House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 07 Feb 2007 (pt 0003)

7 Feb 2007 : Column 925W—continued

Korea

Kuwait

Lebanon

Lithuania

Macedonia

Malaysia

Morocco

Nepal

New Zealand

Netherlands

Nigeria

Norway

7 Feb 2007 : Column 926W

Oman

Pakistan

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Serbia

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

South Africa

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Sweden

Syria

Thailand

Turkey

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United States of America

Yemen

Zimbabwe

Non-lethal Operations

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on research on non-lethal weapons in each of the last five years. [107724]

Mr. Ingram: Many technologies and the associated research can contribute to concepts termed non-lethal weapons. Therefore it is not possible to provide the exact research spend for the past five years.

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department is funding on the development of non-lethal weapons. [107725]

Mr. Ingram: The term “non-lethal weapons” encompasses concepts supported by a broad range of technologies and therefore a large number of research programmes. Details of the MOD’s interest in this area are stated in chapters B2 and B7 of the Defence Technology Strategy, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Operational Allowance

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the total cost of the operational allowance for 2006-07 will be funded from the Treasury Reserve. [101362]

Derek Twigg [holding answer 20 November 2006]: The total cost of operational allowance for 2006-07 will be met from new money from the Treasury Reserve, as announced on 10 October 2006, Official Report, column 175.

7 Feb 2007 : Column 927W

Procurement Projects

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the 20 largest procurement projects initiated by his Department since May 1997 have been; what the (a) original budget, (b) cost to date and (c) consultancy fees have been; and what the final cost was of each project which has been completed. [106580]

Mr. Ingram: The 20 largest equipment procurement projects that have passed their main investment decision point (Main Gate) since May 1997 are as follows:

£ million
Project	Main Gate approval^{( 1)}	Total cost to 31 March 2006
A400M—Heavy Transport Aircraft	2,700	200
Advanced Jet Trainer	500	70
Airborne Stand Off Radar (ASTOR) System	1,100	870
Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile	1,400	280
Bowman—Data and Voice Communication	2,000	1,760
C17—Strategic Airlift	790	500
C Vehicle—Private Finance Initiative	710	20
Future Joint Combat Aircraft	2,200	560
Future Lynx⁽²⁾	2,000	0
Combined Aerial Target Service⁽²⁾	430	0
Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme	860	40
Next Generation Light Anti-Armour Weapon	420	100
Seawolf Missile System—Block 2	550	210
Skynet 5—Satellite Communications	2,900	150
Sonar 2087	390	180
Successor Identification Friend or Foe	390	230
Support Vehicles	1,600	20
T45 Destroyer	5,500	2,800
Trojan and Titan Engineer Vehicles	400	260
Watchkeeper	900	40
⁽¹⁾ Costs have been rounded to nearest £10 million if total expenditure is under £1 billion and to the nearest £100 million if total expenditure is over £1 billion. ⁽²⁾ Future Lynx and Combined Aerial Target Service were approved in June and December 2006 respectively. No costs were incurred for demonstration and manufacture as at 31 March 2006.

The costs shown are those demonstration and manufacture costs approved (the ‘not to exceed’ cost) at Main Gate and those incurred to 31 March 2006. None of the projects have been completed and therefore final costs have not been provided.

Expenditure on consultancy fees related to these projects since 1997 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I can advise that summaries of MOD expenditure on
7 Feb 2007 : Column 928W
external assistance, of which consultancy is a part, are available in the Library of the House for the years 1995-96 to 2005-06.

Public Relations

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which public affairs firms were given contracts by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies sponsored by his Department in each of the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract. [118430]

Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Recruitment

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were recruited to (a) the Royal Navy and (b) the Royal Air Force in each of the last 12 months; and how many of these recruits have become operationally available. [114633]

Derek Twigg: The following table shows recruits to the naval service for the period 1 October 2005 until 30 September 2006. Those listed as having joined the trained strength (completed phase 2 training) can be said to be operationally available.

	Officers		Other ranks
Intake in the month up to:	Intake	Joined trained strength	Intake	Joined trained strength
1 November 2005	10	⁽¹⁾—	390	—
1 December 2005	40	⁽¹⁾—	290	—
1 January 2006	—	⁽¹⁾—	230	10
1 February 2006	80	⁽¹⁾—	340	20
1 March 2006	50	⁽¹⁾—	350	10
1 April 2006	-	⁽¹⁾—	300	30
1 May 2006	50	⁽¹⁾—	170	20
1 June 2006	20	⁽¹⁾—	320	80
1 July 2006	40	10	320	110
1 August 2006	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—	390	120
1 September 2006	⁽¹⁾—	⁽¹⁾—	10	60
1 October 2006	150	20	340	150
Total	450	40	3450	610
⁽¹⁾ Zero or rounded to zero. Notes: 1. Due to the length of training courses, many of the intake above will still be in training. 2. The Naval Service comprises the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. 3. The latest available naval service figures are for 1 October 2006 and so the preceding 12 months figures are shown. 4. This table excludes 130 naval service personnel who entered during this period as trained and were therefore not subject to the training process.

The following table shows recruits to the Royal Air Force for the period 1 November 2005 until 31 October 2006. Those listed as having joined the trained strength (completed phase 2 training) can be said to be operationally available.

7 Feb 2007 : Column 929W

	Officers		Other ranks
Intake in the month up to:	Intake	Joined trained strength	Intake	Joined trained strength
1 December 2005	20	⁽¹⁾—	180	⁽¹⁾—
1 January 2006	60	⁽¹⁾—	0	⁽¹⁾—
1 February 2006	10	⁽¹⁾—	140	⁽¹⁾—
1 March 2006	110	⁽¹⁾—	90	10
1 April 2006	20	10	40	⁽¹⁾—
1 May 2006	⁽²⁾40	^{(1, 2)}—	⁽²⁾180	^{(1, 2)}—
1 June 2006	⁽²⁾70	^{(1, 2)}—	⁽²⁾260	⁽²⁾40
1 July 2006	^{(1, 2)}—	^{(1, 2)}—	⁽²⁾60	⁽²⁾50
1 August 2006	⁽²⁾60	^{(1, 2)}—	⁽²⁾180	⁽²⁾20
1 September 2006	⁽²⁾30	^{(1, 2)}—	⁽²⁾120	⁽²⁾30
1 October 2006	⁽²⁾30	⁽²⁾10	⁽²⁾60	⁽²⁾60
1 November 2006	⁽²⁾130	^{(1, 2)}—	⁽²⁾220	⁽²⁾70
Total	⁽²⁾570	⁽²⁾20	⁽²⁾l,510	⁽²⁾290
^{(1 )}Zero or rounded to zero. ⁽²⁾ Provisional data. Due to the introduction of a new Personnel Administration System for RAF, all RAF data from 1 April 2006 are provisional and subject to review. Notes: 1. Due to the length of training courses, many of the intake above will still be in training. 2. The latest available Royal Air Force figures are for 1 November 2006 and so the preceding 12 months figures are shown.

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