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Research Expenditure

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on research by his Department in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004. [215888]

Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to Table 1.7 of United Kingdom Defence Statistics 2004, a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of his Department's research budget is spent on the development of new weaponry. [215890]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's research budget is focussed on examining technical possibilities in a variety of technology areas. These can be exploited through many different routes to new techniques, concepts and equipment. It is not possible to definitively split weaponry research out of that on materials, electronics, system integration, engines, communications and others. The development of technology into equipment is handled by the Defence Procurement Agency and it has a development budget that is spent on specific items such as satellites, communications equipment, vehicles, and weaponry, such as small arms, missiles, artillery. As we do not collate information on research activity in the way requested, it would be disproportionately expensive to provide a more detailed breakdown.

Royal Navy

Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many orders were placed for Royal Navy ships in each year between 1980 and 2004. [214057]

 
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Mr. Ingram [holding answer 4 February 2005]: Details of past orders for Royal Navy ships and the year in which they were placed is not held centrally and would involve disproportionate cost to collate in a way that ensured the information was complete. Readily available data on orders placed in each year is shown in the following table: these total 39. In comparison, records show that 125 vessels entered service over the same period. Design and build lead times mean that a number of these vessels would have been ordered before 1980.

	Orders placed
1980	—
1981	—
1982	—
1983	1
1984	2
1985	—
1986	8
1987	5
1988	4
1989	—
1990	1
1991	—
1992	1
1993	1
1994	—
1995	—
1996	2
1997	3
1998	—
1999	—
2000	5
2001	3
2002	3
2003	—
2004	—

The table includes all Royal Navy surface ships and submarines and excludes Royal Fleet auxiliary vessels, any vessels chartered for Royal Fleet auxiliary use and the six-ship RoRo Strategic Sealift PFI service.

Royal School of Military Engineering

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he intends that final payment on the Royal School of Military Engineering private finance initiative project should be made; and if he will make a statement. [215150]

Mr. Caplin: The Royal School of Military Engineering Public Private Partnership (PPP) is currently subject to the Ministry of Defence's Approvals process. If approval is granted, full negotiations will begin with the Preferred Bidder. It is not possible, at this stage, to state when the PPP contract will begin and when final payment would therefore be made, which would be 30 years after the start of service delivery.

Scottish Regiments

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where he plans permanently to base the battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. [212110]

Mr. Ingram: No decisions have been made on the future locations for the five Battalions of The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
 
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St. John's Wood Barracks

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of St.John's Wood barracks; and for how long he expects the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery to be stationed there. [216112]

Mr. Caplin: There are currently no plans to relocate the King's Troop from St. John's Wood barracks, which is occupied by the Ministry of Defence under a lease agreement. The lease is due to expire in 2012. As with all lease arrangements within the Department, our requirements beyond the expiry date will be subject to review.

Submarines

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Submarine Acquisition Modernisation Initiative: who the participants are; and what the (a) purpose and (b) timescale of its workis. [216103]

Mr. Ingram: The purpose of the Submarine Acquisition Modernisation (SAM) project is, through a coherent, long-term approach to the management of the nuclear submarine programme, to implement a more efficient, more effective and sustainable submarine enterprise through life, leading to a significant reduction in whole life costs and greater submarine availability.

SAM is a joint project, with MOD and industry working in collaboration. It is led by a MOD team leader, with membership drawn from BAE Systems, Devonport Management Limited, Babcock Naval Services and Rolls Royce, together with key MOD project and change management teams. The aim is to reach agreement in principle on the future management arrangements during spring 2005. Subject to approval by Government and industry stakeholders, the long-term aim is to begin implementation by early 2007.

The SAM project forms part of a wider strategy for optimising the UK industrial maritime base: other elements include the UK Naval Shipbuilding Industrial Strategy which is currently addressing future loading and skills retention within the surface shipbuilding industry, and the Surface Ship Support Study, which is addressing the in-service support strategy for surface ships.

Tanzania

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what stage the prosecution of Brett Richard Mallinson and David Moffett of the Light Dragoon Guards by the legal authorities of Tanzania has reached; [208382]

(2) what disciplinary action has been taken against soldiers and officers of (a) the Light Dragoon Guards and (b) other regiments following the death of Conjesta Ulikaye in Dar es Salaam in November 2004; what steps have been taken to establish a Board of Inquiry to investigate the background to her death; and whether an apology or expression of sympathy has been made to (i) the family of Conjesta Ulikaye and (ii) the Government of Tanzania. [208383]

 
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Mr. Ingram: The Tanzanian Director of Public Prosecutions has decided that there is to be no prosecution of Brett Mallinson or David Moffett in connection with the death of Conjesta Ulikaye in Dar es Salaam in November 2004.

It is not Ministry of Defence policy to discuss internal employment matters. The requirement for a Board of Inquiry is currently being considered.

It has not been appropriate to make an apology or expression of sympathy to family of Conjesta Ulikaye or the Government of Tanzania in relation to this incident.

Trident

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate how many (a) direct and (b) indirect civilian jobs in (i) Scotland and (ii) the rest of the UK rely upon the Trident programme. [214416]

Mr. Hoon: The number of civilian jobs which directly rely upon the Trident programme is estimated to be 936 in Scotland, with an additional 6,640 in the rest of the United Kingdom. The number of civilian jobs which indirectly rely upon the Trident programme is estimated to be 300 in Scotland and 5,700 for the rest of the UK.

War Remnants (Iraq)

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many explosive remnants of war have been cleared in Iraq to date; at what cost; how many casualties have resulted; what assessment has been made of the amount remaining; how much longer the clearance is expected to take; at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [200301]

Mr. Ingram: Significant quantities of munitions exist in Iraq as a result of the most recent period of hostilities, as well as the 1990–91 Gulf Conflict and Iraq's conflict with Iran. These consist of large stockpiles of Captured Enemy Ammunition (CEA) as well as explosive remnants of war, and the United Kingdom is not responsible for clearing these munitions, but any details of sites we hold are passed onto the relevant organisations.

The clearance of CEA is organised across Iraq by the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, and is done by civilian contractors, non-governmental organisations and military Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams. Over 850,000 individual munitions have been cleared from MND(SE). We do not have details of progress made by other coalition partners. Neither the total cost of the clearance of CEA nor the number of casualties from unexploded ordnance is available.

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