---

2 Mar 2006 : Column 869W—continued

Congestion Charge

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to minimise the number of his Department's vehicles entering the London congestion charge zone. [54886]

Mr. Touhig: Departmental policy requires that all travel is arranged in the most cost-effective manner. The congestion charge is only one of the factors that would be taken into account when deciding the most economical mode of transport.

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has paid for vehicles entering the London congestion charge zone in each year since it was introduced; and how much of that sum is accounted for by (a) military vehicles, (b) white fleet and (c) privately-owned vehicles. [54887]

Mr. Touhig: Military vehicles are exempt from congestion charges. 'White Fleet' (administrative vehicles) and privately-owned vehicles used for MOD business journeys are liable for congestion charges, but records of congestion charge payments made by the Department are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence Contracts

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of defence contracts were awarded to BAE Systems in (a) 2002–03, (b) 2003–04 and (c) 2004–05; what the value was in each case; and how many were won through competitive tenders. [54098]

Mr. Ingram: Based on data derived centrally from the Defence Bills Agency database, the following table details by value the proportion of contracts, and those won in competition, awarded directly to BAE Systems and their subsidiaries. The database represents the vast bulk of payments to the Ministry of Defence contractors but excludes local imprest accounts, contracts placed on behalf of other Government Departments, collaborative contracts placed through European Government Agencies and those awarded by MOD's trading fund agencies.
 
2 Mar 2006 : Column 870W
 

	£ billion	£ billion	Percentage	£ billion	Percentage
Financial year	(a) Total MOD contracts	(b) BAES contracts	Proportion (b) to (a)	(c) Competitive tenders	Proportion (c) to (b)
2002–03	15.835	1.120	7	0.493	44
2003–04	11.978	0.562	5	0.012	2
2004–05	12.650	0.573	5	0.116	20

Departmental Finance

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value was of receipts from (a) royalties, (b) compensation and insurance receipts and (c) sales of licences that were (i) appropriated in aid of his Department and (ii) surrendered to the Consolidated Fund in each financial year since 1997–98. [53667]

Mr. Ingram: The majority of receipts from royalties and sales of licences are managed by the Ministry of Defence's Intellectual Property Rights Group, and arise from the use of crown copyright, patents and trade marks and database rights. Receipts for the period 1997–98 to 2004–05 are detailed in the table:

	£ thousand
1997–98	298
1998–99	156
1999–2000	130
2000–01	56
2001–02	36
2002–03	14
2003–04	109
2004–05	292

It is possible that other receipts arising from royalties and sales of licences have been received within other areas of the Department; however, this information is not readily identifiable and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Receipts from compensation and insurance claims are collated through the Ministry of Defence's Directorate of Safety and Claims which has published Annual Reports for the years requested, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.

All receipts were appropriated in aid of the Department.

Dog Training

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether the armed forces use electric shock collars to train their dogs; [52385]

(2) what training methods each of the armed forces uses to train dogs; and what training devices each employs. [52386]

Mr. Ingram: Dog training within the Armed Forces is conducted at the Defence Animal Centre. Training is supervised and conducted in progressive stages, and the dogs are trained wearing either a plain leather collar or a high visibility harness with a rope or leather lead. Training is reward-based, including verbal praise, physical play or a combination of the two. No devices (such as electric shock collars) are used in the evaluation, training or retraining of Service dogs.
 
2 Mar 2006 : Column 871W
 

Historical Wrecks

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons the Government authorised Odyssey Marine Exploration to undertake salvage work on the wreck of HMS Sussex. [53452]

Mr. Ingram: Odyssey Marine Exploration independently located the site and requested a licence to undertake an archaeological excavation with a view to recovering the cargo. A multi-departmental Project Board concluded that there was a danger of the site being subject to illicit salvage. Having considered Odyssey's competence in deep ocean archaeological excavation the Board concluded that it was preferable to manage the project in co-operation with the finder, ensuring that the site was excavated responsibly and to the fullest possible extent in accordance with good archaeological practice.

Injured Personnel

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were awarded a war pension in each of the past five years, broken down by the type of injury and illness for which they were awarded. [53658]

Mr. Touhig [holding answer 27 February 2006]: The information is not held in the format requested.

However, we can provide the number of cases where an ongoing war pension was awarded in each of the past five years for the twelve month period 1 October to the following 30 September.

	New pensions awarded
2000–01	2,585
2001–02	2,440
2002–03	1,965
2003–04	1,800
2004–05	1,670

Joint Military Exercises

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what joint training exercises have been conducted between the Royal Air Force, Army and Royal Marines with their equivalent counterparts in the armed forces of Pakistan since January 2002; and in what type of terrain these exercises were conducted. [55111]

Mr. Ingram: Since January 2002 exercise opportunities with Pakistani armed forces have been limited. The Army and Royal Air Force have had no interaction. Royal Navy units operating in the Indian Ocean do have regular contact, both for operations and training. The Joint Warfare Staff in the Permanent Joint Headquarters conducted an Overseas Joint Operations Planning Course in the Pakistani Joint Services HQ in Islamabad over the period 6 to 10 February 2006. It was attended by 47 officers from all three armed services. The course did not include a field phase.

Leaf Class Tankers

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) officers and (b) crew are carried on each Leaf class tanker. [55540]

 
2 Mar 2006 : Column 872W
 

Mr. Ingram: The complement for each of the four Leaf class tankers is set out in the following table:

Ship	Number of officers	Number of ratings
RFA Bayleaf	15	42
RFA Brambleleaf	15	42
RFA Orangeleaf	15	42
RFA Oakleaf	14	22

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Leaf class tankers are available; and at what notice in each case. [55541]

Mr. Ingram: All four Leaf class tankers are available for tasking by Fleet and all are at a high readiness state.

Military Training

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK citizens under 45 years of age have undertaken basic military training. [53268]

Mr. Touhig: Data regarding the number of UK citizens under 45 years of age who have under taken basic military training, are not held centrally.

---