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Osprey Body Armour
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of troops serving in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan have been issued with Osprey body armour. [77613]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 15 June 2006]: All troops deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan are issued with Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA) as standard. The delivery of Improved Performance Body Armour (known as ‘Osprey’) sets to Iraq and Afghanistan is well under way, and will be provided in addition to ECBA to all personnel who require it. Delivery to both theatres is expected to be substantially complete by late autumn. I am not prepared to comment on detailed percentages as to do so would reveal the present strength and capability of UK forces and potentially compromise operational security by placing our Servicemen and women in additional unnecessary danger or potential harm.
Oxfordshire Coroner
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contacts took place between departmental (a) Ministers and (b) officials and the Oxfordshire Coroner between 17 July 2003 and 31 March 2004. [83886]
Des Browne: No departmental Minister or official had contact with the Oxfordshire Coroner between 17 July 2003 and 31 March 2004 in connection with Dr Kelly. Liaison between the Oxfordshire Coroner and Government on this matter was through the Lord Chancellor's Department.
Personnel and Equipment Requests
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether requests from the heads of each of the armed forces for (a) personnel and (b) equipment for deployment in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan have been refused since the start of the present deployment. [81965]
Des Browne [holding answer 4 July 2006]: Chiefs of Staff collectively consider and endorse force packages for the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the Department's process of regular review. Ministers have agreed every recommendation made by the Chiefs of Staff in relation to present deployments in either theatre of operations.
Peugeot Vehicles
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Department has spent on Peugeot motor vehicles in each of the last 10 years. [81413]
Mr. Ingram: The Department's non-operational vehicles are provided under the terms of two separate contracts, one for the United Kingdom and one for Germany. For the UK a contract was placed in 2001 with Lex Defence Management Ltd (LDM) now known as VT Land (White Fleet Management) Ltd, and for Germany in 1996 with Ryder plc. The vehicles are not owned by the Department and are provided by service contracts in output terms rather than by a specific vehicle model. A breakdown of individual model types for these contracts is not therefore available.
Information prior to the award of these contracts is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
PO Contracts
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for which services (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies hold contracts with the Post Office; and what the (i) start and (ii) termination date is of each contract. [81717]
Mr. Watson: British Forces Post Office (BFPO) has an arrangement with Post Office Counters Ltd for the provision of services at Forces Post Offices counters deployed overseas. This includes the sale of postage stamps, postal orders, National Savings and investment transactions, and payments of allowances etc. in deployed Forces Post Offices. BFPO receives a commission for providing this service. The agreement, which came into force on 24 May 1995, has now expired, although the service continues to be provided. A new contract is being re-negotiated with Royal Mail Group.
RAF Northolt
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian movements are authorised at RAF Northolt; how many such movements have taken place in each of the last five years; and whether he plans to change the maximum number. [82609]
Mr. Watson: The following table shows the total number of civil commercial aircraft movements at RAF Northolt in the last five calendar years:
| Number of civilian commercial aircraft movements | |
| Notes: Specific figures for 2001 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. | |
Civil commercial aircraft movements at RAF Northolt are subject to a self-imposed limit of 7,000 per calendar year which has been in place since the 1980s.
As expressed by my right hon. Friend the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Dr. Reid) when he informed the House on 30 June 1998, Official Report, columns 272-3, any changes to the number of civilian commercial aircraft movements would be subject to full consultation with the local authority and all interested parties.
Rarden Cannon
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the life expectancy is of the 30 mm rarden cannon; [82430]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of rounds which can be fired by the 30 mm rarden cannon before the barrel needs to be replaced; [82431]
(3) how many 30 mm rarden cannons are used by the (a) Warrior, (b) Scimitar and (c) Sabre vehicles; [82432]
(4) how many of the 30 mm Rarden cannons in use by the British military will need to be replaced in the next two financial years; and at what estimated cost. [82477]
Mr. Ingram: The Rarden cannon is planned to be withdrawn from service in 2025 and there is currently no requirement to replace any cannons over the next two years. There are currently 575 cannons fitted to Warrior and 329 fitted to Scimitar. Sabre was removed from service in 2004. Each Rarden cannon barrel is changed after 3,750 effective full charges have been fired.
Service Housing
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to improve service housing. [82961]
Mr. Watson [holding answer 6 July 2006]: A Housing Prime Contract valued at some £700 million over seven years has recently been awarded which provides for the repair and maintenance of the Ministry of Defence’s housing in England and Wales. Together with the Regional Prime Contract in Scotland, the Housing Prime Contract will ensure improved maintenance of housing and provide better value for money through efficiencies. The MOD expects to spend around £25 million in the current financial year to upgrade some 1,200 properties to the highest standard of condition across the United Kingdom. Our aim is to deliver a minimum of 900 upgrades per year over the subsequent four years.
Overseas, there is a major project in Cyprus, valued at £58 million, to construct 269 new service families accommodations (SFA) between April 2007 and March 2011. In addition, a rolling project valued at £20 million will refurbish SFA throughout Gibraltar, and a further project is set to deliver 12 new SFA in the Falkland Islands by the end of 2007. There is also a major project, funded by the Sultan of Brunei, to provide new SFA for the British Garrison in Brunei which will run in two five-year phases from mid 2006.
Shoeburyness Ranges
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the outcomes were of the review of activities at the Shoeburyness Ranges; and whether he plans to relocate any of these activities elsewhere. [82455]
Mr. Watson [holding answer 6 July 2006]: The review into demilitarisation activities at Shoeburyness was completed on schedule by the end of March 2006. I have given initial consideration to all the conclusions made by officials, including the potential for relocating some demilitarisation activities. I have asked for additional advice to inform a more detailed consideration of all the options identified by the review. When that has been completed, I will present the way forward to MPs and the public. I expect to be able to do this shortly.
Territorial Army (Records)
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Reserve Training and Mobilisation Centre records include information on the units to which members of the Territorial Army are mobilised. [45456]
Mr. Watson: The Reserve Training and Mobilisation Centre records include information on the units to which mobilised members of the Territorial Army are initially posted. They do not, however, include information on subsequent postings to other units.
Thames Gateway
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what departmental land in Kent has been earmarked for release to facilitate the implementation of the Thames Gateway project; what the timetable is for release; what the forecast capital receipts are; and if he will make a statement. [83699]
Mr. Watson: It is Ministry of Defence (MOD) policy that the defence estate should be no larger than necessary for operational purposes. Land and buildings, for which there is no present or future requirement, are disposed of as soon as possible in line with Treasury guidelines. A major MOD rationalisation project that could potentially provide land for redevelopment in Kent involves the Royal School of Military Engineering private finance initiative (PFI). Their preferred bidder, Holdfast Training Services, has identified a number of sites for potential release between 2006 and 2012, primarily within the Thames Gateway. Options for taking the PFI forward are under consideration and MOD is liaising with other Government Departments and stakeholders. It is too early to make any decision on what land might eventually be released.
It is not our practice to release disposal valuations in advance of completion of sale, as to do so could influence the market and would not be in the interests of the taxpayer generally.
Training Exercises
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of training exercises have been cancelled in each of the last five years. [83703]
Mr. Ingram: The Defence Exercise Programme has recorded the following percentage of cancelled exercises in each of the last five years:
| Financial year | Percentage |
While specific reasons for cancellation are not available in many cases, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost, the programme continues to be affected by competing operational priorities.
Trident
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Trident nuclear weapons programme cost in each of the last five years. [83114]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 713W, to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone).
Education and Skills
Academies
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of academies’ educational achievement in areas of educational deprivation. [82742]
Jim Knight: We have commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out an independent five-year evaluation of the academies programme. The third annual report is due to be published later this month. The 2005 report concluded that there is a “significant difference in the learning culture in new Academies, compared to their predecessors” and that 97 per cent. of staff think that the principal really believes that the academy can make a difference to the pupils’ learning whatever their family background. It also highlighted:
A generally positive endorsement of the sponsors’ role, particularly in terms of establishing a vision for academies and bringing to bear additional resources and expertise.
Strongly positive feedback, particularly amongst pupils, of the role played by academy principals in terms of transforming the learning culture and raising pupils aspirations
Clear evidence of innovative approaches being adopted by academies to the curriculum, staffing, teaching and learning and timetabling
Evidence of the new academies impacting positively on some aspects of pupil behaviour; and
innovative approaches being adopted in relation to the design of new academy buildings, and broadly positive feedback from staff, pupils and parents about the overall impact of the new buildings on teaching and learning.
In 2005, academies improved results by nearly 8 percentage points compared to 2004. This is three times the national average increase of 2.4 percentage points. The average five or more A*-C GCSE results of the 14 academies with pupils sitting GCSEs was 36.4 per cent. in 2005, compared to an average 21 per cent. in their predecessor schools in 2002.
The then Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools David Bell said last year about standards in academies that “in some cases, what has been achieved in a short time is nothing less than remarkable”.
Adult Learners
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has commissioned into the social profile of adult learners in West Lancashire. [83545]
Bill Rammell: The Department has not commissioned research into the social profile of adult learners specifically in West Lancashire. However, we do have some social profile information on West Lancashire adults who have been taking part in learning funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The following information is based on providers' returns to the LSC's Individual Learner Record database for the 2004/05 academic year.
A total of 6,196 adults (aged 19+) from the West Lancashire constituency took part in LSC-funded further education courses in the 2004/05 academic year. In addition, 478 West Lancashire adults took part in work-based learning courses; and 2,079 West Lancashire adults took part in adult and community learning courses. The breakdown of these adults in terms of gender, age, ethnicity and disability is shown in the following tables.
| Table 1. Participation by gender | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Women | Men | |
The proportion of women in West Lancashire who took part in work-based learning is higher than the national average proportion of women in work-based learning. The proportion of women who took part in further education is also slightly higher than the national average, whereas the proportion of women in adult and community learning is the same as the national average.
| Table 2. Participation by age band. | |||
| Percentage | |||
| 19-24 | 25-59 | 60 and over | |
The age profile
of students in West Lancashire in these three types of learning is very
similar to the
national age profile of students in these three types of
learning.
| Table 3. Participation by ethnicity | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| White British | Any other white background | Non-white background | Not known/not provided | |
The proportion of West Lancashire people from non-white backgrounds in all three types of learning is much lower than the national average. This reflects the low proportion of non-white people in the West Lancashire constituency.
| Table 4. Participation by disability | |||
| Percentage | |||
| Learner has a disability or learning difficulty | Learner does not have a disability or learning difficulty | No information provided by the learner | |
The proportion of disabled adults in West Lancashire who took part in these three types of learning is close to the national average. Note that these learners reported their own disability status and were not assessed.
Many other aspects of the social profile of adult learners are analysed on a national basis in the Department's National Adult Learning Survey. The latest version (for 2002)(1) is available from the House of Commons Library, and the Department plans to publish the 2005 version in September.
(1) Fitzgerald R, Taylor R & LaValle 1. National Adult Learning Survey 2002, DfES Research report RR415.
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