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25 Oct 2007 : Column 472W—continued
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many hit-and-run accidents there were in the Peterborough constituency in each of the last five years; and how many accidents resulted in (a) injury and (b) death. [160216]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is given in the table:
| Number of reported personal injury hit-and-run road accidents and the number that resulted in injuries and deaths in Peterborough constituency, 2002 - 06 | |||
| Resulting in: | |||
| Accident year | Accidents | Injury( 1) | Death |
| (1) Serious or slight. | |||
Rolling Stock
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average age is of rolling stock providing (a) inter-city services, (b) commuter services in London and the South East and (c) local regional rail services. [159813]
Mr. Tom Harris [holding answer 22 October 2007]: The information is not held in the form requested. Information on the age of rolling stock by operator is as follows:
| Years | |
Shipping: Oil
Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when she plans to bring forward secondary legislation to control ship to ship oil transfer in UK territorial waters; and if she will make a statement; [160752]
(2) when her Department plans to hold the consultation on the secondary legislation that will regulate ship to ship transfers within UK territorial waters. [160753]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The regulations which will regulate ship-to-ship transfers within the 12 nautical mile limit of the UK's territorial sea are still in draft. The Department now expects to put the draft regulations out for public consultation in early 2008, with a view to their coming into force later in that year.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2007, Official Report, column 62W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, what the monetary value is of all items stolen. [158352]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The total estimated monetary value of thefts reported of both military supplies and private effects in transit to UK forces in Afghanistan from April 2006 to February 2007 is estimated at approximately £400,000.
Armed Forces
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received from Royal British Legion members on the military covenant. [160645]
Derek Twigg: The Secretary of State and I both received letters dated 12 September from Frances Done, then director general of the Royal British Legion, formally notifying the Ministry of Defence of the public launch of the ‘Honour the Covenant’ campaign on 13 September and setting out its principal concerns.
Since the launch of the campaign, Ministers have received in excess of 200 representations from members of the public concerning the Military Covenant. A majority of these have used the proforma generated by the Royal British Legion or state that they are writing on its behalf but we do not know the exact number of the correspondents who are members.
Armed Forces: Housing
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Service Families Accommodation properties were upgraded to Standard One in each financial year since 1997. [153387]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 8 October 2007]: The number of Service Families Accommodation (SFA) properties upgraded to our highest ‘Standard One for Condition’ in each financial year since 1999 is:
| Number | |
Records pre-dating 1999 are incompatible and inconsistent with those now held due to changes in data collection and standards measured.
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of service families accommodation (SFA) and single living accommodation (SLA) in the UK will be at standard (a) 1 and (b) 2 after his Department's planned programme of expenditure over the next 10 years; and by what date he expects all SFA and SLA to be at standard (i) 1 and (ii) 2. [160026]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 22 October 2007]: The total number of service families accommodation (SFA) which will be retained in 10 years' time is dependent on wider rationalisation and disposal decisions yet to be taken. Under the housing prime contract, a survey is underway on SFA which will inform future upgrade plans. It would be premature to predict at this stage how many properties will be at a particular standard in 2017. The upgrading of properties is, however, proceeding and at present some 95 per cent. of SFA is at the top two standards for condition. This includes increasing the condition of properties at the top Standard from 40 per cent in 2001-02 to 59 per cent. now.
So far as single living accommodation (SLA) is concerned, the current programme extends to 2013 and by then we anticipate that 52 per cent. (70,000 bed-spaces) will be at the highest standard (Grade 1), with a further 14 per cent. (19,000 bed-spaces) at Grade 2.
Armed Forces: Lifelong Education
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) level of uptake and (b) cost was of the (i) standard learning credits scheme and (ii) enhanced learning credits scheme for (A) officers and (B) other ranks in each year since 1997. [158382]
Derek Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested in that records are not readily available by rank for either scheme, financial data about the Standard Learning Credits (SLC) Scheme is only kept to hand for the past five full financial years, and the first payments under the Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC) Scheme were only available from 1 April 2004. The full data requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The total service uptake and expenditure of the SLC Scheme for the last five years is provided in the following table:
| Financial year | Number of claims | Strength | Percentage take up | Total spent (£ million) |
Prior to 1 April 2004 a total of 177,534 personnel registered for the ELC Scheme.
Personnel only become eligible to claim ELC after accruing a minimum of four years service post their initial registration on the scheme. It would be misleading to express take-up as a percentage of registered personnel for such a demand-led scheme where, once eligible, personnel can make up to a maximum of three claims, no more than one per annum, at any time during their career or for up to 10 years after leaving the Service. The table below shows the number of additional registrations, the number of claims authorised and the value of those claims in the three financial years the scheme has been operating:
| Financial year | Number of additional registrations | Number of claims authorised | Total spent (£ million) |
Armed Forces: Racial Discrimination
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action the Government have taken to eradicate racism within the armed forces. [159059]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 22 October 2007]: The Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force have done a great deal in recent years to promote racial equality and continue to work hard to develop an organisational culture that welcomes racial diversity and places the highest priority on tackling racism. The armed forces respect and value every individual's unique contribution regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, gender, social background or sexual orientation. The goal is to create a working environment free from harassment and unlawful discrimination, in which all have equal opportunity to realise their full potential. From 1997 to 2006, the armed forces worked in formal partnership with the Commission for Racial Equality to improve racial equality.
The MOD published a race equality scheme (RES) in 2003 and subsequent reports about the scheme detail the range of measures that the armed forces have undertaken to improve racial equality. The RES was superseded in June 2006 by the Department's overarching equality and diversity scheme. The armed forces achievements in promoting racial equality were recognised when all three services finished in the top 10 in Business in the Community's annual Race for Opportunity annual benchmarking report for 2006.
Armed Forces: Weapons
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what weapons and ammunition for which (a) his Department and (b) the armed forces have responsibility have gone missing in the last two years. [155734]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
In answering this question the term ‘weapons’ is taken to be firearms and ‘missing’ is taken to include lost and stolen. Separate records are
not maintained for other weapons and such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The number of firearms lost or stolen in the period 1 January 2005 until 1 October 2007 is 64. The breakdown is as follows:
| Stolen | Recovered | |
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