Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 16 October 2007
Wales
Departments: Internet
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many websites his Department operates; how many it operated at 1 January 2005; and what the estimated annual cost has been of running his Department's websites in the last five years. [157925]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office has operated one bilingual website since 2001 at a running cost of £1,600 per annum.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many hits the (a) most popular and (b) least popular website run by his Department has received since 1 January 2007. [157926]
Mr. Hain: The Wales Office operates one bilingual website. It does not record number of visitors.
General Elections
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what contingency preparations his Department made for the possibility of a general election in autumn 2007; and what the costs were of those preparations. [156991]
Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Edward Miliband) on 15 October 2007, Official Report, columns 822-23W.
Scotland
Energy Supply
8. Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister on energy supply issues. [156896]
David Cairns: The Government's position on energy supply was set out clearly in our Energy White paper. The Scottish Executive has responded to the White Paper and to our consultation on nuclear energy.
Drugs in Prison
9. Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next expects to meet Ministers from the Scottish Executive to discuss policy on drugs in prisons. [156897]
David Cairns: I have no plans to meet Scottish Ministers to discuss this matter.
Economic Trends
10. Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent assessment he has made of economic trends in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [156898]
11. Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the performance of the Scottish economy in the last quarter. [156899]
Des Browne: Thanks to the policies of this Government the Scottish economy is performing admirably with economic growth of 2.4 per cent. for the year to Q1, which continues to exceed the long-term average, and extends an impressive run of 11 consecutive quarters of greater than trend growth.
International Aid
12. John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the First Minister of Scotland on international aid and development. [156900]
David Cairns: No such discussions have taken place.
Glasgow Commonwealth Games Bid
13. Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with Scottish Ministers on the Glasgow Commonwealth Games bid. [156901]
David Cairns: The Scotland Office has been working closely with the Scottish Executive, DCMS and the Intellectual Property Office to facilitate and support Glasgow's bid for the 2014 Games.
Clean Coal
14. Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the future for clean coal in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [156902]
David Cairns: As made clear in the Energy White Paper, the Government are working at a national and international level to develop clean coal technology. I have had a number of meetings with the coal industry and related sectors in Scotland at which clean coal technology has been discussed.
Wind Farms
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussion he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on generation of electricity by wind farms in Scotland. [156892]
Des Browne: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a wide range of energy matters, including generation from wind farms. In the last couple of months I have also met Scottish and Southern Energy, ScottishPower and Talisman Energy Ltd.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK military and related personnel have been maimed or injured in Afghanistan since June 2006, broken down by (a) category and (b) severity of injury. [156590]
Derek Twigg: Information on casualty figures for Afghanistan can be found on the relevant section of the MOD website, which is updated twice per month at:
Between 1 June 2006 and 15 September 2007, field hospitals in Afghanistan recorded 842 admissions for UK military and civilian personnel. Of these, 249 were categorised as wounded in action, with the other 593 admitted for disease or non-battle injuries.
Over the same period, 33 personnel were recorded as very seriously injured or wounded and 36 as seriously injured or wounded.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel have lost limbs, or parts thereof, from mine strikes in Afghanistan on (a) WMIK and (b) Snatch Landrover vehicles. [157162]
Derek Twigg: I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK infantry units in Afghanistan are not equipped with the Blue Force tracker system. [157305]
Des Browne: No UK infantry units are equipped with the Blue Force tracker system, which is a US system. All formed company-level UK infantry units in Afghanistan are equipped with Bowman, which provides a blue force tracking capability. Other systems are also available to UK forces in Afghanistan. I am withholding details of the distribution of free standing blue force tracking systems as their release would prejudice the safety or security of our armed forces.
Armed Forces: Commonwealth
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many recruits from the new Commonwealth have applied to have their (a) spouse and (b) children join them in the UK in each of the last five years; and how many have applied for British citizenship since becoming members of the armed forces. [156325]
Derek Twigg: It is very much a personal decision as to whether non-British personnel bring their families over to the UK to join them, and whether serving members of the armed forces apply for British citizenship. The information requested is therefore not recorded by the Department.
Armed Forces: Correspondence
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many instances of lost mail between military personnel and their families have been recorded in the last 12 months. [157049]
Derek Twigg: The British Forces Post Office handles approximately 92 million items of mail per year. Between October 2006 and October 2007 there have been 520 confirmed claims for non-delivery of mail.
Armed Forces: Health Services
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will undertake a review of the provision of post-operative rehabilitation services available to members of the armed forces who have suffered injury while carrying out their duties; and if he will make a statement. [158716]
Derek Twigg: MOD has excellent medical rehabilitation services. If military patients require further rehabilitation care following initial hospital treatment, they may be referred to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) at Headley Court in Surrey, which is the principal medical rehabilitation centre run by the armed forces and widely praised for its work. DMRC provides both physiotherapy and group rehabilitation for complex musculo-skeletal injuries, plus neuro-rehabilitation for brain-injured patients, after they have completed their hospital care.
In exceptional circumstances, where specialist care is required that cannot be provided at Headley Court, such as cases of severe brain trauma, patients may be referred to specialist facilities in either NHS or private facilities.
The Complex Rehabilitation and Amputee Unit, based within DMRC, provides high quality prosthetics and adaptations, manufactured on site and individually tailored as necessary to the specific patient. Priority is given to the provision of prosthetics to enable service personnel to resume service duties. In July 2007, I opened officially a new 30-bed annex at Headley Court, providing accommodation for low-dependency patients.
Personnel with less serious musculo-skeletal injuries may also be referred to one of MOD’s 15 Regional Rehabilitation Units in the UK and Germany, which provide accessible, regionally-based assessment and treatment, including physiotherapy and group rehabilitation facilities. They are staffed by specially trained doctors, physiotherapists and rehabilitation instructors, and enable patients to be assessed and treated in a timely fashion, with the aim of returning them to operational fitness when this is clinically possible.
Armed Forces: Housing
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the disposals made to fund the £80 million towards single living accommodation announced on 25 September; and how much was generated by each. [157034]
Derek Twigg: This additional investment is not directly linked to one specific disposal.
Army: Drugs
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the principal conclusions are of the 12 month study by the Directorate of Army personnel strategy begun in April 2006, with particular reference to the reasons given for drug use by those who tested positive for (a) cannabis only, (b) ecstasy only and (c) cocaine only. [157337]
Derek Twigg: The research report ‘Prevention of Drug Misuse in the Army’ study, which is being conducted by the Directorate of Army Personnel Strategy, has not yet concluded.
Ballistic Missile Defence
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason no debate, consultation or oral statement took place in the House before the decision announced in his written statement of 25 July to allow the installation and operation by the US Administration of equipment to allow receipt of satellite warnings of potentially hostile missile launches at RAF Menwith Hill; and whether any intelligence received via the installation will be made available to the United Kingdom at the same time as to the United States. [157315]
Des Browne: Defence Ministers routinely answer written and oral questions on missile defence issues and there are regular defence debates scheduled throughout the year to allow MPs to raise specific issues on the Floor of the House. My written ministerial statement of 25 July 2007, Official Report, column 71WS was intended to keep the House informed of developments in areas of UK support to the US missile defence programme.
The missile attack warning information to be routed through RAF Menwith Hill will be shared between the UK and US, as indicated in my written statement of 25 July 2007.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the UK and US governments on the formal use of RAF Menwith Hill in the American Missile Defense System; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [157779]
Des Browne: There is no memorandum of understanding covering these specific arrangements.
D Notices
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many D-Notices were issued by the Defence Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee in each year since 1997. [158231]
Des Browne
[holding answer 15 October 2007]: D Notices were replaced by the Defence Advisory (DA) Notice system in 1993. There are five standing DA Notices that constitute a voluntary code that provides
guidance to the United Kingdom media on the publication and broadcasting of national security information. They cover:
DA Notice No 1: Military Operations and Plans;
DA Notice No 2: Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Weapons and Equipment;
DA Notice No 3: Ciphers and Secure Communications;
DA Notice No 4: Sensitive Installations and Home Addresses;
DA Notice No 5: United Kingdom Security and Intelligence Service and;
Special Services.
Additional guidance is issued on behalf of the Committee by its Secretary to all editors in the United Kingdom to cover specific circumstances or to meet particular concerns. Since January 1997, the Committee Secretary has written to all UK editors on the following occasions in relation to various DA Notices:
1997: No record of any letter being issued;
1998: No record of any letter being issued;
1999: Three letters;
2000: Two letters;
2001: Three letters;
2002: One letter;
2003: Two letters;
2004: Two letters;
2005: Two letters;
2006: Two letters;
2007: Seven letters.
The Defence Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee Secretary may also write on behalf of the Committee to a particular editor, author or broadcaster when a breach in the DA Notice guidance is judged to have occurred. Such letters are written on a ‘personal and in confidence’ basis, to remind the editor, broadcaster or author concerned of the content of the code and the availability of advice. Since January 1997, the Secretary has written to individual editors on the following occasions:
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