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21 Mar 2005 : Column 573W—continued
Regiments
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) land and (b) buildings are held by (i) the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, (ii) the King's Regiment and (iii) the King's Own Borderers. [222317]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Royal Navy Destroyers/Frigates
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the destroyers and frigates serving in the Royal Navy; and what the proposed retirement date for each is. [223251]
Mr. Ingram: HMS Norfolk, a Type 23 frigate, will be withdrawn from service by the end of the month. The latest planned decommissioning dates for the other ships are as follows:
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Torture-obtained Information
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Defencepursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2005, Official Report, column 1257W, on torture-obtained information, on how many occasions in the last year his Department has used information obtained by the use of torture in another country. [218760]
Mr. Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave on 14 March 2005, Official Report, column 90W.
Trident
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 1 March 2005, Official Report, column 1148W, which Scottish local authorities were involved in the risk assessment; and if he will place a copy of the risk assessment in the Library. [221033]
Mr. Hoon: No Scottish local authorities were involved in the generation of the latest risk assessment on the transport of nuclear material for the Trident nuclear system. The document contains confidential information relating to national security and I am therefore unable to place a copy in the Library as requested.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 15 March 2005, Official Report, column 189W, on Trident, if he will list the occasions when such incidents occurred while nuclear material was on the jetty. [223304]
Mr. Hoon:
On only one occasion, in September 2004, was nuclear material present on the Explosives Handling Jetty when there was an alarm. However, after investigation, this was found to be a false alarm.
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Uniforms
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether all (a) reservists and (b) full-time soldiers are clothed to scale when on deployment overseas. [222289]
Mr. Ingram: Once a deployment overseas has been agreed, a Mounting Instruction is issued on the authority of the Department's Permanent Joint Headquarters to the Front Line Commands, who in turn amplify, as necessary, the requirement for those personnel being deployed and issue Instructions to units for action. Equipment, including clothing, is then demanded and issued to the appropriate scale for Reservists and regular full-time soldiers to supplement their personal issue holdings.
On mobilisation, Army Reservists pass through the Reserves Training and Mobilisation Centre located in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, for pre-deployment training and administration. Part of this process is to ensure that they have the full scale of personal equipment prior to deploying. Operational theatres have adequate reserve stocks of personal equipment items to make up deficiencies due to loss, damage or wear and tear.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Economic Partnership Agreements
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the need for ACP countries to retain national and regional autonomy in economic partnership agreements with the EU. [221268]
Mr. Alexander: Many of the ACP countries have developed poverty reduction strategies. EPAs should support these by enabling regional groupings to sequence trade reform appropriately and to participate on equal terms in the international economy. We are working closely with other member states, the European Commission and the ACP countries themselves to ensure that the developmental benefits of EPAs are realised.
EU Committees
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the EC-Russia Joint Committee on scientific and technological co-operation met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [215421]
Ms Hewitt: There were no meetings of the EU-Russia PCA sub-committee on education, culture, and science and technology during the Italian, Irish and Dutch presidencies. The last took place in Brussels on March 3 2003 during the Greek presidency. Meetings are convened by the European Commission, and the member states are not invited; therefore no UK officials attend.
Gas
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of
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the security of gas supplies in (a) winter 2005–06 and (b) winter 2006–07; when she expects to lay before Parliament the first report on the medium and long-term energy supplies as required by the Energy Act 2004; and if she will make a statement. [222602]
Mr. Mike O'Brien [holding answer 17 March 2005]: Through the Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group (JESS), the DTI and Ofgem, with help from national grid, continually monitor developments in the energy market, and look for ways of helping the market work more effectively to deliver secure energy supplies. This includes consideration of the position on gas supplies.
The most recent report was published in November of last year and is available from the Libraries of the House. It shows that the gas supply/demand balance would be tight in 2005–06 if that proves to be a particularly severe winter, and that gas supplies are expected to increase after that.
We expect the report under the Energy Act 2004 to be laid before Parliament in the summer.
In-house Magazines
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent on the production of in-house magazines in the Department in each year since 1997. [213635]
Ms Hewitt: The DTI produces an in-house magazine for all staff, the function of which is to inform them about the organisation's business objectives, and enable them to act as ambassadors for the Department. Research shows that the magazine is widely read and considered useful.
Costs for the current year are £5,000. It is not possible to give figures for earlier years because the costs for the previous DTI newspaper were not itemised individually and to produce them would incur disproportionate costs.
International Accounting Standards
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with (a) his counterparts and (b) the European Commission concerning a move towards agreement on international accounting standards. [222394]
Ms Hewitt: Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of International Accounting Standards was adopted by member state on 7 June 2002. Prior to its adoption, my Department had extensive discussions with other Government Departments, other member states and the European Commission.
Along with representatives of other member states, my Department sits on the Accounting Regulatory Committee, which was created by the Regulation to consider the adoption of individual International Accounting Standards into European law.
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