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Lance Corporal William Graham

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role has been played by the 1st Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment in the training of the new Iraqi police force and army; and what duties in this regard were undertaken by Lance Corporal William Graham. [175973]

Mr. Ingram: 1st Battalion the Royal Scots Regiment deployed three companies to Iraq in support of 20 Armoured Brigade from December 2003 to April 2004. One company was responsible for training the Iraqi Police Service, and during this time trained approximately 3,000 policemen across the four sectors of the Basrah Rural Division. Lance Corporal Graham did not deploy to Iraq.

Light Multi-role Vehicle

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress in introducing the Army's Light Multi-role Vehicle. [181484]

Mr. Ingram: The Alvis Vickers Limited Multi-role Light Vehicle, known as the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV), will meet the Army's requirement for enhanced agility, reliability, flexibility and protection. FCLV is planned to enter service in 2007 and will enable users from the Combat, Combat Support and Combat Service Support arms to carry out their roles across the whole spectrum of conflict. A contract for the Demonstration and Manufacture phases of the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle was awarded in November 2003, with the manufacture of production vehicles scheduled to start at the beginning of 2006.
 
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Parliamentary Questions

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to reply to question ref 178616 tabled by the hon. Member for North Norfolk. [181834]

Mr. Hoon: I replied to the hon. Member on 30 June 2004, (Official Report, column 355W).

Pensions

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn was for the (i) War Pensions Benefits Programme costs, (ii) War Pensions Benefits Programme costs—Far Eastern Prisoners of War and (iii) War Pensions Benefits Programme costs—British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association request for resources three subheads in financial years (A) 2001–02, (B) 2002–03 and (C) 2003–04. [181776]

Mr. Caplin: In accordance with the Government Resource Accounting Act 2000 the Department's financial performance is reported to Parliament in the Consolidated Resource Accounts. The 2001–02 Accounts for War Pension Benefits Programme costs came under the Department for Social Security, now the Department for Work and Pensions, and their accounts were laid on 30 October 2002 ref: HC 1198. The 2002–03 Ministry of Defence Accounts were laid on 30 October 2003 ref: HCl 125. Copies are available in the Library of the House. The 2003–04 Accounts are yet to be laid before the House. The Ministry of Defence is not required to and does not account for cash under the headings upon which information is sought. Cash requirements are accounted for at Departmental level and details of Estimate and Outturn are included in Schedule 1 of the Resource Accounts.

Plastic Baton Rounds

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of plastic baton rounds available for use by British forces in Iraq have been transported from Northern Ireland after expiry of their use-by date. [176310]

Mr. Ingram: None.

RAF Chilmark

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has concluded a sale of the whole of the site of former RAF Chilmark; whether work continues on the removal of ordnance; and if he will make a statement. [179476]

Mr. Caplin: I can confirm that the site containing the HQ buildings and officers mess, has been cleared of ordnance and the sale was completed on 12 March 2004. The proof yard has also now been cleared and will be sold to the purchasers of the HQ site subject to a satisfactory land quality assessment. The only part of the site now awaiting disposal is Ladydown which is heavily contaminated. Clearance could take two to three years and disposal cannot proceed until this work is complete.
 
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RAF Logistic Support Service

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) initial resource provision, (b) in-year variations, (c) resource outturn, (d) gross operating cost and (e) net operating cost for the RAF Logistic Support Service was for financial year 1999–2000. [181743]

Mr. Ingram: The RAF Logistic Support Service was integrated with other organisations in 1999–2000 to form the Defence Logistics Organisation. It ceased to be an agency on 31 March 2000 and since no accounts direction was given by HM Treasury, separate accounts were not produced for the agency to cover 1999–2000. As a result, to provide the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.

RAF Personnel Management Agency

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) initial resource provision, (b) in-year variations and (c) resource outturn for the RAF Personnel Management Agency was for financial years 1999–2000 to 2003–04. [181744]

Mr. Ingram: The RAF Personnel Management Agency's outturn was:

Financial Year	Outturn £ million
1999–2000	14.371
2000–2001	14.209
2001–2002	14.978
2002–2003	14.645
2003–2004	13.989

Note:
RAF PMA comprises Air Sec, GT&S and ONCA

I am not able to provide figures for initial resource provision or in-year variations as a direct comparison cannot be made with either published estimates or formal external reports.

Refurbishment Costs

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on refurbishment since 1997. [181767]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 1 July 2004]: "Refurbishment" is not a term which Ministry of Defence uses in gathering or recording financial information about the estate. Work on buildings which might be categorised as "refurbishment" can range from minor modifications and maintenance, to the complete restoration of buildings, and the maintenance of machinery such as lifts.

Royal Scots Regiment

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many practice firing ranges were available to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment during its tour of duty in Iraq. [175974]

Mr. Ingram: In common with all coalition forces in Iraq, 1st Battalion the Royal Scots Regiment had and have access to firing ranges as required.
 
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Special Investigation Branch

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the status of the outstanding Special Investigation Branch investigations into United Kingdom actions towards Iraqis. [172868]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 20 May 2004]: Since the statement I made to the House on 8 June 2004, Official Report, column 4–5WS), a further four incidents have been initiated, making a total of 79 cases which have been investigated or are under investigation by the Service Police. Of these, 33 are under investigation, 35 have been closed, nine have been referred to the Army Prosecuting Authority and two have been directed for trial.

Top Level Budget Holders

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn was in financial years (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03 for the (A) 2nd Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, (B) Adjutant General, (C) Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Personnel and Training Command, (D) Central, (E) Defence Procurement Agency and (F) Major Customers' Research Budget top level budget holders; [181784]

(2) what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn was in financial years (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03 for the (A) Commander-in-Chief Fleet, (B) General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland), (C) Commander-in-Chief Land Command, (D) Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command, (E) Chief of Joint Operations and (F) Chief of Defence Logistics top level budget holders; [181783]

(3) what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn in the financial year 2003–04 was for the (i) 2nd Sea Lord/Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, (ii) Adjutant General, (iii) Air Officer Commanding- in-Chief RAF Personnel and Training Command, (iv) Central, (v) Defence Procurement Agency and (vi) Major Customers' Research Budget top level budget holders; [181778]

(4) what the (a) cash provision and (b) cash outturn in the financial year 2003–04 was for the (i) Commander-in-Chief Fleet, (ii) General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland), (iii) Commander-in-Chief Land Command, (iv) Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command, (v) Chief of Joint Operations and (vi) Chief of Defence Logistics top level budget holders. [181777]

Mr. Ingram: Following the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) in 2001–02 Ministry of Defence Top Level Budget holders have been given budgets in resource terms rather than cash. Estimated Resource provisions for all MOD TLBs for 2003–04 was published in the Main Estimates with any revisions up to the turn of the year included in Supplementary Estimates. Provisional outturn figures for the MOD will be published in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper in July. Final figures, including a Departmental Cash Flow Statement, will be available when the Annual Report and Accounts is published at the end of September.
 
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