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15 Nov 2005 : Column 1089W—continued
Literacy and Numeracy
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2005, Official Report, column 1262W, on literacy and numeracy, how many basic skills tutors are employed in his Department; and how much they are paid. [27961]
Mr. Touhig: Currently there are 42 basic skills tutors directly employed by the Ministry of Defence. The salaries for each basic skills tutor varies according to a number of factors such as number of hours worked, length of service in grade, regional weightings and cost of living allowance for those tutors based overseas. However their basic pay is based on either the teachers' scales in England and Wales ranging from £19,161 to £35,082 or the band D MOD civil service pay scale: £17,072 to £26,626.
In addition, a further 18 basic skills tutors work within MOD funded entirely by Learning and Skills Council provision.
Military Deployment (Kosovo)
Mr. Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact of the presence of British military forces deployed in Kosovo; what plans there are for continuing the deployment; and if he will make a statement. [27532]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 November 2005]: The UK played a key role in the initial stabilisation of Kosovo, contributing some 13,000 troops to NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR). More recently, our contribution of some 200 troops to KFOR has supported provision of a safe and secure environment in Kosovo. As with all deployments of UK forces overseas, we regularly review force levels and structures. There are currently no plans for significant changes to our contribution to KFOR.
Oil Prices
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact of recent oil price rises on general operations for the three branches of the armed forces; what the real terms increase in cash spending has been for each of the armed forces in each of the last four years; and what extra funding has been requested from the Treasury to alleviate the consequences of oil price rises. [17113]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 October 2005]: There is a clear relationship over the longer term (though a less predictable one in the shorter term) between changes in the oil price and the costs of fuels used in Defence, with rises in the oil price translating into increased unit costs for fuel for the Department. Fuel price rises have not, however, had an adverse impact on the delivery of Defence outputs, as the Department actively seeks to forecast and plan for movements in fuel prices, in both its forward financial planning and in-year financial management.
The Department has not requested additional funding from the Treasury to alleviate the consequences for Defence of oil price rises. In line with established practice, the net additional costs of operations, including the costs of fuel consumed on operations
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continue to be met from the Treasury Reserve. The resource costs of the consumption of fuel, oil and lubricants by the Department in support of operational and non-operational activity in each of the last four years are shown in the table. As the Department's fuel consumption ranges across a number of joint organisations as well as Service budget areas, breaking these figures down by Service could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2001–01 | 368 |
| 2002–03 | 364 |
| 2003–04 | 370 |
| 2004–05 | 402 |
Predictive Diallers
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many calls were made from call centres in his Department in 2004–05 using predictive diallers; how many such calls resulted in contact being made with the recipient without a Government agent available to talk to them; and what assessment he has made of the likely impact of Ofcom's policy on silent calls on the use of predictive diallers in departmental call centres. [28176]
Mr. Touhig: None. Predictive dialling technology is not used by the Ministry of Defence.
Qinetiq
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what value creation targets have been set for Qinetiq; and what implications this has for further non-competitive work allocation by his Department. [27647]
Mr. Ingram: No specific value creation targets have been set for Qinetiq by MOD. We have, however, sought to enhance the value of our shareholding in Qinetiq through the introduction of The Carlyle Group as our strategic partner in February 2003. On non-competitive work allocation, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2005, Official Report, column 1216.
RAF Gibraltar
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the tendering process for RAF Gibraltar air traffic control. [28009]
Mr. Ingram: The RAF Gibraltar air traffic control requirement was competitively tendered as part of the re-let of the airfield support services requirement at RAF Gibraltar. The tender exercise was undertaken in accordance with MOD guidelines with an invitation to tender issued in February 2005 and an award of contract in August 2005.
The requirement was initially advertised for expressions of interest in the MOD Contracts Bulletin in June 2004. A total of six companies expressed an interest in the requirement and were issued with invitations to tender. Three companies responded and entered bids which were evaluated under technical and commercial criteria published in the tender documentation, with the
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award of contract to the National Air Traffic Services as the highest scoring bidder offering the best overall value for money.
Royal Military Police Historic Investigation Team
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many personnel will be involved in the 6 Royal Military Police Historic Investigation Team from (a) the Royal Military Police, (b) the Police Service of Northern Ireland, (c) the Army Prosecutions Service and (d) other sections of his Department; [27113]
(2) when he expects the first prosecutions to be brought by the 6 Royal Military Police Historic Investigation Team; and if he will make a statement; [27063]
(3) how many cases are being examined by the 6 Royal Military Police Historic Investigation Team; and if he will make a statement; [27038]
(4) what the duties of the 6 Royal Military Police Historic Investigation team are; and how many (a) officers, (b) non-commissioned officers and (c) ordinary soldiers are in the team. [27037]
Mr. Ingram: The 6th Regiment, Royal Military Police (6 RMP) Historic Inquiry Team (HIT) has been established as the focal point in headquarters Northern Ireland for providing information to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) review of all 'troubles' related-deaths. They are not undertaking any investigative responsibilities in relation to this review, nor do they have responsibility for the prosecutions process. Any prosecutions arising from the PSNI review will be carried out by the PSNI.
Once fully established, the 6 RMP HIT will comprise five non-commissioned officers from the RMP and three Ministry of Defence civilian support staff.
The PSNI are expected to review some 2000 cases, although each case-file may contain more than one incident of death. The RMP HIT are currently examining their information holdings in order to establish and inform the PSNI whether they hold information relevant to these cases. The RMP HIT remit is to retrieve relevant material regarding specific cases in response to requests for information from the PSNI.
Royal Ordnance
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he expects the supply of components to be affected by the proposed closure of the BAE ordnance factory at Bridgwater. [26086]
Mr. Ingram: BAE Systems Land Systems will remain responsible for the maintenance of security of supply of components currently manufactured at the Bridgwater factory. We remain confident in their ability to do so.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications for security of supply of the proposed closure of the BAE Systems ordnance sites at Bridgewater and Chorley. [26093]
Mr. Ingram:
BAE System Land Systems are responsible for security of supply of ammunition. They have provided detailed plans to the Ministry of Defence
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on how they intend to achieve this when the Bridgwater and Chorley sites are closed, and we remain confident in their ability to do so.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what types of ordnance are supplied to the armed forces by BAE Systems at (a) Chorley and (b) Bridgewater; and whether arrangements will be put in place to continue the availability of such ordanance from UK sources following their closure. [26094]
Mr. Ingram: Chorley's main production output is initiators for various natures of munitions but production at the site has been suspended following an industrial incident in March 2005. Current production remains limited to filling and assembling a small number of stores using stocks of previously manufactured compositions.
The following table lists those items which have, until recently, been manufactured at the Chorley site:
The Bridgwater site supplies a range of explosive compounds and products including fillings for warheads, propellants and demolition stores.
A list of the individual items supplied over the last five years to the MOD or MOD prime contractors by the BAE Systems Land Systems facility at Bridgwater is as follows:
BAE Systems Land Systems will remain responsible for the maintenance of security of supply for these products. They have provided detailed plans on how they intend to achieve this and we remain confident in their ability to do so.
Mr. Gerald Howarth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 December 1997, Official Report, column 383W on Royal Ordnance,
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Bridgewater to the hon. Member for Salisbury (Robert Key), what considerations he took into account in approving the joint venture between BAE Systems and Socie"te" Nationale des Poudres et Explosifs. [26346]
Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is aware that discussions took place some years ago between Royal Ordnance (now BAE Systems Land Systems) and Socie"te" Nationale des Poudres et Explosifs with a view to a joint venture. No final agreement was reached between the two companies so there was no joint venture.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has held with BAE Systems plc over the closure of the Royal Ordnance factories in Bridgwater and Chorley. [26369]
Mr. Ingram: A number of meetings were held between BAE Systems Land Systems and MOD officials on their proposed closure of the Chorley and Bridgwater sites. The aim of these meetings was to ensure that the company's rationalisation plans provided for continued security of supply as well as offering value for money for the taxpayer.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel have been seconded to a factory in France from the former Royal Ordnance factory in (a) Chorley and (b) Bridgwater; and whether associated plant has been relocated from the UK to France. [27064]
Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence is aware that discussions took place some years ago between Royal Ordnance (now BAE Systems Land Systems) and the Societe National des Poudres et Explosifs (SNPE) with a view to a joint venture. No final agreement was reached between the two companies. Issues relating to secondment and plant relocations are a matter for BAE Systems Land Systems.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much land at the Royal Ordnance factory at Chorley has been sold for redevelopment. [28011]
Mr. Ingram: Questions regarding land sales at BAE Systems Land Systems site at Chorley should be addressed to the company.
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