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19 Jan 2005 : Column 952W—continued
Water and Sewerage Services
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average monthly cost to consumers is of (a) water services and (b) sewerage services in each water supply area in 2004–05 (i) in total and (ii) broken down by those who were (A) metered and (B) unmetered. [208226]
Mr. Morley: The following table shows the information for both metered and unmetered customers for water and sewerage services broken down by undertaker and in total. The figures are estimates based on forecast data provided to Ofwat by companies.
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DEFENCE
Army
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the size of the army will be after the proposed re-organisation; and what it was in 1997. [208418]
Mr. Hoon: The strength of the Army, including the Gurkhas, will remain broadly as it is today at around 103,500 until full normalisation is achieved in Northern Ireland, when we expect it to reduce to around 102,000.
The corresponding figure for April 1997 was 101,360.
British Military Bases (US Missiles)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to require prior parliamentary approval of the placement of US interceptor missiles within British military bases. [207210]
Mr. Hoon: There has been no request from the United States Government to base interceptor missiles anywhere in the United Kingdom. It has not been the practice of successive administrations to seek parliamentary approval for decisions of this type. The Government would in any case seek to ensure that Parliament had adequate opportunity for debate on issues relating to missile defence.
Cyprus
Donald Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) retained sites in Cyprus which the United Kingdom has returned since the written answer of 16 January 1995, Official Report, column 373W and (b) the location and function of each remaining retained site in Cyprus. [208428]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer17 January 2005]: The Larnaca bombing range is the only site that has been returned to the Republic of Cyprus since January 1995. This is identified as Serial B.8 on page 29 of the 1960 treaty documents, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
The location and function of the remaining retained sites are as follows:
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David Axon
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what regulations Commander David Axon was removed from HMS Somerset in November 2004; what charges were laid against him; what procedures were adopted to hear and adjudicate on these charges; and what actions were taken as a result. [208753]
Mr. Caplin: Commander David Axon was removed from command of HMS Somerset in December 2004 under regulation BR 8373, Article 2026, following allegations which constituted a breach of equal opportunities policy.
The findings and recommendations of the investigation were considered and acted upon in accordance with the procedures defined within BR 8373, Articles 2027 and 2028.
Commander Axon has now been re-appointed to a non-command post ashore.
Dolphins
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether dolphins have been (a) used and (b) kept by the UK armed forces since 1975. [209470]
Meteor Jet
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a decision has been made on the future of the remaining Meteor jet at Llanbedr airfield. [208794]
Mr. Caplin: Yes. The Ministry of Defence's Disposal Services Agency sold the aircraft by competitive tender in November 2004 to Everett Engineers of Sproughton, Ipswich.
Infantry
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which infantry regiments have the best record of retained manpower in the last 12 months. [208831]
Mr. Caplin: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Iraq
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Territorial Army medical personnel (a) have been and (b) are deployed in Iraq; and if he will make a statement. [207904]
Mr. Caplin: 1,325 Territorial Army (TA) medical personnel have been called up in support of operations in Iraq, and there are currently 75 TA medical personnel serving in Iraq.
These figures include members of the Royal Army Medical Corps, Royal Army Dental Corps and Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.
Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) stopped searching for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction; what proportion of the ISG's cost was met by the United
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Kingdom; and what the total United Kingdom financial commitment, including salaries of British personnel involved, was to the ISG. [209160]
Mr. Hoon: Following the conclusions of the comprehensive report of the special adviser to the Director Central Intelligence published on 30 September 2004, the Iraq Survey Group is no longer conducting an active programme of field investigations into weapons of mass destruction, but it does continue to investigate information relating to WMD as it becomes available.
The net additional cost of activities undertaken by UK personnel attached to the ISG has been met by the UK and is included in the published costs of Operation Telic. It is not possible to identify the net additional costs related solely to the work of the UK personnel in the ISG, or the proportion of total costs met by the UK.
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