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BAE Systems (Contracts)

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value was of the Joint Repair Management Team contract awarded to BAE Systems in January 2003 at RAF Cottesmore. [217383]

Mr. Ingram: £570,000.

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value is of the Joint Repair Organisation contract awarded to BAE Systems in June 2004 at RAF Cottesmore. [217384]

Mr. Ingram: £17 million.

Catering Costs

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on (a) entertainment lunches involving civil servants and guests and (b) working lunches, in each year since 1997. [215047]

Mr. Caplin: Working lunches have to be specifically approved in advance by a budget holder against a clear business need and in strict accordance with departmental instructions. The cost of such lunches are not however recorded separately on the Department's financial systems and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Chelsea Barracks

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his plans are for the future of Chelsea Barracks. [216111]

Mr. Caplin: There is a requirement to provide improved accommodation for personnel working in public duties in London. The proposal to redevelop Chelsea Barracks through PFI ended unsuccessfully in August 2004.

Work is now in hand on a number of options to meet the requirement, including the redevelopment of Chelsea. I expect to announce the outcome shortly.

Clothing Contracts

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2005, Official Report, column 729W, on clothing contracts, how many items of battle dress under the cut and sew contract have been delivered by the factory in China including (a) printing and (b) fabric manufacture; and whether the fabric samples tested for the contract originated from Belgium. [216057]

 
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Mr. Ingram: No deliveries of combat clothing items have yet been made under the Cut & Sew contract. Deliveries are due to commence in late February 2005, as per the contract delivery schedule.

Again I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 20 December 2004, Official Report, column 1372W, the garment tests I previously referred to on 8 December 2004, Official Report, column 156WH, related to the testing of fabric samples that were printed and manufactured in China. Under the terms of the contract I cannot specifically comment on sub-contractor details, however, I can confirm that samples provided during the tender process utilised fabric from a variety of sources, both in the UK and overseas.

Defence Aviation Repair Agency

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is his policy that all Tornado F3 programmes are to be carried out at the Defence Aviation Repair Agency St. Athan. [217160]

Mr. Ingram: Depth support for the Tornado F3 will remain as it is at present split between the Front Line units and DARA St. Athan until the aircraft's Out of Service date.

Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost is of replicating the Defence Aviation Repair Agency St. Athan capability at RAF Marham. [217161]

Mr. Ingram: It is not intended to replicate the DARA St. Athan facilities at RAF Marham, but to provide Depth maintenance facilities to support the Tornado GR4 aircraft fleet.

Defence Management Board

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will place in the Library the Defence Management Board balanced scorecard reports for each quarter since April 2000; [213586]

(2) what the Defence Management Board's (a) strategic objectives and (b) associated performance measures were for financial years 2001–01 to 2003–04; and what they are for financial year 2004–05. [213585]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's strategic objectives, together with the associated targets and performance measures, are set out in the Department's Public Service Agreements (PSA) for 1999–2002, 2001–04 and 2003–06. These targets are at the core of the Defence Balanced Scorecard. The PSAs are available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk. Performance against PSA targets is reported formally to Parliament in Departmental Spring and Autumn Performance Reports. For the MOD the Spring Performance Report has usually been incorporated within The Government's Expenditure Plans", and since 2002–03 the Autumn Performance Report has been incorporated within the Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts", The Autumn Performance Reports also include detailed reporting against the full range of Defence Balanced Scorecard objectives. All these reports for financial years 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 should be in the Library of the House, and are also available at www.mod.uk. The MOD's
 
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Government Expenditure Plans for 2005–06 to 2007–08" will be published in the spring. The Annual Report and Accounts for 2004–05" will be published in the autumn. In addition, in accordance with Treasury requirements, information on PSA performance since the first quarter of 2003–04 has been published quarterly on the Treasury website.

Dentistry

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the ratio is of military personnel to service dentists; and if he will make a statement. [216424]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 21 February 2005]: The current ratio of military personnel to service dentists is 1012:1.

Departmental Costs

Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate the Department has made of the financial effects of the proposed restructuring process between 2008 and 2013; [198989]

(2) what the projected costs between 2008 and 2013 are of the proposed (a) heavy (warrior) battalion, with high-tech upgrade, (b) medium (FRES battalion, with heavy-lift aircraft capability and (c) light (airportable) battalion, with high-tech network-capable upgrade. [198988]

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the projected costs per annum of the proposed new (a) heavy (warrior) battalion with high-tech upgrade, (b) medium (Future Rapid Effect System) battalion with heavy-lift aircraft capability and (c) light (airportable) battalion with high-tech network capable upgrade; and what estimate the Department has made of possible savings from the proposed restructuring process. [201010]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is continually restructuring. Currently this is being taken forward in the context of the Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities White Paper, published in July 2004. This set out our requirement for flexible and adaptable Armed Forces supported to carry out the most likely expeditionary operations. In order to better meet these operational requirements we are reducing force levels in certain capabilities in order to invest more in higher priority capabilities. The overall financial effect of the restructuring process will be that we are able to spend more on those capabilities able to deliver the effects we require. That will mean we are able to deploy our resources to optimum effect. Overall, the Spending Review 2004 settlement provided a 3.7 billion increase to the Defence budget. This represents the longest period of sustained real growth in defence spending for over 20 years.

In the Land environment, there will be a shift in emphasis to Light and Medium Weight forces in line with our operational requirement for greater adaptability and flexibility. In order to facilitate this re-balancing there will be a reduction in Heavy Weight capability.
 
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European Multinational Formations

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those headquarters units of European multinational formations to which the United Kingdom is not a party to which a liaison officer has been attached since May 1997. [216459]

Mr. Hoon: Since May 1997, of the European multinational formations to which the UK is not a party, and which are outside the NATO command and force structures, only Eurocorps has had a UK liaison officer. As indicated in my reply to the hon. Member of 27 January 2005, Official Report, columns 539–40W, there was a UK liaison team with Eurocorps from 2000–04.

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