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Army

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment, (b) funded liability and (c) actual strength was for the Army in each year since 1997; what it is in 2004–05; and what it is expected to be in 2005–06. [192160]

Mr. Caplin: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence upon which sectors of the Army the 6,500 reduction in manpower is expected to fall; and if he will make a statement. [194383]

Mr. Caplin: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made clear in July, the force structure, organisation and capabilities of the armed forces are to be modernised in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The decision to cease the infantry arms plot and encouraging progress in Northern Ireland has meant that we are able to restructure the infantry as part of this process and reduce the number of infantry battalions from 40 to 36. As I have made clear in my previous answers to the hon. Member, all of the manpower freed up from the reduction in infantry battalions will be reinvested across the army, to strengthen key enabling capabilities such as engineers, signals and intelligence.

For the future we envisage an Army of about 102,000. This is however, dependent on achieving full normalisation in Northern Ireland. In the meantime therefore, the strength of the Army will remain broadly as it is today.

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what financial saving is expected from reducing Infantry Battalions from 40 to 36. [194388]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2004, Official Report, column 713W.

Black Watch

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what meetings he has had with US officials to discuss lines of command if UK soldiers are to be redeployed in US controlled areas in Iraq. [193247]

Mr. Hoon: The Black Watch remain under the operational command of General Rollo, the UK General Officer Commanding Multi-National Division (South-East). On a day-to-day basis, the Black Watch co-ordinates its activity with the US chain of command in the locality, but any changes in the mission or the tasking would be referred back to General Rollo.

Bowman Radios

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints he has received about Bowman radios; and what the nature of the complaints was. [191106]

Mr. Ingram: I am aware of media reports about Bowman radios. In common with other MOD equipment, the Bowman tactical communications
 
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system has an incident reporting system which captures any user comments about the performance of the system.

Combat Clothing

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contracts for combat wear for the Army were awarded to UK companies and manufactured in the UK since 2001; and what percentage of the total number of contracts awarded this represented in each year. [194391]

Mr. Ingram: The total number of contracts for all combat wear awarded to UK companies and manufactured in the UK since 2001 are as follows:

	Total number of contracts awarded	Number awarded to UK companies manufacturing in UK	Percentage of UK based contracts
2001	42	33	78
2002	48	22	46
2003	63	33	52
2004	58	45	78

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment was made of the financial position of Cooneen Watts and Stone Textiles before the recent award of a contract by his Department; and what representations he has received since then regarding the company's financial situation. [194536]

Mr. Ingram: The financial position of the individual companies within Cooneen Watts and Stone Ltd. was evaluated by the Ministry of Defence accountants and based upon the nature of the contract the company was assessed as acceptable. Unsolicited representations have recently been received concerning the company's financial position and the validity of these comments is being investigated.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department made of whether there would have been a cost saving by splitting the Cut and Sew tender between Cookson and Clegg. [194534]

Mr. Ingram: The selected contractor was assessed as having the best overall ranking against the published award criteria. They also offered the best price.

Our assessment was that Cookson and Clegg Ltd did not offer the most economically advantageous solution for any single work package within this competition, to be the sole supplier. Splitting the contract award, on a lowest price basis, would not in any case have been compliant with the award criteria and the aim of appointing a single supplier with whom we could develop a partnering relationship for the next five years.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Factory Number 3533 will be used to print and supply the camouflage fabric for the Cut and Sew tender DC4BESL/1002. [193791]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The terminology "Factory Number 3533" is not a designation known to the Ministry of Defence team responsible for this contract. The selection of where manufacturing takes place is a commercial matter for
 
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the United Kingdom Prime Contractor and would be withheld under Exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

End to End Review

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the final decision will be announced on the conclusions of the End to End Review. [193480]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 25 October 2004]: The End to End Review into logistics support in Air and Land concluded with a written report on 1 July 2003. This led to a six-month period of Demonstration activities to test the efficacy of the assumptions, conclusions and recommendations contained in the Final Report.

Since 1 April 2004, all End to End focused activities have been combined with the extant Defence Logistics Organisation Change Programme, to form the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme, under the guidance of the Chief of Defence Logistics as logistics process owner across Defence.

Delivery of the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme is likely to require announcements and decisions on future logistics support solutions. The announcement I made on 16 September 2004, Official Report, columns 164–65WS, on the future locations of air depth maintenance support was the first major statement and represents a key component of the programme.

FRES Programme

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1874W, on the FRES Programme, if he will outline the procurement procedure for the family of medium weight armoured vehicles. [191858]

Mr. Ingram: The Assessment Phase of the Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) Programme was formally launched in May 2004. On 6 October, Atkins was nominated as Preferred Bidder for the role of Systems House to lead a number of Assessment Phase activities. It is anticipated that a contract will be in place by the end of the year. The Systems House is independent of product and manufacturing capabilities, and is therefore in a strong position to obtain the widest possible industrial involvement in the Programme.

Studies, analysis and technology risk reduction activities conducted during the Assessment Phase will consider a range of options for FRES. The results of this work will be used to develop optimum procurement and support strategies and to inform decisions for future phases of the programme. All such decisions will take account of the Defence Industrial Policy.

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Future Rapid Effects System is expected to be fully operational. [191868]

Mr. Ingram: As I said on 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1874W, the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) is still early in its Assessment Phase, which will determine when the initial operating capability and full operating capability could be achieved. Our current
 
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planning assumption, however, is that early FRES variants will be introduced around the turn of the decade, with further variants introduced at the most appropriate point in the programme, using a phased approach to achieving full operational capability.

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which British Army medium vehicles have the technological capability to contain the Future Rapid Effects System. [194387]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 October 2004, Official Report, column 1875W.

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