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20 Jul 2004 : Column 233W—continued
Defence Projects (US Funding)
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which defence-related projects in the UK are supported by (a) the US Defense Advanced Projects Agency and (b) the US Office for Naval Research; what funding is being made available in each case; and what the actual or intended benefit to the UK is in each case. [182013]
Mr. Ingram: In keeping with our strong defence relationship with the United States of America, the United Kingdom works closely with the US Government on a range of defence projects and has dealings with both the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research.
Currently the Office of Naval Research is involved in collaborative programmes with the UK on anti-submarine warfare and unmanned underwater vehicle technologies. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency does not currently lead any of the collaborative programmes with the UK but may contribute indirectly through projects led by one of the US Armed Services.
These collaborative links are to our mutual benefit, enhancing the military capabilities of both our nations and improving our ability to operate alongside one another. Typically, such collaborative activities involve both parties pooling the outputs of respective national defence research activities, on an equitable basis.
It is unusual for the US Government to directly support or fund UK defence projects. The US does contract directly with UK companies and academia in support of their own defence programmes, but details of these contracts are a matter for the US Government.
End-to-end Review
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the outcome of the end to end review. [183973]
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Mr. Ingram: The original End to End Study reported its findings on 1 July 2003, leading to a six-month Demonstration Phase which has been a notable success. Many of the principles and recommendations put forward by the End to End Final Report have been proven through the pilot activities conducted thus far. It is the intention; therefore, to focus future activity on implementation and the early realisation of benefit.
As an example, the cost of delivering the first wave of End to End was far outweighed by the year-on-year savings. The MOD has invested £18 million in this programme over the last 15 months. End to End Demonstration has identified efficiency benefit of between £16 million to £19 million per annum and identification of realisable benefit of around £330 million. Potential exists for additional benefit, whilst at the same time preserving and in many cases improving, operational effectiveness.
The quick wins achieved by the End to End Programme and the ongoing and extremely successful DLO Change Programme, have been the catalysts for the launch of a defence-wide programme of logistics transformation.
Haiti
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support the UK has provided to the Brazilian and other UN forces in Haiti. [184188]
Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
The UK supports the work of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and welcomes the work of the troops from Brazil, Canada and Chile, operating under Force Commander Lt. Gen. Heleno Ribeiro Pereira of Brazil. The UK is pleased that additional contingents from Argentina, Uruguay, Nepal and Sri Lanka and Peru should be deployed by the end of July.
The UK is not currently providing personnel contributions to Haiti as we have strong and emerging commitments elsewhere—particularly in Africa. We will be contributing an estimated £8.9 million in assessed contributions until October 2004. This contribution will support the UN troops in Haiti as well as other UN work set out in resolution 1542 (2004). Our financial support will continue beyond October, but the levels are dependent on operational needs which are not fully known as yet.
In addition to financial support for the forces in Haiti, the UK has contributed to related work. The Department for International Development (DfID) sent £1.9 million in bilateral support to Haiti to address civilian unrest. DfID also responded to the flooding in
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Haiti, sending £250,000 to the World Food Programme (UN Programme), £150,000 to Save the Children and £109,400 to Action Aid.
The UK also has a continued interest in raising the standard of peacekeeping. The UK funds world-wide 'train the trainer' programmes to support countries in developing their peacekeeping capacity. These focus on police training, but some of the personnel in Haiti may have benefited from this.
Hearing Loss (Veterans)
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has conducted on the comparative levels of hearing loss suffered by (a) those suffering from age-related hearing loss and (b) veterans suffering from hearing loss which is both age-related and attributable to wartime noise. [184111]
Mr. Caplin: Neither the Ministry of Defence, which is now responsible for veterans' matters, nor the former Department of Social Security, has commissioned research on this specific comparison. However, we recognise that, particularly in the past, noise injury arising from service in the Armed Forces has been a significant contributor to hearing loss among service personnel. The Government have therefore taken a close interest in the medical understanding of the causes of and prognosis for hearing loss, including instigating the 1997 Caiman review. The current scientific understanding of noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss is that it does not get worse on removal from the noise giving rise to the injury and that, in the context of the War Pensions Scheme, hearing loss due to noise and that due to subsequent effects of age are not more than additive. The aim remains that policy and individual decisions should reflect the latest published peer reviewed scientific evidence and, to that end, we carry out a regular scrutiny of emerging relevant scientific literature.
Iraq
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 15 July 2004, Official Report, column 1235W, on Iraq, if he will give (a) the date of and, (b) if deceased, the name of the person alleged to have suffered harm during the incident to which he refers. [185599]
Mr. Ingram: I am withholding this information under Exemption 4 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Manning Control Reviews
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to conduct manning control reviews in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [183827]
Mr. Caplin:
The answer I gave on 19 January 2004, Official Report, column 919W to the hon. Gentlemen is still applicable today.
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Military Exports
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of military equipment produced in the UK was exported in each of the last 10 years. [182955]
Mr. Ingram: Figures for the value of military equipment that is produced in the UK in any year are not available. In deriving the following table, estimated MOD UK equipment expenditure (including MOD spend with UK industry on research and development, repair and maintenance and assets under construction) have been added to identified exports of military goods to provide an approximation to this figure.
| Military equipment (goods) exported | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 32 |
| 1998–99 | 20 |
| 1999–2000 | 12 |
| 2000–01 | 19 |
| 2001–02 | 17 |
| 2002–03 | 9 |
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible have been (a) established and (b) abolished since 1997. [182941]
Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence has seven executive and 12 advisory non-departmental public bodies (NDPB)s. The following advisory NDPBs have been established in MOD since 1997:
Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (1998)
Advisory Group on Medical Countermeasures (1998)
Nuclear Research Advisory Council (2001)
The Department also took on the sponsorship role of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions and the War Pensions Committees (a multiple body) following the transfer of the Veterans Agency (formerly known as the War Pensions Agency) from the Department for Work and Pensions in 2001.
The Royal College of Defence Studies Advisory Board and the Royal Military College of Science Advisory Council have been abolished since 1997. In addition the Nuclear Powered Warships Safety Committee and Nuclear Weapons Safety Committees merged in this period to form the Defence Nuclear Safety Committee.
The National Employers' Liaison Board, later renamed the National Employers' Advisory Board was relaunched in 2002 as "Supporting Britain's Reservists and Employers". Finally the Independent Board of Visitors for Military Corrective Training Centre has recently been re-categorised from an advisory NDPB to an independent monitoring board. Further details on MOD's NDPBs are in the Cabinet Office annual "Public Bodies" publications which can also be found on the Cabinet Office website.
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