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10 Mar 2005 : Column 1981W—continued
Cluster Munitions
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2005, Official Report, column 729W, on cluster munitions, whether any foreign-owned company has (a) manufactured cluster munitions in and (b) exported cluster munitions from the UK since 1998. [220806]
Mr. Ingram: No foreign-owned company has manufactured cluster munitions in the UK or exported cluster munitions from the UK since 1998.
Death in Service
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements are made for parents of service personnel who have died (a) while on active service abroad and (b) while stationed at overseas barracks to visit the sites of the deaths. [220802]
Mr. Caplin: When a service person dies overseas the body will be repatriated or, if the next of kin request it, interred locally. In the latter case the service will bear the cost, including travel expenses of close relatives. Where the body has been interred overseas without the attendance of the relatives, or was not recovered, funding may be provided for two close relatives to visit the site within two years of the death.
Defence Information Infrastructure Project
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to award the contract for the Defence Information Infrastructure project. [220257]
Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 2 March 2005, Official Report, column 88WS.
Defence Service Agencies (Scotland)
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for each financial year since 1997–98 the Duke of York's Royal Military School spent in Scotland (a) in monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland in each case; and if he will make a statement. [215437]
Mr. Caplin: All the information requested is published in our annual Accounts, which are available in the Library of the House.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of its personnel budget for each financial year since 1997–98 the Defence Medical Services Department spent in Scotland (a) in monetary terms and (b) as a percentage of the total personnel budget for that year; how many personnel were employed in Scotland in each case; and if he will make a statement. [215457]
Mr. Caplin:
In the current financial year 2004–05, specifically the Defence Medical Services Department (DMSD) is spending £56,424 of its personnel budget in Scotland which forms approximately 0.5 per cent. of the total DMSD personnel budget for this year. This covers less than five members of staff.
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In previous years the DMSD has not employed any personnel in Scotland as they have been employed by other agencies and thus the figure is zero for all other years requested.
Devonport
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what departmental reviews currently under way affect the future of Devonport Dockyard and Devonport Naval Base. [219715]
Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is carrying out a number of studies as part of a wider strategy intended to optimise UK industry's warship and submarine sector. All have a similar headline aim of improving programme and cost performance, and ensuring sustainable capacity and capability. The main studies are:
The aim is to create an overall 'road map' that will identify how and when the outcomes of these studies might converge to improve overall efficiency. However, it is too early to say what impact, if any, these studies will have on Devonport, or any other, Dockyard or Naval Base.
Equipment Programmes
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will begin Equipment Programme 06. [220546]
Mr. Ingram: To align the Ministry of Defence's planning cycle with the Government's biennial planning cycle based on Spending Reviews in alternate years, and to improve further the effectiveness of our planning, we have decided to conduct future planning rounds every two years, rather than annually. Equipment Plan 2007 will therefore be the next equipment planning round; the main work will commence early in 2006.
Gibraltar
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service quarters are available for the armed forces in Gibraltar; how many are (a) being and (b) planned to be improved; which are planned to be (i) sold and (ii) gutted; and if he will make a statement. [218619]
Mr. Ingram: British Forces Gibraltar currently owns 515 houses. None are being sold or gutted. However, under the Lands Agreement, 123 quarters will be passed to GOG, 392 quarters in total will then be available for use by MOD, including 96 which will be leased from Royal Gibraltar Regiment Trust. A total of 47 properties are currently being improved and it is planned to improve 114 in the future.
Iraq
Mrs. Browning:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel have been deployed in
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private security companies on behalf of coalition forces during the course of the Iraq war; and how many personnel are currently deployed in private military companies in Iraq. [216041]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 21 February 2005]: The Ministry of Defence does not employ private military companies or private security companies in Iraq. Use of private military companies by other coalition partners is a matter for them.
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of Iraqi casualties in the UK sector since the end of the war; and what percentage this represents of the total estimated number of Iraqi casualties since the conflict began. [218551]
Mr. Ingram: None. The United Kingdom armed forces do not maintain records which would enable a definitive estimate of the total number of civilian casualties arising from the Iraq conflict to be calculated.
UK military reporting is limited to the UK area of operations. But even within the UK area of operations reporting is limited to what troops see on the ground. So military reporting is incomplete and cannot provide the basis of civilian casualty estimates. This is why we do not publish figures.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much was spent by the Government on military operations between the outbreak of hostilities in Iraq on 19 March 2003 and 1 May 2003; and how much has been spent by the Government on military operations in Iraq since 1 May 2003; [219503]
(2) how much money was spent by the Government on preparations for the war in Iraq before the outbreak of war on 19 March 2003. [220350]
Mr. Ingram: Figures for the net additional costs of operations, in Iraq and elsewhere, are calculated and audited on an annual basis. The total cost of operations in Iraq in 2002–03, including the costs of preparations and the war fighting phase beginning in March 2003, was £847 million. Total costs in 2003–04 including the remainder of the war fighting phase, were £1,311 million.
Military Police
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are to move Royal Military Police training from Chichester to HMS Dryad in Portsmouth; and if he will make a statement. [219280]
Mr. Ingram: The future of Royal Military Police training at Chichester, which forms part of the Defence College of Police and Personnel Administration, is under consideration. As yet, no decisions have been made. Should any proposals materialise, they will be subject to normal consultation processes and the hon. Member will be advised.
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