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24 May 2006 : Column 1805W—continued

Ministerial Visits (Accommodation)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for Ministers of State in his Department on foreign visits in each of the last three years. [69099]

David Cairns: Since 1999, the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year; this information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Library. In the last three years, none of the Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State have travelled abroad on official business.

Portland PR

Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what meetings officials in his Department have had with representatives of the public relations company Portland PR; what contracts Portland PR has with his Department; and what the nature of the contract is in each case. [70049]

David Cairns: The Scotland Office does not maintain a central list of such meetings. Civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and business delivery. All such meetings are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the civil service code and guidance for civil servantson contacts with lobbyists and people outside Government.

The Scotland Office has no contracts with Portland PR.

Promotion Boards

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what promotion boards have been held in his Department in each of the last five years. [70624]


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David Cairns: Staff in the Scotland Office are on loan from the Scottish Executive or the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Office normally advertises vacant positions in those Departments. Posts can be filled on level transfer or by promotion; checking which posts were filled by promotees over the last five years would involve revisiting the files held by the Scottish Executive and the Department for Constitutional Affairs over this period and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence

Air-to-Air Refuelling

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to maintain existing air-to-air refuelling capability following delays to the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft programme. [71919]

Mr. Ingram: We expect the air-to-air refuelling capability provided by the current VC10 and TriStar fleets to meet our requirements until the introduction of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft.

Army Discharge Applications

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving soldiers have made an application for discharge; and what the grounds were for each application. [71508]

Mr. Watson: The following table shows the number of applications, from both regular army officers and other ranks, to leave the Army in each financial year since 1996. Details of the reasons for the applications to leave are not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.


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Applications to leave the Army from:
Financial year Officers( 1,2) Other ranks( 2) Total number of applications to leave the Army

1996-97

490

7,760

8,250

1997-98

550

7,620

8,180

1998-99

520

7,820

8,330

1999-2000

550

7,360

7,910

2000-01

690

7,840

8,530

2001-02

530

7,280

7,810

2002-03

520

6,350

6,870

2002-04

600

6,650

7,250

2004-05

710

7,380

8,090

Total(3)

5,150

66,070

71,220

2006(4)

730

7,090

7,820

(1) Officer numbers comprise applications and resultant exits for premature transfer to the reserve, premature voluntary retirement and voluntary relinquishment or resignation of commission.
(2) For certain groups of female personnel, data on exits on marriage or pregnancy grounds are available, but data on applications are not. In these cases, the number of applications in a period has been counted as the number of exits during that period. This affects:
(a) Army officers who exit on pregnancy;
(b) Army soldiers who exit on marriage or pregnancy.
(3) Total is the sum of complete financial years only. March 2006 shows VO applications and exits for 12 months up to 1 March 2006 and is not included within the total.
(4) March 2006.
Notes:
1. UK regular army includes nursing services and excludes full time reserve service personnel, Gurkhas, the home service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists.
2. Data are for financial years.
3. The term premature voluntary release (PVR) has been changed to voluntary outflow (VO) although the methodology remains the same.
4. For this purpose, VO is defined as all applications and exits from trained personnel which are generated by the individual before their time expiry.
5. Females who leave on pregnancy grounds are included in both VO applications and exits wherever possible. It should be noted that since August 1990, female personnel who are pregnant are no longer required to leave the services, but have an option of either leaving or returning to work after maternity leave. All applications are counted according to the date received in MOD.
6. Due to the rounding methods used, totals may not always equal the sum of the parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.
Source:
DASA (Tri-Services)

Budgetary Statistics

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the letter of 30 March 2006 from the Minister of State, when he will provide the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean with the tables setting out the breakdown of main and supplementary outturn data by top level budget holder, request for resources, departmental expenditure limit near cash and non-cash, annual managed expenditure and non-budget for financial years 2001-02 to 2004-05. [73123]

Mr. Ingram: I have placed copies of the tables in the Library of the House today.

Camp Ashraf

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what protection is provided for members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation by (a) Coalition forces and (b) Iraqi Security forces at Camp Ashraf in Iraq; [63940]

(2) whether members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation at Camp Ashraf in Iraq are being held indefinitely by Coalition forces. [63941]


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Des Browne: The Government of Iraq is responsible for the well-being of all individuals in Camp Ashraf. At the request of the Iraqi Government, the Multi-national Force-Iraq (MNF-I) provide perimeter security for the camp. Members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq are not detained by the Coalition forces at Camp Ashraf and may leave at any time. Those with the appropriate documentation are free to return to their country of origin.

Central Wales Tactical Training Area

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what geographical area makes up the Central Wales Tactical Training Area. [69486]

Mr. Watson: I will write to the hon. Member, and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Conscientious Objectors

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications to be discharged from the Army on the grounds of conscientious objection to military service have been submitted to his Department by (a) Army reserves and (b) long-term reserves for each of the last five years. [71507]

Mr. Watson: Seven applications have been received in the last five years from members of the Army reserves or long-term reserves to be discharged on the grounds of conscientious objection to military service.

Deepcut

Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 10 May 2006, Official Report, columns 280-81W what evidence he has received that suggests that media coverage of Deepcut has been a factor affecting recruitment; and in which studies the evidence appears. [71141]

Mr. Watson [holding answer 15 May 2006]: As stated in my answer of 10 May 2006, Official Report, columns 280-81W, the Ministry of Defence has not undertaken any specific research or study into the impact of Deepcut on recruitment levels. Any such evidence we have received in respect of media coverage of Deepcut is anecdotal, and is based primarily on opinions provided to armed forces recruiting teams out in the field by those who influence the decisions of young men and women, including parents and guardians.

Negative media coverage of any aspect of the armed forces life may have contributed to a downturn in the number of inquiries in recent years. Conversely, positive media stories, for example Victoria Cross and George Cross awards and successful rescue missions, may contribute to some applicants, who had not previously considered an armed forces career, to inquire.


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Departmental Estate

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the highest valuation is of each of the army bases in Northern Ireland for which closure was announced on 10 May. [72542]

Mr. Watson: We have not yet assessed the value of the properties which are intended to close, as recently announced, but when we do so, it would be unlikely that such information would be disclosed because providing details of the open market valuation could prejudice the commercial interests of the Department by unduly influencing the market if and when properties were sold.

Departmental Expenditure

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from his Department in each of the last five years. [71800]

Mr. Watson: The following tables list the 10 non-public sector entities (in alphabetical order) that have received the largest total sum of payments from the Ministry of Defence in each of the last five financial years.

FY 2001-02

FY 2002-03

FY 2003-04


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FY 2004-05

FY 2005-06

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