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16 May 2007 : Column 812W—continued
Armed Forces: Welfare Support
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what professional qualifications are held by the full-time staff who direct specialist welfare support for service personnel and their dependent families; and if he will make a statement; [136171]
(2) how many uniformed, professionally qualified, full-time staff in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy, (c) Royal Air Force and (d) Tri-Service specialise in providing welfare support for service personnel and their dependent families; and if he will make a statement. [136172]
Derek Twigg: All full-time staff who direct specialist welfare support for service personnel and their dependant families are registered social workers. The numbers of full-time professionally qualified uniformed staff who are providing support for service personnel are as follows:
Navy—19 uniformed registered social workers, all of whom hold a minimum qualification of a Diploma in social work.
Army—66 uniformed qualified specialist welfare workers, all of whom have to attend a seven month initial training course, credited by the Open University, that leads to a certificate in social and occupational welfare.
RAF—the RAF contract out their welfare service to SSAFA FH; they employ personnel who are registered social workers.
Army Board: Cost Effectiveness
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the annual running costs of the (a) households and (b) offices of non-ministerial members of the Army Board were last audited. [135615]
Derek Twigg: The Defence Internal Audit Team carried out an audit on all Official Service Residences in 2003.
All costs incurred by the offices of non-ministerial members of the Army Board are subject to scrutiny and approval in accordance with procedures set out in Government Accounting. Records indicate that there have been no formal audits conducted of expenditure incurred by these offices in the recent past.
Army: Costs
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2007, Official Report, column 50W, on the Army: costs, what the reasons were for the amount spent on maintenance of the property occupied by the Commander in Chief Land, broken down by main budget heading. [136626]
Derek Twigg: The figure previously provided under the generic heading “maintenance” covered a range of costs including the supply of replacement equipment, redecoration and the rectification of faults. A breakdown of the costs is shown in the table.
| Description of maintenance | Cost (£) |
Army: Manpower
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 142W, on the Army: manpower, what the differences are between the roles of a mess steward and a mess supervisor. [135950]
Derek Twigg: A mess steward is employed as a waiter, barman or to undertake general mess duties. Mess supervisor is a more senior position, which includes line management and accounting responsibilities.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to review the Army manpower target. [137347]
Mr. Ingram: The Army manpower target, as with the other services, is kept under regular review. During the departmental planning process, the requirements of all three services are reviewed and amended if approved, to ensure that we have the right numbers of people to deliver current and future outputs. The requirements of all three services are then approved by Ministers and the Defence Management Board. This process has just been completed for Defence Programme (DP) 2007 and will occur again in Planning Round 2008.
Army: Official Residences
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what sporting facilities are available at the residences paid for by his Department of the (a) Adjutant General, (b) Chief of the General Staff, (c) General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland and (d) Commander in Chief Land. [136385]
Derek Twigg: The residence occupied by the Adjutant General has a grass tennis court.
There are no sporting facilities at the residences occupied by the Chief of the General Staff, General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland and the Commander in Chief Land.
Bridges
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many quick construction bridges are stock-piled for civil contingencies and emergencies; and what estimate he has made of the number required. [137139]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 15 May 200 7]: The MOD does not hold stocks of quick construction bridges (or any other commodity) specifically for civil contingencies or emergencies. However, it does hold a variety of combat and logistic support bridging that could be loaned to assist civil authorities if requested.
Chief of Defence Materiel
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what foreign visits have been made by the Chief of Defence Materiel since January 2005. [137133]
Derek Twigg: The post of Chief of Defence Materiel was established on 2 April 2007. Since that date the Chief of Defence Materiel has made two foreign visits in an official capacity. Between 15-21 April, he visited the United States for a 4/5 Powers Conference. Between 24-25 April he visited Brussels for a Conference of National Armaments Directors meeting.
Defence Export Services Organisation
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2007, Official Report, columns 960-1W, on the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO), how much has been spent by his Department on appealing against the decision by the Information Commissioner to release a copy of the 2004 edition of the DESO staff directory since the end of January 2007; and what fees have been paid for work to outside counsel and the Treasury Solicitor’s Department since the end of January 2007. [136871]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 May 2007]: The fees paid to outside Counsel and Treasury Solicitors Department from the 1 February 2007 to 27 April 2007, when the case concluded are as follows:
| Amount (£) | |
Further costs may be attributed to this case, but have not yet been submitted.
As I explained in my reply of 23 February 2007, Official Report, column 961W, work has been carried out by staff from a number of areas within the Ministry of Defence and it is not possible to attribute costs specifically relating to this appeal.
Defence Medical Services: Consultants
Peter Viggers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Defence Medical Services
consultants are (a) not currently employed in consultant posts and (b) in consultant posts which will end within six months to whom no subsequent consultant appointment has been offered. [134257]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 26 April 2007]: As at 1 January 2007, there were 20 Primary and Secondary Care Defence Medical Services Consultants who were working out of their particular speciality. These consultants are working in posts (e.g. in headquarters) that require consultant accreditation but not within a particular speciality.
The geographical location of a consultant’s appointment—where they carry out their clinical work—is independent of the location of the funding for the post. The funding for these two posts remains in the budget of Portsmouth Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit (MDHU).
There are two consultants currently in consultant appointments which will end within the next six months. One of these appointments is a locum position, which is due to end in the next six months. An alternative appointment is being sought for this consultant. The other appointment relates to a consultant who will be starting refresher training in the near future. This consultant will be re-appointed once training is complete.
Defence: Research
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on defence research and development in each year since 1997. [137349]
Mr. Ingram: This information can be found in Table 1.7 of UK Defence Statistics, the MOD’s annual statistical compendium, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Hercules Aircraft
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who in his Department was responsible for (a) writing the specification for the fitting of explosive suppressant foam to UK Hercules aircraft and (b) liaising between the contractors to ensure the most efficient working practices; and if he will make a statement. [135072]
Mr. Ingram: The Hercules integrated project team (IPT): part of defence equipment and support, in conjunction with Air Command and the equipment capability customer, was responsible for writing the specification for fitting explosion suppressant foam to the RAF's Hercules aircraft. The Hercules IPT is responsible for ensuring that the contract specifications are completed within the agreed timeframe.
HMS Sussex: Gold
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what value of gold has been recovered from HMS Sussex. [136673]
Derek Twigg: The excavation of what is believed to be HMS Sussex has not yet taken place.
HMS Temeraire
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to dispose of the site of HMS Temeraire; and whether the site is included in the Naval Base Review. [136697]
Derek Twigg: HMS Temeraire is being considered as part of the Naval Base Review (NBR), which is examining a number of options to ensure the right infrastructure is in place to support the Royal Navy in the future. Work on the NBR is continuing and no final conclusions have been reached.
Iran: Detainees
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) 5.56 mm and (b) 9 mm rounds were carried by each of the 15 service personnel detained by the Iranians in March 2007. [137550]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 April 2007, Official Report, column 1015W. It would be inappropriate for me to comment until Lieutenant General Fulton’s inquiry is complete.
Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps will be taken to replace the UK helicopters involved in a collision north of Baghdad on 14 April 2007. [133150]
Mr. Ingram: At the time of the accident on 14 April 2007, a scheduled roulement of aircraft was being conducted in Iraq. As a result of the accident, and in order to minimise the capability gap, one aircraft due to return to the UK as part of this roulement was extended in theatre to provide partial cover for the shortfall. The remaining shortfall is being covered by management of the fleet in theatre until a replacement airframe is sent from Joint Helicopter Command’s UK holdings, expected to be on 17 May 2007.
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British military personnel serving in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan (i) were casevacced from theatre, (ii) were injured by enemy action and (iii) have sustained life-changing injuries since 1 January 2006. [136403]
Des Browne: The MOD is committed to publishing statistics on the number of service personnel killed and injured on operations. Casualty and fatality figures for Iraq and Afghanistan are published on the MOD website:
Casualty figures are updated two weekly, in arrears.
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