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27 Feb 2006 : Column 11W—continued
Cyber Attack
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he has put in place to secure the protection of his Department's computer system against cyber attack. [54377]
Mr. Ingram:
The Ministry of Defence recognises the potential threat posed by a cyber attack, and the importance of assuring the confidentiality, data integrity and availability of service of those information systems that support the delivery of military capability and other critical Departmental business processes.
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It is long-standing Government policy not to make comment on the detailed protective measures applied to communications and information systems, or on techniques such as computer hacking, as these could assist potential attackers.
Defence Industrial Strategy
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to produce a small and medium-sized enterprises strategy to support the Defence Industrial Strategy. [54412]
Mr. Ingram: As part of the work to implement the Defence Industrial Strategy, we plan to develop our knowledge of the supply chain, including small and medium enterprises, to better understand the sources of innovation, expertise and critical technologies that we are likely to need in order to sustain and enhance our defence capabilities. We are also working to improve access to the defence research programme for smaller contractors, and to develop, with our prime contractors, closer working relationships with companies in lower tiers of the supply chain.
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many employees will be affected by the rationalisation of locations in the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. [44168]
Mr. Ingram: The Defence Science and Technical Laboratory is currently consolidating its activities onto three core sites in accordance with the published rationalisation plan. During the next few years this will affect up to 1,300 employees who will move from Farnborough, Malvern, Winfrith, Portsdown West and Bedford to the core sites at Porton Down, Portsdown West and Fort Halstead.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the review of Defence Science and Technology Laboratory sites. [44169]
Mr. Ingram: The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) was formed in 2001 following the split of the former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency into Qinetiq and DSTL. On its vesting day in July 2001 DSTL staff were spread over 15 sites across the country.
In November 2003, following a detailed study, ministerial approval was given for DSTL to consolidate its activities onto three core sites (Porton Down, Portsdown West and Fort Halstead). This approved option was fully reviewed and accepted by both the Treasury and the Lyons review.
In particular the Lyons review was strongly supportive of the move away from Farnborough and accepted that the regional impact assessment of the Portsmouth area supported the case for a net increase in staff numbers at Portsdown West.
Defence Treaty 2000
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list projects taken forward as a consequence of the July 2000 Defence Treaty. [53289]
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Mr. Ingram: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the Letter of Intent Framework Agreement (LOI FA) of 27 July 2000 (Cm 4895) between France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain and United Kingdom. The primary purpose of the agreement is to remove barriers to industrial co-operation between the industries of the signatory nations. The agreement also facilitates co-operation between partners to identify common staff targets (CST) and to identify and co-ordinate research and technology (R&T) projects. Projects of interest to the United Kingdom which have been taken forward or are under consideration within the LOI framework include:
Def-expo 06
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the extent was of the UK's contribution to Def Expo 06 in New Delhi; and if he will make a statement. [54345]
Mr. Ingram: The United Kingdom provided a substantial contribution to Def Expo India 2006, held in New Delhi. My noble Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement, led the UK official delegation, and over 30 UK companies were represented. The Defence Export Services Organisation's Export Support Team demonstrated a range of equipment, and Royal Air Force personnel briefed visitors on the capabilities of the EH101 helicopter. DESO officials participated in a Defence Industry seminar held in parallel to the exhibition.
Departmental Estate
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects his Department to acquire facilities for the creation of an acquisition hub in the Abbey Wood area. [54340]
Mr. Ingram:
The business case for the creation of an acquisition hub in the Bristol/Bath area through the collocation of the Defence Logistics Organisation and
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the Defence Procurement Agency is not due to be presented to me until the spring of this year. Ministry of Defence land holdings in the area have, however, recently been augmented by the acquisition of a site adjacent to the current MOD site at Abbey Wood. This has enabled more flexible options to be developed to support the case for collocation.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress is being made with the creation of an acquisition hub in the Abbey Wood area; and what he estimates the final cost to be. [54341]
Mr. Ingram: I expect the business case to be presented for my consideration in the spring of this year. I am not prepared to speculate on what the costs may be.
Departmental Expenditure
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the annual expenditure on training and development for (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06. [39971]
Mr. Touhig: This level of information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, an estimate of MOD's annual resource consumption on individual training and education was published in March 2001 in paragraph 21 of the report on the Defence Training Review: 'Modernising Defence Training', a copy of which is available in the Library of the House—this estimated the cost at some £4.2 billion per year. We are not yet able to update this figure in the absence of a uniform method of attributing and reporting expenditure on training and education. Work continues to develop a consistent methodology for costing training activities across defence.
Departmental Finance
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Spring Supplementary Estimates 2005–06, if he will break down the revised Request for Resources 1 Department Expenditure Limit provision by subhead in (a) near cash and (b) non cash terms. [53661]
Mr. Ingram: The revised RfRl Department Expenditure Limit provision by sub head in near cash and non cash terms, pursuant to the Spring Supplementary Estimates 2005–06 is set out in table 1 as follows:
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Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the dates on which funds were advanced from the contingencies fund to provide for a deficient net cash requirement in the last five years. [53689]
Mr. Ingram: Since 2001–02 (the year from which records are readily available), funds have been advanced from the contingencies fund, to provide for a deficient net cash requirement, on only one occasion. An advance of £1,000,000,000, pending formal parliamentary approval of the Spring Supplementary Estimate, was made on 12 March 2002.
For the current financial year, an advance of £1,889,814,000 is expected to be made available in the first week of March 2006, again pending parliamentary approval of the Spring Supplementary Estimate.
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