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20 Apr 2006 : Column 766W—continued
Vibration White Finger
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miners' claims for (a) vibration white finger and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have been pursued by solicitors through common law since 1999. [64439]
Malcolm Wicks: Since 1999, 178 vibration white finger and 25 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claims have been pursued through common law.
DEFENCE
Courts Martial
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average waiting time was for a case to go to court martial in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy (c) Royal Air Force in 2005. [57472]
Mr. Touhig [pursuant to the reply, 13 March 2006, Official Report, c. 1945W]: The following notes should have appeared after the list.
1. Royal Navy figure shows the average delay between charge and appearing at court martial and the year in which court martial was convened. 2. Army figure shows the average delay between the date of the offence and appearing at court martial and the year in which the court martial was convened. 3. Royal Air Force figure shows the average delay between the point that the case papers are received by the Court Administration Unit (which administers arrangements for the court martial) to the trial date and appearing at court martial) and the cases that commenced in 2005.
Defence Intelligence and Security Centre
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the Government Departments which sent officials on courses run by the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre in 2004–05. [63393]
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Mr. Ingram: The Defence Intelligence and Security Centre provides training primarily for the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence. In 2004–05, the following Government Departments sent officials on courses run by the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre:
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many US personnel are based at the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre. [63455]
Mr. Ingram: There are two US personnel based at the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre.
Qinetiq
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the terms were of the loan agreed with Qinetiq, referred to in the National Audit Office Audit of Assumptions for Budget 2006, pages five and six. [63628]
John Reid: The detailed terms of the loan are contained in the Aquila/Chertsey loan note, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House. Qinetiq's payments to the Ministry of Defence were staged in line with the sale receipts received. The loan has now been repaid in full.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the 'specific properties' were on which the Qinetiq loan referred to on page five of the National Audit Office Audit of Assumptions for Budget 2006 was secured. [63677]
John Reid: The properties were the sites at Aquila (Bromley) and Chertsey. Further details can be found in the Aquila/Chertsey Loan Note, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the loan taken out by Qinetiq referred to in pages 5 and 6 of the National Audit Office Audit of Assumptions for Budget 2006 was first made public. [63678]
John Reid: The loan note was first made public during the Defence Select Committee evidence session of 21 January 2003 on the Qinetiq PPP, (para. 91 of the Defence Committee Minutes of Evidence of 21 January 2003 refers), as the note was to form part of the consideration for the sale of Qinetiq to Carlyle in February 2003.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what penalties were incurred by Qinetiq for failure to pay the 2004–05 repayments on the loan referred to on pages 5 and 6 of the National Audit Office's Audit of Assumptions for Budget 2006; [62398]
(2) what the timetable is for Qinetiq's repayment of the remaining £46 million of the loan referred to on page seven of the National Audit Office Audit of Assumptions for Budget 2006; [63626]
(3) for what reasons Qinetiq did not meet the expected timetable of repayments in 2004 for the loan note secured on the sale of 'specific properties', referred to on pages five and six of the National Audit Office Audit of Assumptions for Budget 2006. [63676]
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John Reid [holding answer 30 March 2006]: There were no penalties, and no fixed term for the repayment of the loan referred to in the National Audit Office's Audit. This was the Aquila/Chertsey Loan Note, between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Qinetiq, which formed part of the receipt from the initial sale of a minority equity interest in Qinetiq to Carlyle in 2003. The loan note was secured against the sale of Qinetiq property at Aquila (Bromley) and Chertsey. No firm schedule of repayments could be laid down as the income from the sale was conditional on the achievement of various stages of planning permission, and so the Budget assumptions were based on estimates of time scales for this planning permission. These original estimates were not achieved, and hence payments to be made by Qinetiq to the MOD slipped.
The loan note has been repaid in stages with the bulk of the money, some £43.5 million being paid in September 2005, and the final outstanding amount, some £2.5 million being paid at the end of March 2006.
Macedonia
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the bid by Macedonia to join NATO; and if he will make a statement. [64488]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
The UK welcomes Macedonia's bid to join NATO. Macedonia is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace and has a Membership Action Plan. We look forward to her eventual membership. But, as for all applicants, Macedonia must first meet the membership criteria in full. Good progress is being made in defence reform, although further work is needed. Political conditionality is also important. This includes full implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, and reform of the economy and the judiciary. The proper conduct of parliamentary elections later this year will be an important element in meeting the political conditionality requirements.
Nuclear Equipment (Waste)
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total amount of waste produced by nuclear submarines and their reactors has been over the last 30 years. [63780]
Mr. Ingram: No central records are held on the total amount of waste produced by nuclear submarines and their reactors over the last 30 years. However, records held by individual sites in the UK involved in the nuclear submarine programme show that since 1988, the earliest date for which records are available, 3,344 m 3 of Low Level Radioactive Waste (before treatment and super-compaction) and 114 m 3 of Intermediate Radioactive Waste has been produced.
The "United Kingdom Radioactive Waste Inventory" to which the Ministry of Defence contributes provides periodic snapshots on all radioactive waste stocks, including levels of waste, location and whether the waste is held in temporary or permanent storage. The inventory has previously been published to show snapshots of waste stocks in 1984,1985,1986,1987,1988,1989, 1991,
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1994, 1998 and 2001, and a copy of the most recent inventory, for 2004, is available on Nirex's website at http://www.nirex.co.uk/foi/ukinvent/.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total amount of waste produced from nuclear warheads that have been decommissioned has been over the last 30 years. [63781]
Mr. Ingram: The amount of waste arising specifically from the decommissioning of nuclear warheads is not recorded separately from waste arising from other phases of the programme. The information requested cannot therefore be provided.
Records of radioactive wastes for the totality of the nuclear warhead programme are published periodically by NIREX in the Nuclear Waste Inventory sponsored by DEFRA. The latest issue is dated 19 January 2006 and is available at http://www.nirex.co.uk.
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