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19 Jan 2006 : Column 1530W—continued
Procurement Contracts
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many procurement contracts for military equipment with a value greater than £1 million have been agreed with non-UK companies in each year since 2001; what their total value was in each year; how manysuch contracts were won by (a) US companies, (b) non-EU companies and (c) EU companies in each year since 2001, broken down by country; what the value was of each such contract; and if he will make a statement. [42070]
Mr. Ingram: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Project Hyperion
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will announce the conclusions of Project Hyperion; and if he will make a statement. [42981]
Mr. Ingram:
Work to consider the benefits of rationalisation and collocation of the two main Army HQs-HQ land (currently based in Wilton) and HQ Adjutant General (currently based in Upavon)—is ongoing. The Army is still determining the possible size and structure of the new HQ organisation and, in parallel, assessing a number of site options. We intend to inform the House about the final size and structure of the new HQ towards the end of this year. It is planned
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that an announcement about possible future locations will be made by the spring. Full collocation—assuming it is finally approved—is unlikely to be completed before 2009.
Research and Development Facility (Colchester)
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the research and development facility at Caversfield. [41480]
Mr. Ingram: The current proposal, subject to Trades Union consultation, is to close the Clothing Research and Development facility. Under the proposal, acquisition essential services would be moved into the Defence Clothing Integrated Project Team, also based at Caversfield, and the Research Programme would be competed for by industry and academia.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will arrange for an independent review of the operation of the research and development facility following its transfer from Colchester to Caversfield in 2001. [41481]
Mr. Ingram: The future of the Clothing Research and Development facility has been under constant review both prior to, and since its transfer from Colchester. Independent advisors have already been involved in the review process.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were made redundant when the research and development facility was transferred from Colchester to Caversfield; how many staff from Colchester transferred to Caversfield; and how many of the transferred staff still work for R and D at Caversfield. [41477]
Mr. Ingram: The number of people made redundant when the research and development facility was transferred from Colchester to Caversfield was 24.
The number of Colchester staff that transferred to the DLO Caversfield site was 46.
Of those that moved from Colchester to Caversfield in March 2001, six remain employed within the Defence Clothing Research and Project Support.
Royal Navy
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) surface ships, (b) submarines and (c) auxiliary vessels are (i) available to and (ii) deployable by the Royal Navy; and what the equivalent numbers were in 2000. [42624]
Mr. Ingram:
The vessels available to be deployed by the Royal Navy, which is interpreted as those platforms in Fleet Time having achieved their mandatory collective training, together with the comparative figures for the year 2000, are:
19 Jan 2006 : Column 1532W
| January | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2006 | |
| Surface ships | 83 | 62 |
| Submarines | 6 | 5 |
| Auxiliary vessels | 22 | 17 |
Territorial Army
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many members of the Territorial Army qualified for their annual bounty in each of the last five years; [41663]
(2) how many members of the Territorial Army have been mobilised more than once in the last five years; [41655]
(3) how many vacancies there are in the Territorial Army; [41657]
(4) what percentage of soldiers on operational service are members of the (a) Territorial Army and (b) Regular Army Reserve; [41659]
(5) what the strength of the Territorial Army is, broken down by (a) officers and (b) other ranks; [41660]
(6) whether members of the Officer Training Corps (OTC) are included in the current strength of the Territorial Army; and how many members of the OTC there are. [41661]
Mr. Touhig: The number of Territorial Army personnel qualifying for annual bounty in any training year (April-March) is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, information on paid bounties (usually for the qualifications gained in the previous year) is shown in the following table.
| Period | |
|---|---|
| April 2004 to March 2005 | 23,560 |
| April 2003 to March 2004 | 25,450 |
| April 2002 to March 2003 | 26,020 |
| April 2001 to March 2002 | 26,050 |
| April 2000 to March 2001 | 28,370 |
Note:
Totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. Those totals divisible by five have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
1,113 members of the Territorial Army (TA) have been called out more than once over the past five years. This figure includes individuals who may have reported for mobilization but subsequently did not mobilize for medical or other reasons. Information on individuals in this category is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The strength (broken down by officers, soldiers and officer training corps (OTC)) and liability of the TA (including OTC) as at 1 December 2005 can be found in the following table:
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(26)The surplus/deficit figure is the difference between the liability and the total number of TA personnel.
Notes:
1.The data excludes full-time reserve service (FTPS).
2.Figures exclude 1,070 non-regular permanent staff (NRPS), of which 200 are officers and 880 are soldiers.
3.The data have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
4.Totals have been rounded separately and therefore may not be equal to the sum of their parts.
Currently, the TA and Regular Army Reserve form approximately 8 per cent. and 1.4 per cent. respectively of the Regular Army's overall capability deployed on operations (this includes members of the TA and Regular Army Reserve who have been mobilized in support of operations but not necessarily deployed).
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Territorial Army who were mobilised and attended RTMC Chilwell subsequently were not deployed (a) on medical grounds, (b) because of failure of individual training directives tests at RTMC and (c) for other reasons in each of the last five years. [41664]
Mr. Touhig: Numbers of TA personnel who attended RTMC Chilwell and did not pass to a receiving unit are set out in the following table; figures for those TA members who reached a receiving unit but were not subsequently deployed are not available.
Note:
The data has been rounded.
Figures are not held on the number of individuals who attended RTMC but were not mobilised due to failure of individual training directive tests. These individuals would be accepted by the deploying unit and either given the required level of training or returned to a (non-deployed) unit.
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