽¹⁷⁾   The figures up to 2002–03 have not been restated to reflect a change in the Treasury Discount Rate and are therefore not directly comparable to the plan years.

The figures are presented differently in the Government's Expenditure Plans and Defence Statistics. The Government's Expenditure Plans define "procurement" expenditure as Defence Procurement Agency spending plus the Major Customers' Research Budget. The Major Customers' Research Budget represents money allocated for non-nuclear research, which forms part of the MOD's total net Research and Development expenditure. Defence Statistics shows total MOD net expenditure on Research and Development.

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