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13 Jul 2004 : Column 1041W—continued
Future Joint Combat Aircraft
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he expects the Future Joint Combat Aircraft to be delivered (a) on time and (b) within budget. [182386]
Mr. Ingram: Against current planning assumptions, it is expected that the Future Joint Combat Aircraft will be delivered on time.
It is currently estimated that the Future Joint Combat Aircraft Demonstration phase approval will be exceeded by around £340 million. This estimate has been identified following a thorough review some three years
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into the phase, using the systematic processes of Smart Acquisition. Without losing the benefits of the process, we are currently examining ways to bring the phase back to within current approval levels by the end of March 2005. The figure is not connected to the recent rise in the cost of the JSF System Demonstration and Development phase, the UK's contribution to which is fixed.
Llanbedr Airfield
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when Llanbedr airfield will be closed; and what will happen to its staff when it closes. [183113]
Mr. Caplin: It is planned that operations at the Llanbedr airfield will cease on 31 October 2004. Following this, there will be a site closure programme, with formal handover to Defence Estates planned for 11 February 2005. All 144 staff at Llanbedr have been given notice of redundancy. It is expected that approximately 90 staff will be made redundant on 5 November 2004, with the remaining staff being made redundant on 11 February 2005. QinetiQ, the company operating activities on the site on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, has appointed Right Courts consultancy to assist the staff in finding alternative employment, including within the company where suitable vacancies exist.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the range at Aberporth will be viable without the pilotless target drones from Llanbedr. [183114]
Mr. Caplin: Yes, it will. The drones at Llanbedr, aerial target towing vehicles known as the Jindivik, will be replaced by the Mirach target service, a modern pilotless aircraft which does not require a runway launch and which will be operated from Aberporth itself.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what use he plans will be made of the long runway at Llanbedr; and whether it will be used by commercial traffic. [183115]
Mr. Caplin: A range of options for future use of the site will be considered which may include use by commercial traffic.
Management Groups
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the responsibilities of the (a) Personnel Director, (b) Pay and Personnel Agency, (c) Defence Vetting Agency, (d) Defence Export Services Organisation, (e) Finance Director, (f) Defence Analytical Services Agency, (g) Defence Bills Agency, (h) Chief Constable MOD Police and (i) Chief Scientific Adviser management groups. [181745]
Mr. Caplin:
Most defence activity takes place outside the Ministry of Defence Head Office and is managed through 12 Top Level Budget (TLB) holders and five Trading Funds. The Permanent Secretary grants each TLB-holder extensive delegated powers over his/her resources of cash, personnel and infrastructure. Each TLB holder has a 'contract' with the MOD head office, known as a Service Delivery Agreement, which specifies the outputs required of that TLB, the resources they are
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given to deliver these outputs, and the underpinning performance management regime. The responsibilities of the management groupings are listed as follows:
(a) The Personnel Director is the budget holder for the Corporate Services Higher Level Budget and chairs its management board. The Personnel Director is responsible for a wide range of important management functions and related corporate services for the MOD as a whole. As the post title suggests, there is a particular responsibility for the Ministry's corporate HR strategy and management of its almost 90,000 civilian staff.
(b) The Pay and Personnel Agency provides a pay and personnel information service to the MOD and other customers in the public sector.
(c) The Defence Vetting Agency aims to provide an acceptable level of assurance as to the integrity of Defence employees and Defence industry staff who are given authorised access to sensitive Government information or valuable assets.
(d) The Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO) has an important role in implementing the Government's policy of supporting legitimate defence exports. DESO provides assistance to United Kingdom defence companies and to overseas customers interested in acquiring UK defence products.
(e) The Finance Director is responsible for the Department's planning, finance and performance management processes. He also acts as 'owner' of the Defence Analytical Services Agency and the Defence Bills Agency.
(f) The Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) provides professional analytical and statistical services and advice to the Ministry of Defence and defence-related statistics to Parliament, other Government Departments and the public. DASA is responsible for publishing all National Statistics on defence and these can be found on our website www.dasa.mod.uk.
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(g) The Defence Bills Agency (DBA) carries out the following functions for the Ministry of Defence: Corporate bill payment and invoicing and debt management services, provision of accounting records for the MOD central ledger and associated financial management information for MOD customers. Further information can be found in the DBA annual report and accounts which is available in the Library of the House of Commons.
(h) The Chief Constable and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency is responsible for the prevention of crime within the MOD estate. In addition the Force has special responsibility for the policing and security of key areas of Defence and other organisations, including the Crown.
(i) The 3* Defence Science and Technology (S&T) Board, chaired by the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA), provides high level strategic guidance on the formulation of the S&T Research Programme, conducts Balance of Investment within the Programme and reviews its delivery. It also supports CSA in ensuring that the benefits arising from S&T expenditure are clearly understood across the Department, and focused on the Department's needs. A subset of the S&T Board is responsible for overseeing the in-year management of the Corporate Science, Innovation and Technology TLB, top-level performance assessment and consideration of audit reports. Day to day management of the TLB is delegated to the S&T Director, supported by a management group which meets on a monthly basis.
Further information on individual defence agencies is available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list his Department's top level budget holders and their related management groupings for financial year 2004–05. [181771]
Mr. Ingram: The Management Grouping structure for the financial year 2004–05 is as follows:
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