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7 Apr 2005 : Column 1716W—continued

Charge Cards

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what use is made of charge cards by officials in procuring defence equipment in excess of a value of £5,000. [225036]

Mr. Ingram: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Advertising Contracts

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many advertising contracts, and to what value, were signed by his Department in the periods (a) 1 September 2004 to 1 March 2005 and (b) 1 September 2003 to 1 March 2004, broken down by (i) television, (ii) radio, (iii) press, (iv) direct mail and (v)other advertising. [219383]

Mr. Caplin [holding answer 2 March 2005]: Data on advertising contracts is not recorded by the categories requested and can be identified only from the UK Standard Industrial Classification Code 2003 allocated to the contract. The SIC code is used to record activities and products and is published and approved for use by the Office of National Statistics. Therefore, contracts and their values identified by Advertising SIC Codes for the periods in question are as follows.

SIC Code	Description	Date placed	Contract value (£)
Advertising Contracts for Period 1 September 2003 to1 March 2004
22120	Advertising covering:	19 February 2004	25,000
	newspaper publishing (manufacture)
22220	Advertising covering:	8 September 2003	30,000
	catalogue printing and printed matter (manufacture)	22 December 2003	3,800
		20 January 2004	60,000
		3 October 2003	2,900
		13 November 2003	288
25240	Advertising covering:	4 December 2003	4,500
	advertising material made of plastic (manufacture)	23 October 2003	7,900
		8 January 2004	1,300
		17 November 2003	14,300
		26 September 2003	75,000
		26 November 2003	29,400
		10 December 2003	7,100
		11 November 2003	11,200
		11 February 2004	3,000
		7 January 2004	13,000
		11 February 2004	1,500
		11 February 2004	753
		18 February 2004	257
		11 February 2004	464
		11 February 2004	420
		11 February 2004	496
		11 February 2004	1,000
		1 September 2003	211
		23 December 2003	452
		16 February 2004	83
		17 November 2003	2,600
		26 February 2004	452,000
		18 February 2004	25,300
		18 December 2003	3,600
		16 February 2004	11,300
		9 September 2003	92,000
31500	Advertising covering:	15 December 2003	180,000
	light (manufacture)	24 October 2003	1,700
		28 January 2004	77,400
		30 September 2004	37,200
		20 October 2003	9,100
		24 March 2004	2,000
		24 November 2003	32,200
		5 February 2004	17,100
		17 February 2004	7,700
		13 February 2004	48,400
		22 December 2003	370,200
		3 November 2003	26,100
		27 February 2004	139,300
		26 January 2004	1,800
		17 December 2003	6,400
74400	Advertising covering:	17 November 2003	122,000
	campaign creation and realisation; advertising consultants; advertising material or samples delivery or distribution; advertising space or time sales or leasing activities
92110	Advertising covering:	2 September 2003	46,500
	film production	4 November 2003	14,800
		6 February 2004	58,700
Advertising contracts for period 1 September 2004 to March 2005
22220	Advertising covering:	20 September 2004	7,900
	catalogue printing (manufacture)	2 February 2005	14,800
		16 December 2004	455,000
25240	Advertising covering:	6 December 2004	14,400
	material made of plastic (manufacture)	25 November 2004	87,900
		10 November 2004	364
		21 December 2004	4,100
		6 October 2004	463,700
		6 September 2004	663
		6 October 2004	672,900
		3 September 2004	845.00
		9 September 2004	2,500
		1 December 2004	16,800
31500	Advertising covering:	10 December 2004	180,000
	light (manufacture)	17 January 2005	25,000
		21 December 2004	15,000
		22 October 2004	24,900
174400		17 January 2005	24,700
		20 January 2005	8,500
		30 November 2004	57,300
		1 November 2004	25,300
		6 September 2004	11,000
		22 November 2004	920
74400	Advertising covering:	1 October 2004	600,000
	campaign creation and realisation; advertising consultants;	22 November 2004	16,000
	advertising Material or samples delivery or distribution; advertising space or time sales or leasing activities	7 September 2004	127,600
92110	Advertising covering:	1 October 2004	45,000
	film production	1 October 2004	34,000
		1 October 2004	36,000
		1 October 2004	36,000
		1 October 2004	33,000

 
7 Apr 2005 : Column 1719W
 

Annual Report and Accounts 2003–04

Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the outcome of the appeal referred to in Note 13 (ii) of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2003–04. [209337]

Mr. Ingram: The appeals process is still continuing, and may not be concluded for about three years.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme for injuries and deaths occurring after 6 April provides an exemption to the five-year limit for claims for deafness; and if he will make a statement. [224796]

Mr. Ingram: The general time limit for claiming injury benefits under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is five years from the date on which the injury occurs or, in the case of an illness, five years from the date the claimant first sought medical advice in relation to that illness. The time limit does not apply in certain circumstances to conditions that have late onset—for example a cancer which is caused by an occupational exposure occurring more than five years before the onset of the disease. Hearing loss due to a service cause—for example a blast injury—has onset in close time proximity to the cause and so does not fall within the late onset provision.

Arms Exports (India)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of the benefit to the UK (a) economy and (b) labour market of India's proposed purchase of 125 fighter jets; and if he will make a statement. [216256]

Mr. Ingram: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Army Costs

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of a fully equipped infantry regiment was in the last year for which figures are available; how this cost would change if it were deployed to (a) combat and (b) non-combat roles overseas; and if he will make a statement. [223738]

Mr. Ingram: Such information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
 
7 Apr 2005 : Column 1720W
 

Army Discipline

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers who made complaints under Army redress procedures since 1997 subsequently committed suicide. [201840]

Mr. Ingram: Our records indicate that since 1997 one soldier whose death was recorded by a coroner as suicide is known to have submitted a redress of complaint. There is no evidence to suggest that the redress, which was withdrawn, and the soldier's death were linked.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what have been the total (a) damages awarded against the Department and (b) Department's legal costs since 1997 with respect to cases in the British courts which relate to a decision of the Army Board under the redress system. [201842]

Mr. Caplin: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints that have been considered under Army redress procedures have resulted in legal action before the (a) employment tribunal, (b) High Court and (c) European Court of Human Rights since 1997. [201844]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence does not hold complete records dating back to 1997. During the period January 1999 and December 2004, our records indicate that there have been 33 Army redress of complaint cases which were the subject of an employment tribunal, and two cases which were the subject of a judicial review in the courts.

We are not aware of any redress of complaints considered under Army procedures between January 1999 and December 2004 being subject to legal action in the European Court of Human Rights.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many decisions of the Army board on complaints under the redress system have been overturned by a court of law since 1997; for what reasons these decisions were overturned; and if he will make a statement. [201845]

Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence does not hold complete records dating back to 1997. Since 1999, our records indicate that no redress of complaint decisions taken by the Army board have been overturned in a UK court of law.
 
7 Apr 2005 : Column 1721W
 

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many complaints have been considered by the Army board from soldiers who are serving, or who have served, at (a) Deepcut barracks and (b) ITC Catterick since 1997; and how many of those complaints related to issues of bullying or harassment; [201846]

(2) how many of the 197 complaints considered by the Army board between 1999 and 2003 related to issues of bullying or harassment; [201831]

(3) how many of the 63 complaints under Army redress procedures upheld or partially upheld between 1997 and 2003 related to issues of bullying or harassment; and how many (a) officers, (b) non-commissioned officers and (c) private soldiers were disciplined as a result. [201832]

Mr. Caplin: These questions relate to information I gave to the hon. Member in a written answer on 18 November 2004, Official Report, column 1806W. It has subsequently been found that there was an error in the statistics given in that answer relating to the number of redress cases considered by the Army board.

Officials have urgently been examining those records. I wrote to the hon. Member on 6 April and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) officers, (b) non-commissioned officers and (c) private soldiers have been disciplined following the outcome of (i) an Army board decision, (ii) a divisional level decision and (iii) a unit level decision since 1997. [217452]

Mr. Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 5 April 2005, Official Report, column 1373W.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the complaints under Army redress procedures upheld or partially upheld between 1997 and 2003 related to issues of bullying or harassment; and how many (a) officers, (b) non-commissioned officers and (c) private soldiers were disciplined as a result. [217457]

Mr. Caplin: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints have been considered by the Army Board from soldiers who are serving, or who have served, at (a) Deepcut Barracks and (b) ITC Catterick since 1997; and how many of those complaints related to issues of bullying or harassment. [217458]

Mr. Caplin: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the conformity of the practice of administrative discharge through manning controls with (a) European Union legislation, (b) the European Convention on Human Rights and (c) the Employment Rights Act 1966. [217459]

Mr. Caplin: European Union employment legislation is reflected in the Employment Rights Act 1996, from which the armed forces are exempt. The European
 
7 Apr 2005 : Column 1722W
 
Convention on Human Rights contains no provision relating to the right to work. Notwithstanding the provision of law, the armed forces are governed in large measure by the royal prerogative" which allows for the discharge of personnel through manning control measures.

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