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28 Mar 2006 : Column 899W—continued
Civil Contingency College
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he last visited the Civil Contingency College at Hawkhills near Easingwold, Vale of York to discuss civil contingency planning. [60841]
Mr. Jim Murphy: I have not visited the Emergency Planning College.
Superannuation Liability
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what total amount of employers' normal contributions accruing superannuation liability charge has been accounted for by his Office in each of the last five years for which data are available. [61365]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The amount of employers' accruing superannuation liability charges in respect of members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in the last five years is shown in the table.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05(36) | 10,265 |
| 2003–04(36) | 10,298 |
| 2002–03(36) | 10,215 |
| 2001–02 | 16,961 |
| 2000–01 | 14,533 |
(36)From 1 October 2002 new entrants have been able to opt for a partnership pension partnership account, a stakeholder arrangement with an employer contribution. Employers' contributions to partnership pension accounts are not included in the figures.
DEFENCE
Advertising Campaigns
Charles Hendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) national and (b) regional advertising campaigns his Department has carried out in each of the
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last three years; and what the cost was of (i) the creative work and (ii) the purchase of airtime and media space for each campaign. [60950]
Mr. Touhig [holding answer 23 March 2006]: The cost of the Services' recruit advertising campaigns for the years in question are as follows.
(37)The RM specific campaign costs are in addition to the Naval Service's main costs.
(38)Naval Service regional advertising does not attract any creative costs. All creative work for adverts is carried out centrally to ensure continuity.
(39)RAF recruit advertising is carried out centrally rather than on a regional basis.
Naval Service recruit advertising includes specific campaigns aimed at attracting Royal Marine recruits and additional personnel from our ethnic minority communities and, in FY2005–06, a campaign to attract Engineers. National and regional advertising campaigns for the Regular Army, and national campaigns for the Territorial Army, are run every year: individual campaigns to address particular Army recruiting shortages are run periodically and are multi-media combining national with regional advertising. The RAF's annual national recruit advertising campaign costs includes an element for online costs.
Departmental Employees
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what compensation he has made available to those of his Department's employees who are based in Shropshire who do not wish to move to work in Bristol. [61006]
Mr. Ingram:
A business case is being developed withinthe Ministry of Defence that explores potential options for the collocation of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) with the Defence Procurement
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Agency in the Bristol/Bath area. This involves the possible withdrawal of the DLO from a number of locations, namely: Andover, the Foxhill site in Bath, RAF Brampton/Wyton, Castle Court in Sherborne, Caversfield near Bicester, Sapphire House in Telford, and Yeovilton.
It would be wrong at this stage to speculate on the potential impact of eventual decisions on employees. I expect the business case to be presented for consideration in the Spring of this year, following which there will be a period of consultation with the Trades Unions.
Energy Efficiency
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to increase energy efficiency within his Department; and if he will make a statement. [60326]
Mr. Touhig: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has published a Sustainable Development Delivery Strategy for Non Operational Energy which can be found on the MOD website (www.mod.uk). This sets out MODs approach to delivering energy targets in the 'Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate'. A range of appraisal tools and evaluation methodologies are mandated for use across the MOD in our future planning, design and procurement arrangements to ensure that the potential to improve energy efficiency is realised. In addition, the MOD has a partnership agreement with the Carbon Trust, to help it explore alternative sources of fuel and technology.
European Defence Agency
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the work programme of the European Defence Agency is; what the cost has been since it was established; what the UK's contribution has been; and if he will make a statement. [61586]
John Reid: I will place a copy of the European Defence Agency's (EDA's) 2006 work programme in the Library of the House. Participating member states will contribute €21.5 million towards the EDA's budget in 2006. The United Kingdom contribution in 2006 will be 17.572 per cent., i.e. €3,778,052.
The EDA was established in July 2004. Member states contributed €1,786,483 in 2004 of which the UK's share was 17.28 per cent., i.e. €308,776. The actual audited costs incurred by the Agency in 2004 were 364,069. The underspend was returned to participating member states through an equivalent reduction to their contributions to the following year's budget.
Participating member states were budgeted to contribute €19.9 million in 2005 of which the UK contribution was budgeted to be 18.07 per cent. i.e. €3,596,803. However, taking account of the underspend from the previous year the UK contribution was €3,350,954. The annual audit of the EDA's 2005 accounts is currently taking place and so I am not at this moment able to give you a figure for the actual costs incurred by the EDA in 2005.
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Iraq
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British soldiers are awaiting their Iraq campaign medals following active service tours of that country in 2004. [60764]
Mr. Touhig [holding answer 23 March 2006]: It is not possible to answer the question in the format required.
As at 24 February 2006, 103,826 applications for the Iraq medal had been received from armed forces personnel. Of the 101,054 applications assessed as eligible, 93,943 medals had been despatched and a further 7,111 are going through the despatch process.
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the United Kingdom used Norwegian Government radar equipment as part of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. [61151]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 27 March 2006]: Yes, we made use of Norwegian radar equipment. The United Kingdom and Norway enjoy close defence relations, and the UK remains grateful for the protection these assets offered our Forces.
MAN ERF
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has secured a requirement that vehicles made under the recent series of his Department's contracts with MAN of Germany will be received into the UK, checked and despatched for operational use by the customers at MAN ERF UK's Northern regional office and facility at Middlewich in Cheshire. [61588]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 27 March 2006]: No. In line with normal Ministry of Defence practice, the vehicles will be checked and despatched to units via the Defence Storage and Distribution Centre at Ashchurch, Gloucestershire.
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