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Paper Recycling

Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Department's main suppliers of (a) copier paper, (b) stationery, (c) envelopes and (d) paper for reports; and what the (i) name of each paper used and the (ii) recycled and post consumer recycled content is in each case. [171821]

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

Parachute Accidents

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen have been killed in parachute accidents in each of the last two years; and when the last such incident was. [198090]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 15 November 2004]: Between 1 January 2002 and 11 November 2004, six Service personnel have died in parachuting incidents (two in 2002, two in 2003 and two in 2004). Three of these deaths occurred while on duty and three occurred while off duty. The date of the last parachuting death was 12 June 2004.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will answer the question from the hon. Member for Portsmouth South, ref 169408, of 28 April, about compensation paid to Iraqi civilians. [185179]

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

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will answer the question from the hon. Member for Portsmouth South, ref 166998, tabled on 16 April, about the treatment of prisoners in Iraq. [185180]

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

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will answer question 174196, tabled on 17 May, on the anthrax and pertussis vaccine. [189386]

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

Pensions

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on pensions for
 
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veterans of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC); and if he will increase pensions for RAOC veterans who retired on or after 1 April 1969. [195547]

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

PFI/PPP Contracts (Financial Advice)

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contracts his Department had with (a) Barclays, (b) the Royal Bank of Scotland, (c) UBS Warburg and (d) the Bank of Scotland for advice on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts in each financial year since 2001–02; and what fees were paid in each case. [186692]

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

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where (a) battalion headquarters, (b) A, B and C Companies, (c) Support Company and (d) Headquarters Company of Second Battalion of The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment will be located on (i) 18 November and (ii) 30 November. [199046]

Mr. Ingram: On current plans The Second Battalion of The Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment (2PWRR) will be located in their barracks in Tern Hill on 18 and 30 November, but will be held at very high readiness for operations in Iraq.

Procurement

Mr. Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is his policy to ensure that hospitality within his Department is sourced from fair trade producers wherever possible within the boundaries set by the public procurement rules. [197065]

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

Productivity

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is for (a) increasing the productivity and (b) cutting the costs of (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. [172187]

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

Project ISOLUS

Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list his Department's sites that were investigated as part of Project Isolus but were rejected as unsuitable; and what the reasons for their rejection were in each case. [198498]

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

Radiation Regulations

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the report
 
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prepared by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down entitled Skating on Thin Ice, concerning compliance with radiation regulations by Defence establishments. [196420]

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

RAF Attacks (Civilian Casualties)

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether RAF planes have been involved in air to ground attacks that have resulted in civilian (a) deaths and (b) casualties since 4 May 2003. [197623]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 11 November 2004]: No RAF aircraft have launched any air to ground attacks that have resulted in the death or injury of civilians since May 2003.

RAFT Project

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much had been spent on the RAFT project at the date of its cancellation; whether an environmental assessment was carried out prior to commencement of the project; and if he will make a statement; [197382]

(2) what environmental assessments (a) were carried out before and (b) have been carried out during the lifetime of the RAFT project. [197704]

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

Recycling Targets

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to have statutory recycling targets beyond 2005–06. [193129]

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

Regimental Strengths

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many regiments are (a) at full strength and (b) over strength. [189709]

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

Request for Resources 1

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has an agreement with the Treasury to reimburse his Department for additional wear and tear on equipment bought under Request for Resources 1, owing to exceptional operational use. [196467]

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

Rota/Gibraltar Naval Bases

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy vessels used (a) the Rota naval base and (b) the Gibraltar naval base in the past six months. [187499]

 
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Mr. Ingram: During the period 1 January until 31 August 2004 Royal Navy vessels have undertaken four visits to Rota Naval Base and 13 visits to Gibraltar Naval Base. The visits to Rota were all undertaken by units allocated to NATO Standing Naval Deployments and programmed directly by NATO. Inclusion of Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels for completeness brings the total of visits to Gibraltar to 20 while the figure for Rota remains unchanged.

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