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17 Mar 2006 : Column 2515W—continued
Cluster Munitions
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the failure rate of cluster munition BL755; and if he will end its use by UK forces. [58611]
Mr. Ingram: The RAF currently operates two variants of the BL755 cluster bomb. The original BL755 and the Radar BL755 (RBL755). Recent statistics for both variants show an overall failure rate of approximately 6 per cent. which is in line with expectations.
On current plans both the BL755 and the RBL755 cluster bomb will be withdrawn from service with the RAF before the end of this decade.
Fleet Apache Helicopters
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) total cost and (b) cost per aircraft was of the Fleet Apache helicopters. [57988]
Mr. Ingram
[holding answer 15 March 2006]: 67 Apache AH Mk1 helicopters were procured for the Army. The total procurement cost for these aircraft, which includes some support equipment and a two and half year contractor logistic support package but
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excludes the supporting PFI training contract, was £2.5billion. This equates to approximately £37 million per aircraft.
Fort Halstead
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the disposal value was of Fort Halstead near Sevenoaks, Kent when it was sold to QinetiQ; what priceQinetiQ obtained for Fort Halstead; and what consideration he has given to renting Fort Halstead from its owners to accommodate the Defence Scientific and Technical Laboratory. [58891]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 16 March 2006]: The overall agreement for the privatisation of the former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency included £38 million to cover the value of Fort Halstead.
This figure was based on advice from independent valuers. The site forms part of a sale and leaseback arrangement with QinetiQ, which allows the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) to remain at Fort Halstead for the time being. However, the lease structure allows QinetiQ to rationalise its land holdings at Fort Halstead and provide funding for the eventual re-provision of facilities for DSTL.
The price obtained by QinetiQ for land at Fort Halstead is a matter for them as a private company; any questions should be referred to the Chief Executive at the following address:
Meat Sourcing
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much of the (a) beef, (b) pork and (c) lamb consumed by the armed forces in the last period for which figures are available was (i) British and (ii) non-British in origin; from which countries the non-British meat was obtained; and how much in each category came from each country; [58878]
(2) how much (a) beef, (b) pork and (c) lamb the Ministry of Defence was purchased for consumption by the armed forces in each of the last three years. [58879]
Mr. Ingram: The approximate annual quantity of beef supplied to UK based armed forces in each of the last three years was 1,550 tonnes. Some 800 tonnes of pork and 500 tonnes of lamb (including mutton) were also supplied in the same period.
In the last financial year, 42 per cent. (approximately 650 tonnes) of the beef supplied to the UK based armed forces was of British origin, while non-British beef (approximately 900 tonnes) was obtained from South America.
In the same period, 100 per cent. of pork and 5 per cent. of lamb was of British origin. Non-British lamb (approximately 460–490 tonnes) was obtained from South America and Australasia.
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Merlin Helicopters
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defencewhat the (a) total cost and (b) cost per aircraft was of the Royal Navy's fleet of Merlin Mark 1 helicopters. [57954]
Mr. Ingram: The Royal Navy Merlin Mkl helicopter was acquired through a combined development and production contract which did not specify a unit production cost. However, for internal resource accounting purposes we have estimated the attribution of the contract prices between development and production.
On this basis, the 44 Merlin Mkl aircraft procured for the Royal Navy cost an estimated £1.7 billion. This figure includes the production and integration costs for the mission avionics system and Aircraft Support and Servicing Equipment (ASSE). The average cost per aircraft was approximately £39 million. The engines for the Merlin MK1 were contracted for separately at a cost of £1.7 million per aircraft.
Mine Clearance (Falkland Islands)
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK plans to seek an extension of the deadline under the Ottawa Convention in relation to clearing mines from the Falklands Islands. [58614]
John Reid: Under the Ottawa Convention, the UK is required to clear all anti-personnel mines from its territory by March 2009. The only UK territory affected is the Falkland Islands.
Under Article 5, State Parties are entitled to submit a request for an extension of the deadline for a period of up to 10 years provided they have good cause.
Discussions are taking place with the Government of Argentina to agree a joint feasibility study on clearance of anti-personnel mines in the Falkland Islands, including a field survey of the islands. Decisions on the time scale for clearance will be made once the results of the feasibility study are known.
TREASURY
Call Centres
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2006, Official Report, columns 1801–02W, on call centres, how many and what proportion of calls to his Department and its agencies in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date were (i) handled by an adviser, (ii) received but abandoned and (iii) received an engaged tone in each year, broken down by contact centre. [59417]
Dawn Primarolo: The breakdown of information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Continental Shelf Receipts
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Government paid to (a) the Isle of Man and (b) Northern Ireland in respect of UK Continental Shelf receipts in each year since 1976. [58292]
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Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows how much the Government have paid to (a) the Isle of Man and (b) Northern Ireland in respect of UK Continental receipts since 1976.
Obstacles to Mobility Study
Mark Durkan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans his Department has to implement the recommendations of the Obstacles to Mobility Study commissioned by the North-South Ministerial Council. [55870]
Angela E. Smith: I have been asked to reply.
The report of the Obstacles to Mobility Study was published in November 2001. The NSMC considered the report in June 2002 and its conclusions on the consultants' recommendations were published on the NSMC website www.northsouthministerialcouncil.org. At that time, NSMC decided that no further action should be taken on 8 of the 50 recommendations. Of the remainder, 13 recommendations have been implemented to date and work is ongoing to progress 29.
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