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7 Nov 2006 : Column 1470W—continued
Joint Personnel Administration System
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been (a) overpaid and (b) underpaid to RAF personnel stationed in (i) Afghanistan and (ii) elsewhere through the Joint Personnel Administration system. [91622]
Derek Twigg: The information requested for Afghanistan is not held centrally and could only be extracted at a disproportionate cost. The number of RAF over and underpayments resulting from Joint Personnel Administration system errors is in the following table.
| Month | Overpaid | Underpaid | Total |
These latest figures show a reduction of 771 in April, 470 in May, 60 in June and an increase of 90 in July, compared to the previously published figures. The reductions are due to further analysis of the cases and the consequent elimination of some double counting and incorrect categorisation of errors. The numbers for July increased subsequent to the original early report on the July position. The high numbers in August were due primarily to two JPA system errors (incorrect tax calculation on recoveries and incorrect Get You Home Mileage payments) which were all small in value and corrected in the payroll for August and September respectively.
Joint Strike Fighter
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent assessment is of the performance of the Joint Strike Fighter against overall performance requirements. [98551]
Mr. Ingram: At the Joint Strike Fighter Critical Design Review in Spring 2006 the programme was found to be at an acceptable standard of maturity with the fundamental structural design substantially complete. Some residual risks were identified, consistent with the current stage of the programme, and mitigation plans are in place to manage them. We continue to monitor these risks to ensure that JSF remains on track to meet our performance requirements.
Language Skills
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which foreign languages are taught to military personnel. [97808]
Derek Twigg: The following foreign languages are taught to military personnel:
Albanian
Albanian Gheg
Arabic
Arabic (Egyptian)
Arabic (Iraqi)
Arabic (Gulf)
Arabic (Levantine)
Arabic (Moroccan)
Baluchi
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Chinese (Mandarin)
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dari
Dutch
Farsi
Finnish
Flemish
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Kazakh
Korean
Kurdish
Latvian
Lithuanian
Macedonian
Malay
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashtu
Polish
Portugese
Portuguese (Brazil)
Punjabi (Pakistani)
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Shona
Slovak
Slovene
Spanish
Spanish LA (Latin American)
Swahili
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Languages are required to support Defence's operational, international liaison and defence diplomacy outputs. The level of attainment varies according to need, ranging from low level colloquial skills to full interpreter standard.
Light Bulbs
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of light bulbs purchased by his Department in 2005 were of the compact fluorescent type. [98253]
Derek Twigg:
Light bulbs purchased directly by the MOD are for military application and are generally required to meet higher shock and vibration standards than normal commercial equivalents. In the year to
October 2006, 4 per cent. by volume of light bulbs purchased by the MOD were of the compact fluorescent type.
Light bulbs for general use on the Defence estate are procured by contractors on MOD's behalf. Information is not held centrally on the proportion of the various types purchased. Departmental policy does however require suppliers procuring goods on MOD's behalf to consider environmental standards and use products which are known to have a lower environmental impact than equivalent products.
Lockheed Martin
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts have been awarded to Lockheed Martin by his Department since 1 January 2006. [81329]
Mr. Ingram: In the following table is listed information extracted from the Defence Bills Agency database (see Notes 1 and 2) covering contracts awarded to Lockheed Martin by the Ministry of Defence since 1 January, 2006.
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