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Manning Controls

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the conformity of the practice of administrative discharge through manning controls with (a) European Union legislation, (b) the European Convention on Human Rights and (c) the Employment Rights Act 1966. [197219]

Mr. Caplin: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) Project to complete its concept phase. [193128]

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

Military Equipment

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much used military (a) clothing, (b) footwear and (c) other personal equipment was reissued to serving personnel in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [191968]

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

Ministerial Air Travel

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was for (a) ministers and (b) officials in his Department in the latest year for which figures are available. [182131]

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

Ministerial Expenses

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Department spent on (a) maintenance, (b) renovation, (c) council tax and (d) running costs of residential properties used by Ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [191401]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence, to the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Mr. Flight) on 20 November 2003, Official
 
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Report, column 1272. I will write to the hon. Member regarding the costs for financial year 2003–04 and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Ministerial Visits

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list visits made by each Minister in the Department between December 2003 and April 2004, broken down by (a) date, (b) constituency visited and (c) cost. [171562]

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

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the travel costs incurred (a) by his Department and (b) by each Minister within his Department, for each of the last 10 years; [175644]

(2) how much his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) car, (b) train, (c) aeroplane and (d) helicopter, in each of the last 10 years; [175667]

(3) how many journeys were made by helicopter by each Minister in his Department in each of the last 10 years; and what the journey length was in each case. [175744]

Mr. Caplin: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne) today.

Ministers' Private Offices

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the running costs of Ministers' private offices in his Department have been in each year since 1997. [191378]

Mr. Ingram: The total cost to the Private Office Budget of the Ministry of Defence Ministers' private offices in financial year 2003–04 was £2,965,159.10. Data prior to this is no longer centrally held.

Mobile Phones

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many mobile phones were used by (a) Ministers and special advisers and (b) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; how many were (i) lost and (ii) stolen; and what their cost was. [191442]

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

MOD Land

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the land over which his Department acquired rights in Scotland between (a) 1980 and 1990, (b) 1990 and 2000 and (c) 2000 to the present, including areas of foreshore; and if he will make a statement. [173438]

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

Mount Bay and Cardigan Bay Vessels

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) contracted price and (b) in-service
 
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date was originally agreed with BAe Systems for the building of the Mount Bay and Cardigan Bay vessels at Govan; what the latest forecasts are; what the reasons for the changes are; and if he will make a statement. [198804]

Mr. Ingram: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Mutual Defence Agreement

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to renew the Mutual Defence Agreement with the USA. [192718]

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

Naval Procurement

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether his Department's Military Afloat Research and Sustainability programme is covered by his commitment that warships for the Royal Navy will be built in the UK; [194450]

(2) whether the (a) renewal and (b) replacement of fleet auxiliaries is covered by his commitment that warships for the Royal Navy will be built in the UK. [194451]

Mr. Ingram: It is Government policy that the fabrication and assembly of new Royal Navy warship hulls should be undertaken in the United Kingdom. Though current Royal Fleet auxiliary ships are not warships they are classed as 'warlike' and options for replacing these ships are being examined. The Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) project is at an early stage and no decision has been taken as to what will be procured; however, we expect that MARS ships will probably be 'warlike'.

New Deal

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years. [194852]

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

Operation Telic

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many rounds of 7.62 ammunition were issued to (a) Challenger II, (b) Warrior and (c) CVRT crews for their vehicle armament during Operation Telic. [153048]

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

Operational Tours

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the interval between operational tours since 1999–2000 has been for the (a) Royal Armoured Corps, (b) Royal Artillery, (c) Royal Engineers, (d) Royal Signals and (e) Infantry. [195050]

Mr. Ingram: The details of operational tour intervals for the (a) Royal Armoured Corps (RAC), (b) Royal Artillery (RA), (c) Royal Engineers (RE), (d) Royal
 
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Signals (R Signals) and (e) Infantry since 1999 are not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The equivalent details for the RAC, RA and Infantry for the period July 2001 to October 2004 are, however, provided in the tables which have been placed in the Library. It has not been possible to provide the actual tour intervals for RE and R Signals primarily due to the nature of their deployments, which tend to be at sub unit level or below, rather than unit level.

Deployments have been defined as unaccompanied unit level operational tours.

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