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Defence Documents

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the voluntary code of conduct for European defence equipment sales and (b) the EU's Military Requirements Catalogue. [32708]

John Reid: I will place a copy of the voluntary code of conduct for European defence procurement in the Library of the House.

I am unable to place a copy of the EU's Military Requirements Catalogue in the Library. This is a classified EU document and therefore any decision to place it in the public domain must be made collectively.

However, I will place in the Library a copy of the Council Conclusions agreed by Ministers on 21 November, which sets out the aims of the Catalogue.
 
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Departmental Contracts (Direct Mail)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contracts for direct mail were signed by his Department by (a) 2005–06 to date and (b) 2004–05; and what the value was in each case. [27663]

Mr. Ingram: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Estate

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) land and (b) property his Department (i) owns and (ii) rents in each constituency; and if he will make a statement. [33264]

Mr. Touhig: Details of the land and property owned by the Ministry of Defence are listed in the National Assets Register, a copy of which is held within the Library of the House and can also be found at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/mediastore/otherfiles/217.pdf.

Details of land and property rented by the Ministry of Defence are not held centrally. To provide the information in the format requested would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Expenditure

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Department and its agencies have spent on (a) the design and production of new logos and (b) employing external (i) public relations and (ii) graphic design agencies in each year since 2000, broken down by project. [33215]

Mr. Touhig: The Ministry of Defence's expenditure on External Assistance, of which consultants employed to manage PR is part, is available in the Library of the House for years 1995–96 to 2004–05. Although this is broken down by various categories, the MOD does not centrally record expenditure on external PR and other related agencies, or other costs associated with the design and production of new logos. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Procurement

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) which procurements have been cancelled by his Department since 1997; and what (a) losses were incurred and (b) the reasons were for cancellation in each case; [32192]

(2) if he will list defence procurements that have seen capability reductions against the initial Memorandum of Understanding; and what (a) capability modifications and (b) cost savings resulted in each case. [32201]

Mr. Ingram: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Staff

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what restrictions there were on his Department's officials seeking employment with companies in the defence sector while they remain employed by the Ministry. [32356]

 
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Mr. Ingram: Members of the armed forces and Ministry of Defence officials, like other Crown servants, are required to comply with rules on the acceptance of outside business appointments if they wish to take up other employment—whether in the defence industry orelsewhere—within two years of their retirement or resignation. The rules provide for the scrutiny of applications and for the imposition of a waiting period or other conditions where there might be cause for concern. The rules for the home civil service are set out in Section 4.3 Annex B of the civil service management code, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Corresponding requirements also apply to members of the armed forces.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people working in his Department are on secondment from arms (a) manufacturers and (b) traders. [32357]

Mr. Ingram: There are currently 20 staff seconded in to the Ministry of Defence from private industry. Information available on these staff is as follows:

Company	Number of staff
BAE Systems	3
Partnerships UK	1
Thales	1
Rolls Royce	1
Alstom	1
Qinetiq	1
DSTL	2
Paradigm	1
DML	3
Halcrow Group	3
Baptie Group	2
Grant Thornton	1

Due to the size and scope of these companies it is not possible to determine whether they have come from the arms manufacturing or trading divisions within them.

David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's employees who are within one year of the official retirement age are on extended sick leave. [32603]

Mr. Touhig: As at 25 November 2005, 50 ¹ Ministry of Defence civilian employees ² were within one year of their official retirement age and on extended sick leave ³ .

¹ Number has been rounded to the nearest 10.

² This includes all permanent and casual staff, but excludes Trading Fund, Locally Engaged Civilian and Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel.

³ Extended sick leave is defined as a continuing period of sickness absence in excess of 28 days (four weeks), which is the point at which a referral should be made to occupational health.

HMS Intrepid

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to dispose of HMS Intrepid; and if he will make a statement. [28355]

Mr. Ingram: It is intended to either dismantle Intrepid, or sell it on for re-use. The Disposal Services Agency (DSA) invited tenders for the dismantling of Intrepid in 2004, however none of the proposals received were deemed suitable. The DSA continues to work
 
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on identifying suitable facilities for dismantling, both in the UK and overseas. In parallel any potential opportunities for sale are being explored.

Iraq

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medical staff serving with British armed forces in Iraq have been (a) injured and (b) killed since March 2003; and if he will make a statement. [31415]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 24 November 2005]: No serving Royal Army Medical Corps personnel have died or been killed while on Operation Telic. Three Royal Army Medical Corps personnel have been injured as a result of hostile action. No Royal Naval Medical Service personnel and no Royal Air Force Medical Service personnel have been killed or injured as a result of hostile action.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen have received treatment for mental health problems since serving in Iraq duringthe current conflict; and where they have been treated. [33140]

Mr. Touhig [holding answer 29 November 2005]: Currently available statistics show that between January 2003 and September 2005, 1,333 UK service personnel who deployed on operation Telic subsequently received treatment for mental health conditions. This represents around 1.5 per cent. of total UK service personnel deployed to the region during the same period. Out-patient treatment takes place at 13 MOD Departments of community mental health (DCMH) located throughout the UK and three satellite centres in Cyprus, Germany and Gibraltar. In-patient treatment, when required, has been provided by The Priory Group since April 2004.

Due to data capture problems, we have been unable to include figures from DCMH Cyprus for the period June to September 2005. This will be rectified in future, but the numbers will be very small and should not significantly affect the total.

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