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30 Jun 2004 : Column 349W—continued
DEFENCE
Arctic Convoys (Survivors)
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Servicemen who served on the Arctic convoys are still alive. [178434]
Mr. Caplin: There is no way of telling how many armed forces personnel who served on the convoys to Russia during the Second World War are still alive.
Army (Terms of Service)
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers who are on the S type contract have submitted a redress of complaint about their terms of service; and if he will make a statement. [179709]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 21 June 2004]: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Databases
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the fields of the (a) MOD Directorate of Commercial Policy Contracts database and (b) MOD Central Ledger database. [176386]
Mr. Ingram: The following information assumes that the first database referred to is that maintained by the Defence Bills Agency on behalf of the Commercial Services Group in the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA). The fields in the database are as follows:
1. Contract Number, Contract Date, Contract End Date, Integrated Project and Commercial Officer titles;
2. Contractor's Name and Registration details;
3. Contract Financial details;
4. Security Classification of contract;
5. Type of Work;
6. Standard Industry Classification Code;
7. Particular type of contract;
8. Location of work;
9. Sub-contract work;
10. Overseas sub-contract work;
11. End customer;
12. Contract conditions;
13. Loan items;
14. Competitive or Non-competitive;
15. Status of pricing;
16. Non-competitive pricing;
17. Recoverable (costs recoverable from a third party);
18. Commercial Exploitation Agreement;
19. Imports;
20. Special Contracts Arrangement;
21. European Commission (EC) Requirements;
22. Construction Industry Tax Scheme.
The following information assumes that the database referred to is the DPA General (Financial) ledger. The fields being utilised in the ledger are as follows:
1. BLB (Bottom Level Budget)
2. DESTUIN (Destination Unique Identification Number)
3. Local Centre
4. Local Output
5. Local Project
6. MG (Management Grouping)
7. Output
8. RAC (Resource Account Code)
9. UIN (Unique Identification Number)
Defence Attachés
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the proportion of defence attachés' time spent (a) promoting and (b) monitoring the end-use of UK arms exports in each of the last three years. [180150]
Mr. Ingram: Defence attachés devote about 10 per cent. of their time annually to supporting legitimate defence exports and defence procurement collaboration activities in accordance with current Government policy on arms exports. We do not record the proportion of time spent specifically on monitoring the end-use of United Kingdom arms exports.
Defence Export and Market Access Forum
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 10 June 2004, Official Report, columns 598–99W, what the membership is of the Defence Export and Market Access Forum; and what the criteria are for membership of that body. [179257]
Mr. Ingram: Membership of the Defence Export and Market Access Forum comprises senior officials from Government Departments including the Ministry of Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department of Trade and Industry and Cabinet Office together with senior representatives from the United Kingdom Trade Associations and the UK defence industry. The membership reflects consultation between Government and industry to identify those best placed to contribute to the aims of the forum.
Eurofighter Typhoons
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the reasons are for the delay in going ahead with the second tranche of Eurofighter Typhoons; and if he will make a statement. [177140]
Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 12 February 2004, Official Report, column 1634W, and my answer of 10 December 2003, Official Report, column 464W, to the hon. Member for Totnes (Mr. Steen). The negotiations are still on-going and must be concluded before Tranche 2 can be ordered.
Export Support Teams
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of the Export Support teams was in each of the last three years; and what the forecast cost is for each of the next two years. [176440]
30 Jun 2004 : Column 351W
Mr. Ingram: The operating costs of the Export Support Teams recorded for the last three years are as follows:
| Financial year | Net operating costs (£ million) |
|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | (16)1.177 |
| 2002–2003 | 1.888 |
| 2003–2004 | 2.135 |
(16)Costs for 2001–02 were not recorded on a basis fully comparable with the following years for technical reasons
Provision of £2.105 million has been made for manpower costs in 2004–05. I am withholding projections of costs for financial year 2005–06 under Exemption 2c of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
GEC-BAE Merger
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what advice the department received from the Office of Fair Trading on the GEC-BAE merger in 1999; [174209]
(2) what advice the Secretary of State received from (a) his officials and (b) other Departments on the Office of Fair Trading report on the GEC-BAE merger; [174210]
(3) whom (a) within the Department and (b) outside the Department the Secretary of State, his representatives and advisers consulted on the Office of Fair Trading report regarding the merger of BAE-GEC; [174211]
(4) if he will list officials within his Department who were consulted on the Office of Fair Trading report regarding the merger of BAE-GEC in 1999; [174212]
(5) if he will list the meetings that took place between Mr. Ed Miliband and his officials in 1999 to discuss (a) the GEC-BAE merger and (b) Govan shipyard; [174213]
(6) what briefings the Secretary of State (a) gave and (b) received in 1999 on the GEC interest in the Govan shipyard; [174214]
(7) on what date the Secretary of State received the minutes of the meeting between Mr. George Simpson of GEC and the Prime Minister to discuss the merger of BAE and GEC in1999; [174215]
(8) if he will list the dates on which he met Mr. George Simpson of GEC in 1999; if he will publish the minutes of the meetings; and if he will list the attendees at those meetings.[R]; [174217]
(9) if he will list the communications between himself, his representatives and advisers and GEC in 1999 over (a) the proposed merger of BAE-GEC and (b) Govan shipyard.[R]; [174218]
(10) if he will list the communications between himself, his representatives and advisers and Kvaerner, their representatives and advisers over the proposed closure of the Govan shipyard in 1999.[R]; [174219]
(11) if he will list dates of meetings between departmental officials and Mr. Martin Sixsmith of GEC in 1999.[R]; [174220]
(12) if he will list the briefings given by his Department in 1999 on the GEC interest in the Govan shipyard.[R]; [174221]
30 Jun 2004 : Column 352W
(13) if he will list the meetings his Department had with the taskforce chaired by Sir Gavin Laird set up by the Government to look for potential buyers for the Govan shipyard in 1999.[R]; [174222]
(14) if he will list the meetings held with Sir Gavin Laird to discuss the future of the Govan shipyard in 1999.[R]; [174223]
(15) if he will list the meetings held with the management of Govan/Kvaerner to discuss the future of the Govan shipyard in 1999.[R]: [174224]
(16) what role he played in the negotiations over the future of Govan shipyard in 1999.[R]; [174225]
(17) what role he played in the informal and oral approaches made to GEC over the purchase of Govan in 1999.[R]; [174226]
(18) what role his Department played in approving the GEC-BAE merger in 1999.[R] [174227]
Mr. Hoon: My officials and I and my predecessors in office have meetings and discussions with a wide range of organisations and individuals. As with previous Administrations it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings under Exemptions 2 and 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Information relating to internal discussion and advice is exempt from disclosure under Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
The decision on approving the GEC-BAE merger in 1999 was made by the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) in the capacity set out in the Fair Trading Act 1973.
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