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Trident
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies are being carried out into whether to reuse or replace the Trident warhead pit; and when a decision on pit reuse or replacement is likely to be made. [79089]
Des Browne: The Atomic Weapons Establishment undertakes a range of studies as part of a warhead assurance programme designed to ensure the safety, effectiveness and durability of the UK nuclear warhead stockpile. This process is designed to enable regular assessments of the service life of any particular pit, and ensure that essential capability continues to be maintained at all times.
There is currently no requirement for any replacement warhead; nor is there any programme to develop one.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has allocated for US contract N00178-04-D-4042 to EG and G, a Trident software support contract for K Development at the Naval Surface Warfare Centre Dahlgren, for the development and testing of (a) UK targeting, (b) reference and simulation models and (c) verifying the removal of US-eyes only items from Trident targeting and fire control software. [82405]
Des
Browne: The Ministry of Defence does not allocate funding
for individual US Government contracts. Arrangements for support of the
UK Fire Control Software and related matters are agreed
between the US and UK Governments under the Polaris Sales Agreement (as
amended for Trident).
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 5 June 2006, Official Report, column 35W, on Trident, whether he makes a distinction between designing and developing in the context of work on a new warhead for use in Trident missiles. [82426]
Des Browne: We do not draw a distinction between “designing” or “developing” in the context of nuclear warheads. As we said in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (“supporting essay 5 paragraph 14”), we maintain a minimum capability at the Atomic Weapons Establishment to design and produce a replacement for the current Trident warhead, should that prove necessary.
There is no programme at the Atomic Weapons Establishment to either develop or design a new nuclear warhead as we currently have no requirement for a new warhead.
Troop Numbers
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the (a) actual and (b) establishment figures are for each regiment of the (i) Royal Household Cavalry, (ii) Royal Armoured Corps and (iii) Royal Artillery; [84546]
(2) what the (a) actual and (b) establishment figures are for each (i) regiment and (ii) battalion of the (A) Royal Engineers, (B) Royal Corps of Signals, (C) Royal Logistics Corps, (D) Royal Army Medical Corps and (E) Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. [84547]
Mr. Ingram: Strengths and establishment figures for these Arm/Services, broken down by regiment/battalion, are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I am able to provide the strengths and liability for these Arm/Services as at 1 May 2006:
| Full-time trained strength as at 1 May 2006 and liability | |||
| Full-time trained strength (including full-time reserve service (FTRS( 1) ) | Liability( 2) | Strength( 3) | Strength as percentage of liability |
| Arm/Service | |||
| (1)
FTRS figures include full, limited and home
commitment. (2) Based on Regular Army Liability (RAL 06). This liability is the Army target strength to be achieved by 1 April 2008, following the commencement of Northern Ireland Normalisation (NIN) and the implementation of the Future Army Structure (FAS). (3 )As at 1 May 06 Notes: 1. Figures exclude Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, mobilised reserves, Territorial Army and other reserves. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. | |||
Uniforms
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the procedure is for replacement of ill-fitting uniforms for members of the Armed Forces. [83918]
Mr.
Ingram: Uniforms are generally issued through the unit
Quartermaster stores. Any ill-fitting pieces of uniform can be
exchanged there and then for a better fit. In cases where the
individual falls outside of the standard size range, they receive made
to measure uniforms. Exceptionally, where an item of uniform is
found to have been badly made, the Defence Clothing
Integrated Project Team (DCIPT) examine the specification, identify the
problem and ensure that corrective action is
taken.
Veterans
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many veterans living in the Leicester South constituency have (a) applied for and (b) received their veterans lapel badge. [84028]
Mr. Watson: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Accenture
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department paid to the company Accenture in each year since 2002; and what sums his Department owes to the company. [78370]
Ian Pearson: From information held centrally the Department has paid Accenture the following sums since 2002:
| Financial year | Amount (£ million) |
As at 16 June 2006, the sum of £2,301,976 had not been paid to Accenture and this figure represented invoices received since 5 June 2006 which were in the process of being released for payment within the Department’s agreed payment terms window.
Advertising Campaigns
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advertising campaigns his Department has run since July 2004; and what the (a) date and (b) cost was of each. [81914]
Ian Pearson: For the Department’s overall advertising expenditure for 2004-05 and 2005-06, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 May 2006, Official Report, column 1818W.
The principal advertising campaigns run by DEFRA since July 2004 are in the following table.
The department also undertakes a wide range of recruitment, statutory notice and one-off advertising activities which accounts for the balance in spending. Information on advertising campaigns by non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, independent statutory bodies and other DEFRA-funded bodies is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Agricultural Support
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total budget is in 2006-07 for agricultural support in England; and what the administrative cost is of distributing it. [82445]
Ian Pearson: The amount forecast for agricultural support in England in 2006-07 is approximately £1.6 billion. This will be administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), whose administrative costs are budgeted at £197.1 million in 2006-07.
Air Conditioning
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department collects on the number of homes in the United Kingdom which have domestic air conditioning installed. [84953]
Ian Pearson: No detailed information is available about the number of air conditioning units in domestic homes or their associated energy consumption.
However,
the Government’s Market Transformation Programme (MTP) has
collected estimates of the amount of energy consumed by air
conditioning units in the UK that are subject to the ‘Energy
Information (Household Air Conditioners) Regulations 2005’ (that
is, units which consume less than 12 kilowatts). The 2005 Regulatory
Impact Assessment for those regulations indicate that
these appliances, which are used in both domestic
and commercial premises, consume about 5.6 terawatt hours of
electricity per year. This is equivalent to approximately 672,000
tonnes of carbon. The report is available on the DEFRA
website:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/energylabelling-regsaircon/index.htm
No information is collected for indirect greenhouse gas emissions from these appliances.
Badgers
Ms Angela C. Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether badger body snares had been used by the Central Science Laboratory for (a) ecological and (b) other research work before 2006. [82469]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer my hon. friend to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 5 June 2006, Official Report, column 89W.
Given the real security concerns associated with work of this nature, it is our policy not to comment on any involvement or otherwise of agencies or contractors in relation this topic.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many badgers there are, broken down by region. [83249]
Mr. Bradshaw: Surveys of badger populations in Great Britain were undertaken in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. In the mid-1980s the badger population was estimated to be 250,000 badgers and in the mid-1990’s a survey estimated the population had increased by 77 per cent.
DEFRA is not aware of any other national surveys which have attempted to estimate badger numbers in England and Wales. We do not have regional breakdowns of these figures.
Bovine TB
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle slaughtered under the TB eradication scheme in each of the last three years were subsequently found on post mortem not to be infected and their carcasses sold into the food chain; and what the financial proceeds were of those sales in each year. [82486]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 4 July 2006]: The number of cattle slaughtered under bovine tuberculosis control measures, and their confirmation status, is set out in the following table:
| Total number of cattle slaughtered under TB control measures in GB( 1) | Number of confirmed reactors | Number of unconfirmed cases | |
| (1)
Reactors, inconclusive reactors and direct
contacts. | |||
Failure to confirm the disease by post-mortem examination at the slaughterhouse, or by culturing Mycobacterium bovis in the laboratory, does not mean that the disease was not present in the animal, or that the animal had not been in contact with bovine TB. In the early stages of the disease, it is not always possible to see lesions with the naked eye, and, due to the fastidious nature of the organism, it is not possible to culture from samples in every case.
Carcases and their associated offal are inspected by the Meat Hygiene Service at slaughter and those with signs of generalised infection are fully condemned and declared unfit for human consumption. Where localised TB lesions are found in more than one organ or area of a carcass the whole carcass is condemned. Those carcasses with lesions in a single organ or part of the carcass and associated lymph nodes are only passed fit for human consumption once the affected part of the carcass has been cut out and condemned. If no TB lesions are found, the carcass is passed fit for human consumption. If any M. bovis organisms remain these will be killed by thoroughly cooking the meat.
Figures for financial proceeds are not available for unconfirmed cattle. However, figures for the financial proceeds from all cattle slaughtered under bovine tuberculosis control measures are set out in the following table:
| Financial proceeds from all cattle slaughtered under bovine tuberculosis control measures | |
| £ million | |
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether an assessment was made of the merits of using weight charts rather than an estimate by the Department or an auctioneer when the system by which farmers are compensated for a cow with bovine TB was changed. [83070]
Mr. Bradshaw: The current arrangements were only introduced after two full, public consultations and, wherever possible, DEFRA reacted to the detailed concerns raised by stakeholders.
Various options were considered before a system based on table valuations was developed, but weight charts were not suggested at any time during the consultation process.
Basing the level of compensation on an animal’s weight would not be practical. For example, such a system would work against those farmers with young pedigree stock.
We are working with stakeholders through the Cattle Compensation Advisory Group, which was set up to monitor the introduction of the new system, to consider whether (and what) system enhancements might be needed.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many outbreaks of bovine TB in cattle there were in 2005-06; and if he will make a statement. [83271]
Mr. Bradshaw: There were 1,562 new herd TB incidents between January and May 2006(1). This indicates a real and substantial reduction in the number of new incidents when compared to the same period in 2005 (1,959).
Given the cyclical nature of the disease, it is too early to draw any conclusions about whether the decrease is a temporary or a more sustained reduction. However, we consider the decrease to be an important and welcome development, and we are working hard to determine its cause. It is likely to be the result of a complex combination of factors, which may take some time to analyse.
(1) Data from DEFRA’s Animal Health Database (Vetnet). Provisional statistics, subject to change as more data becomes available.
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