| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
13 Jun 2006 : Column 1082W—continued
Defence Intelligence Staff
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2006, Official Report, column 767W, on the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, from which units of the US armed forces the two American personnel are drawn. [76414]
Mr. Ingram: The US Army Exchange Officer is a member of the US Army Intelligence Corp (304th MI Battalion, 3rd MI Brigade).
The US Air Force Exchange Officer is from the Intelligence Branch of the US Air Force.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether each recommendation in the Butler Review related to the Defence Intelligence Staff was accepted by the Government; and what progress has been made in meeting each recommendation which was accepted. [76409]
Mr. Ingram: The Government's response to the Butler Review was presented to Parliament in March 2005 (Cm 6492) and its response to the recommendations regarding the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) is in Chapter 7.
Lord Butler recommended that the relevant work of the DIS should be more closely integrated with the rest of the intelligence community. The DIS is now fully integrated into the central intelligence requirements and priorities process, although with the acknowledgement that the Ministry of Defence remains ultimately responsible for providing the DIS with its direction.
Lord Butler recommended that consideration should be given to the provision of proper channels for the expression of dissent within the DIS. As the Government response indicated, the MOD had already introduced new arrangements for raising issues of conscience and professional concern, including dissent, in order to address (inter alia) the concerns expressed by Lord Butler. The procedure for handling matters of conscience or professional concern was promulgated to staff in a standing instruction in March 2005.
Lord Butler recommended that in future the Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence should be an intelligence specialist. The MOD recognises the advantage of appointing an intelligence specialist to this role, but as the post requires a wider skills base, increased staff development effort, including a leadership programme for members of the DIS, has been introduced and will enable more personnel with intelligence experience to be considered for the post.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which bodies in addition to the Defence intelligence staff constitute the UK defence intelligence community. [76410]
Mr. Ingram: The bodies which make up the UK Defence intelligence community are the Defence intelligence staff, the J2 branch at the permanent joint headquarters (PJHQ) and the single service intelligence organisations. Operational deployments will also have intelligence elements.
The PJHQ J2 branch act in conjunction with the rest of the Defence intelligence community. Each of the single services has an intelligence branch at their respective front line command headquarters. These are N2 (HQ fleet), G2 (HQ land command) and A2 (HQ strike command). The services also have specialist intelligence units to support them, such as the Air Warfare Centre, the Army Intelligence Corps and the RAF Intelligence Branch.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many illegal immigrants have been discovered to be employed by his Department in each year since 2001; in what capacities they were employed; how many were discovered as part of a criminal investigation; and what the nature was of the charges brought against them. [73966]
Mr. Watson: Records are not kept centrally on how many illegal immigrants have been discovered to be employed by the Department in each year since 2001 and this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Low Flying
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low flying flights there were in the (a) Highlands of Scotland and (b) South West of Scotland and Anglo-Scottish border tactical training area in each year between 1998-99 and 2004-05. [76237]
Mr. Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 June 2006, Official Report, columns 260-61W.
Psychological Operations
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 622W, on 15 Psychological Operations Group, whether any of the operations of 15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group since 1 January 2003, other than training, have been carried out in the United Kingdom. [76413]
Mr. Ingram: 15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group have never carried out operations in the United Kingdom.
Submarines
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 25 May 2006, Official Report, column 1993W, on nuclear-powered submarines, what the standard operating procedures are for collecting effluent produced by the warming up process from nuclear-powered submarines using (a) Southampton and (b) other X berths; and if he will make a statement. [76215]
Mr. Ingram: There are no X berths at Southampton. At the Southampton Z berth all reactor warm-up effluent is kept onboard the submarine until such time as it can be dealt with in accordance with the standard operating procedures at either HM Naval Base Devonport or HM Naval Base Clyde. These procedures were described in the answer I gave the hon. Member on 25 May 2006, Official Report, column 1992W, and there is nothing further I can usefully add.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates since 1 January 2005 US Navy nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines have visited UK waters or designated berths; and what the location was in each case. [76289]
Mr. Ingram: US Navy nuclear-powered submarines have visited the following UK designated berths since 1 January 2005:
4-9 May 2005
19-22 October 2005
9-15 November 2005
6-16 May 2005
10-17 June 2005
22-29 June 2005
5-12 August 2005
17-19 August 2005
25-29 August 2005
8-11 May 2006
A further visit to Faslane will take place 9-15 June 2006.
During the period there have been no visits to Portsmouth, the Solent anchorages, or to other UK designated berths.
All these visits were by nuclear powered submarines (SSN). There were no visits by nuclear ballistic missile armed submarines (SSBN).
UK Military Airfields
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress with the review of UK military airfields; and when he expects to report the outcome. [75933]
Mr. Ingram: My right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Defence announced to the House in July 2004 during his statement on the White Paper on Delivering Security in a Changing World that we would be undertaking an extensive review of our future requirements for airfields. There will not be one single report on the outcome of the Defence Airfield Review as the work is being taken forward through a series of business cases assessing the best configuration, both operationally and in value for money terms, for a number of future aircraft types.
I announced the conclusions of the studies into the basing of Joint Combat aircraft and Nimrod MRA4 aircraft to the House in my statement on 17 November 2005. I will announce the results of the remaining individual studies in due course.
Deputy Prime Minister
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what incentives are available to encourage members of his staff to use public transport for travelling to and from work. [75109]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The Government’s policy is to encourage the use of sustainable transport methods.
Pensions
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his role will be in developing Government policy on pensions. [71543]
The Deputy Prime Minister: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out details of the new role he has asked me to undertake in his written answer on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 985W, and a copy of my letter of appointment has been made available in the Library.
I will be taking the lead in overseeing the delivery of Government business and improving the effectiveness of Government policy across the whole range of policy areas, including delivering key pledges in our 2005 election manifesto. An important challenge will be to ensure a long-term infrastructure is put in place to entrench a new pensions savings culture, where future generations can take increasing personal responsibility for building their retirement savings. We believe the proposals in the Pensions White Paper do this, and I shall continue to play a full role in discussions as we seek a consensus on the way forward on pensions. The hon. Member will be aware that, until recently, I was responsible for ensuring proper regulation of the local government pension scheme. I intend to build on that experience in seeking agreement on sustainable, affordable and fair pensions for the future.
Prime Minister
Sports Relief
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Loughborough (Mr. Reed) of 7 June 2006, Official Report, column 247, when he took part in the mile run in aid of Sports Relief; and between which points. [77244]
The Prime Minister: A number of events have been planned by Sport Relief in the build up to ‘Sport Relief Saturday’ which takes place on 15 July. In the coming weeks, I am taking part by running a mile in aid of Sport Relief with 2012 ambassadors and young people. I congratulate hon. Members who took part in the Westminster Mile.
Northern Ireland
Agricultural Crops
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total value of the agricultural crop in Northern Ireland was in each of the past four years; and what the total value of agricultural subsidies was in each year. [75969]
David Cairns: Gross output is the standard measure of the value of agricultural output. The published gross output figures normally include the value of agricultural subsidies paid on products. In answer to this question the gross output figures for agriculture in Northern Ireland are given with the subsidy on products removed to give a clearer picture of the value of market returns. These figures and the total value of direct agricultural subsidies in Northern Ireland for the last four years are presented in the following table. The figures for 2005 are provisional and may be subject to change as more up-to-date information becomes available.
| £ million | ||
| Gross agricultural output less subsidies on products | Total direct agricultural subsidies | |
Animal Cruelty
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of animal cruelty have been reported across the Province over the last three years, broken down by Westminster constituency. [77339]
David Cairns: The number of reported cases of animal cruelty is not held centrally by one agency. DARD records those cases reported directly to the Department (mainly in respect of farmed animals), while other suspected cruelty cases will also be reported directly to the Police Service of Northern Ireland or to animal welfare organisations. However, the PSNI do not collate figures relating specifically to animal cruelty.
Records of the number of cases of animal cruelty reported to DARD, for calendar years 2003, 2004 and 2005 are provided in the table. The information is not recorded by Westminster constituency, but is held by Divisional Veterinary Office area.
| Total | |||
| DARD Divisional Veterinary Office | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |