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19 Jun 2007 : Column 1758W—continued
Departments: ICT
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to assess the views of those responsible for using the defence information infrastructure system on the effectiveness and operability of the design; and if he will make a statement. [141675]
Mr. Ingram: The contract for DII(F) is based upon a user requirement document (URD) which corralled users’ capability requirements for DII(F) from across all MOD’s top level budgets. A systems requirement’s document was produced from the URD, converting the users capability and performance requirements into a systems view of the overall requirement. MOD will then measure the performance of the delivered DII(F) solution against the performance conditions laid down in the URD to ensure it meets our requirements.
User concerns are raised through the chain of command and top level budgets; those which cannot be resolved at lower levels are considered at the Joint User Working Group led at senior level by the DII programme director. There is a single point of contact which functions as the DII(F) help desk to support individual users' day-to-day operation of DII(F).
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the defence information infrastructure design system is (a) operational and (b) systems assured; and if he will make a statement. [141676]
Mr. Ingram: The operational status of DII(F) is declared on a site-by-site basis and is defined in terms of first user live. The first user of the DII(F) system went live on 31 January 2006.
The DII(F) programme is being delivered in three contractual increments covering delivery of terminals and networking capability. It also involves a number of releases, which improve functionality via software tools and associated hardware.
Each release is assured before it becomes operational. Assurance confirms that the solution satisfies functional requirements—the user's needs; key performance indicators—it runs the way it should and is reliable;
service management requirements—it is supported adequately by help desks and similar services; it meets national security requirements.
Departments: Official Hospitality
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on entertainment by the (a) General Office Commanding Northern Ireland, (b) Commander in Chief Land, (c) General-Adjutant and (d) Chief of the General Staff in 2006, broken down by event. [134416]
Derek Twigg: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 17 April 2007, Official Report, column 535W, about how much was spent on entertainment by the Adjutant-General and the Chief of the General Staff in 2006.
The details for General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland and Commander in Chief Land are as follows:
The General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland incurred £3,758 of expenditure for official entertainment in 2006. The events were:
The Commander in Chief Land Command incurred £3,581 of expenditure for official entertainment in 2006. The events were.
| Date | Function | Event/reason | Cost (£) |
|
2 x Senior officers stayed at CinC residence overnight to attend CGS conference | |||
Departments: Official Residences
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the official ministerial residences allocated to Ministers in his Department; and what the total annual cost is of running each. [141970]
Derek Twigg: No Ministers in the Ministry of Defence are allocated a ministerial residence.
Departments: Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was received by his Department from the letting of its properties in each of the last five years. [139338]
Derek Twigg: Rental income from external customers is disclosed separately in the Departmental Resource Accounts which have been laid before the House of Commons. A copy of the accounts for each year is available in the Library of the House.
In addition the Department receives income from service personnel for the occupation of both single
living and families accommodation. Although readily available only for the last three years, income in respect of Service Families Accommodation was as follows:
| Financial Year | Income (£) |
With effect from 2005-06 these amounts are disclosed separately in the accounts.
Income from Single Living Accommodation was not, until 2006-07, held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The 2006-07 Departmental Resource Accounts are currently being audited by the National Audit Office and, following presentation to Parliament, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
Firearms: Training
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact on marksmanship of the cancellation of all Division Skill at Arms Meetings until further notice. [143823]
Mr. Ingram: While the cancellation of Divisional Skill at Arms Meetings will have some impact, shooting competitions will continue to run at unit and Brigade level. This complies with new army shooting policy; shooting remains a critical skill and the cancellation of Divisional Level meetings will not affect TA operational capability.
Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) suicides and (b) attempted suicides there have been of members of HM armed forces (i) while serving in and (ii) after returning from service in (A) Iraq and (B) Afghanistan. [142293]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence has centrally compiled and verified records of coroner-confirmed suicides or open verdict deaths among UK regular Service personnel up to 31 December 2006.
| Table: Number of suicides of UK armed forces | |||
| Theatre of operation | Dates | On deployment | Post- deployment |
| (1 )One suicide in 2005 involved a reservist serving in Iraq. (2) Follow-up records of personnel who were deployed to Afghanistan are not currently available for the period before 15 October 2005. | |||
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