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17 Mar 2005 : Column 411W—continued
Military Uniform
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the stock levels of uniforms for (a) jungle use, (b) winter warfare, (c) general use and (d) desert deployment are. [221642]
Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence currently holds sufficient stocks of uniforms to meet current operational requirements, as identified by the Front Line Commands, for at least the next six months. Information down to individual items of clothing, as requested, could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Sufficient uniforms are also being procured to meet future operational needs for personnel covering the various climates referred to.
Royal Navy
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the level of naval spares. [221584]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 March 2005]: Naval spares are carried on board each unit at levels that support operational commitments. Onboard holdings on deployed units are supplemented by spares carried afloat on Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, and by shore stocks. The level of spares held ashore is a balance between ensuring normal commitments can be met and minimising the value and volume of stockholdings. These levels are adequate to meet operational commitments under the normal support/reduced support regime currently in place.
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which naval vessels spares are being taken. [221585]
17 Mar 2005 : Column 412W
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 March 2005]: I will write shortly with a full list of the ships that have had ships' fitted equipment removed from them over the last year. With regard to onboard stores items, these are transferred from one ship's storeroom to another under local arrangements. Such transactions are not normally recorded centrally.
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer, 25 November 2004, Official Report, column 51W, on the Royal Navy, what decisions have been made about the future of naval tasks (a) Standing Naval Force Mediterranean, (b) Atlantic Patrol South, (c) Atlantic Patrol North, (d) Armilla Patrol, (e) Indian Ocean Patrol and (f) Fleet Ready Escort around the United Kingdom. [222132]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 15 March 2005]: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what equipment has been taken from Royal Navy warships in port in the last year to make up for deficiencies on ships that are on operational deployment; how many ships have been involved; and if he will make a statement. [221345]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 March 2005]: Ships are prioritised by readiness for the Joint Rapid Reaction Force rather than being either 'deployed' or 'in port'.
The removal of ships' fitted equipment (or parts of it) is known as STOROB. This is a formal process, but is normally used as last resort to meet high readiness operational commitments in cases where the demanded items are not available from other sources. Because of the impact on the donor ship's capability, this is only considered when the donor ship is either reducing in readiness towards upkeep or disposal, or is already in upkeep.
I will write to you shortly with a full list of the ships and equipment that have been involved in the STOROB process over the last year, and I will place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Royal Navy ships are on the list for disposal. [221397]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 March 2005]: Presently there are a number of ships on the list for disposal, some vessels are being disposed of in the normal course whereas others have been declared surplus following the Government's announcement in July 2004, as a supplement to the Defence White Paper 2003—Delivering Security in a Changing World Future Capabilities.
Two Landing Platform Docks (HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid) Two Castle Class OPVs (HMS Leeds Castle and HMS Dumbarton Castle).
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efficiency savings have been made against fleet activity in the Royal Navy for each of the last seven years. [221398]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 March 2005]: Prior to financial year 2000–01, there was no requirement to record efficiency savings. With effect from FY 2004–05 the requirement to record such measures will once again cease. The following year-on-year efficiency savings for those FYs in which records were mandatory, were achieved in the Fleet TLB:
| Financial year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 8.233 |
| 2001–02 | 5.206 |
| 2002–03 | 15.786 |
| 2003–04 | 22.485 |
Efficiency savings resulting from the Fleet TLB restructuring (Fleet First) in March 2002 constitute the major element of the savings achieved in the latter two FYs.
Tornado Aircraft
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for providing a deep maintenance facility at RAF Leuchars for the Tornado F3. [220837]
Mr. Ingram: As far as is practicable it is intended to consolidate Tornado F3 Main Operating Base maintenance facilities at RAF Leuchars, in line with the recommendations of the End to End Logistics Review.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Accelerate Programme
Mr. Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the 16 companies in the Birmingham, Hodge Hill constituency that are participating in Advantage West Midland's Accelerate Programme. [209373]
Nigel Griffiths: The following are the 16 companies that have had/have support from the Accelerate Programme and are in the Hodge Hill constituency.
Credit Card Borrowing
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to issue guidance on the consequences of unsustainable borrowing on credit cards. [222197]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Credit is an integral part of our daily lives and in the majority of cases consumers are using credit successfully—confident in their ability to repay due to the underlying economic stability.
We have been particularly concerned to ensure that consumers are made aware of the cost of their borrowing. To this end, the Consumer Credit (Agreements) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 laid before Parliament on 9 June 2004 include provisions to ensure that consumers are made aware of the dangers of failing to repay their borrowing, including the fact that missing payments can have severe consequences for the consumer.
We have also worked closely with the credit industry in developing the voluntary warnings they have introduced on monthly statements about the dangers of making only minimum payments.
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