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5 July 2007 : Column 1131W—continued
Armed Forces: Training
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Defence Training Rationalisation Programme will support up-skilling throughout (a) Wales and (b) the rest of the UK beyond the Armed Forces; and what discussions his Department has had on supporting up-skilling. [146844]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 3 July 2007]: The Ministry of Defence is actively participating in a cross-departmental committee to assess how the Defence Training Review Programme can link with the Government’s broader skills agenda. As much of what the armed forces do on a daily basis is vocational, we aim to ensure that training is accredited to nationally recognised vocational qualifications. On 14 June the armed forces signed a Skills Pledge confirming its commitment to support its employees to gain the skills and qualifications that will support their future employability, not only in Wales, but across the UK.
John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will require the Defence Training Review preferred bidder to hold discussions with Persimmon Homes and Barratts on planning gains for the Defence Military Academy at MOD, St. Athan from the development of Llandow Newydd. [147278]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: To date no decision on the procurement option for service families accommodation has been made. The options to be considered will include a solution from the preferred bidder alongside in-house options and any opportunities in the local market.
John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where he expects the new accommodation for trainees and military and civilian staff at the military training academy MOD St. Athan to be located. [147281]
Derek Twigg: Work to agree specific site plans of the proposed MOD St. Athan site is ongoing. All single living accommodation will be located within the MOD St. Athan boundary; however the location of service families accommodation is still to be determined.
Army Board: Expenditure
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what expenses incurred by partners of members of the Army Board may be claimed for from his Department; and how much was spent on those expenses in 2006, broken down by type. [130547]
Derek Twigg: Spouses may, exceptionally, accompany Service personnel and civil servants to official functions or events in the UK or overseas, where there is a clear public interest in doing so.
In 2006, a total of £12,769.83 was paid by the Department for air travel relating to attendance at official representational events overseas by spouses of the non-ministerial members of the Army Board. No other expenses were incurred.
BAE: Contracts
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from the US Administration on the subject of contracts obtained by BAE Systems; and if he will make a statement. [147211]
Des Browne [holding answer 3 July 2007]: None.
Departments: BAE Systems
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officials from his Department applied to join BAE under the business appointments procedure in each of the last 10 years. [146952]
Des Browne: The number of staff (both civilian and military) from the Department who have submitted applications under the business appointments process to join BAE over the past 10 years is as follows:
| Number of business applications where BAE quoted | |
This information has been compiled from manual historic records of business appointment applications where ‘BAE’ has been quoted in the record and a date given. It is therefore possible that some cases may not be included in these figures.
Departments: Pay
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last three years; and at what total cost. [146991]
Derek Twigg: The number and value of non-pensionable bonuses awarded to members of the senior civil service (SCS), to fixed term appointees and to civil servants below the level of SCS covered by the MOD Main pay deal (excluding Trading Funds and Agencies) over the past three years, are listed in the following Tables 1 to 4. The Ministry of Defence also awards special bonuses to individuals and teams for exceptional performance in a specific task or for the achievement of professional qualifications which benefit MOD and the individual; these are shown in Table 4.
| Table 1 : Bonuses paid to senior civil servants | ||
| £ | ||
| Number of bonuses | Value of bonuses | |
| Ta ble 2: Bonuses paid to senior fixed term appointments | ||
| £ | ||
| Number of bonuses | Value of bonuses | |
| Table 3: End of year bonuses paid to staff below the level of the SCS (excluding MOD Trading Fund Agencies) | ||
| £ | ||
| Number of bonuses | Value of bonuses | |
| Table 4: Special bonuses (excluding MOD Trading Fund Agencies) | ||
| £ | ||
| Number of bonuses | Value of bonuses | |
Departments: Performance Appraisal
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in 2006-07. [146915]
Derek Twigg: There were no members of the senior civil service who did not perform satisfactorily in the 2006-07 reporting year. Staff below the senior civil service who are performing less than satisfactorily are separately identified. This process operates from the end of the reporting period for the pay band/skill zone (February to April) through to late July 2007. As the process is not yet complete it is too early to provide the information. I will write to the hon. Member when the data are available and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Departments: Public Expenditure
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list his Department's top level budget holders and their related management groupings in each financial year since 1997. [146960]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is available in the ‘MOD Organisation and Resource Account Code Hierarchies’ document, which is produced annually. Copies are available in the Library of the House covering the period from 2000-01, when the Chart of Accounts was first adopted for financial management purposes in the Ministry of Defence.
Depleted Uranium: Irish Sea
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many depleted uranium shells were fired into the Irish Sea and the waters feeding into the Irish Sea in each of the last 30 years. [146891]
Derek Twigg: No depleted uranium (DU) shells have been fired into the Irish Sea. DU projectiles have been fired from Kirkcudbright into the Solway Firth since 1982 and the numbers fired to date are shown in the following table.
In addition, during 1988 and 1990, 100 and 215 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition respectively were fired into Luce Bay, West Freugh, as part of experimental firings to examine the ricochet effects of ammunitions from the Phalanx weapons system following first water impact.
The table has been compiled from individual entries in a daily log maintained at Kirkcudbright. While preparing this table, differences were noted between the annual totals obtained on this occasion and the information published in Hansard on 12 March 2001, Official Report, column 411W, in answer to a similar question. The reason for the discrepancies is because some preparatory rounds, which did not contain DU, were included in the earlier data.
| Numbers fired (including malfunctions) | |
Depleted Uranium: Peacekeeping Operations
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much depleted uranium ammunition has been used by British forces in (a) Operation Telic and (b) Operation Herrick since 2003. [147526]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on the 28 June 2007, Official Report, column 831W.
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