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25 Oct 2007 : Column 476W—continued
Thefts of weapons are investigated by the Service Police, Ministry of Defence Police or the Home Department Police, either jointly or independently.
The MOD holds numerous types of ammunition. Although the loss and theft is recorded, the information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of each type of armoured vehicle was cannibalised in each of the last 12 months. [157041]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Army: Operating Costs
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much it costs to run an infantry battalion (light role) for one year. [157966]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: This information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Expenditure is spread over a variety of budgets and will vary according to the composition of the infantry battalion, the tasks in which it is engaged and where it is deployed.
Army: Working Hours
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours were worked per week on average by regular trained junior ranks in the Army in 2005-06; and whether time on annual leave was included in the calculations for the figures given on 16 June 2006, Official Report, column 1520W, on army personnel (working hours). [160249]
Derek Twigg: The Defence Analytical Service Agency (DASA) carry out a continuous sample survey of working patterns providing estimates of the average working hours per person, per week, for each service.
The results of the 2005-06 survey gave an estimate of an average of 45.2 "hours worked" per week for all regular trained junior ranks in the Army.
“Hours worked” includes time spent carrying out normal work, secondary duties, compulsory fitness training, organised sports and representational activities, but excludes annual leave, meal and tea breaks and time spent on call.
A copy of the 2005-06 Continuous Working Patterns report is available in the Library of the House.
Defence Estates: Official Hospitality
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much Defence Estate North has charged in liability charges for charity events held on his Department’s property since April 2005. [158373]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Consultants
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the contracts his Department signed on a consultancy basis with a net value of more than £20,000 in 2006. [159316]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 18 October 2007]: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, I have placed in the Library of the House, the MOD’s expenditure on Management and Business Consultancy, Finance and Accountancy Consultancy, Corporate Governance and Audit Consultancy, and Public/Private Partnership and Private Finance Initiative Consultancy contracts signed in financial year 2006-07
that have passed through a centralised approval process. The figures do not contain spend by the MOD’s Trading Funds or Agencies or on other types of consultancy.
Summaries of the MOD’s expenditure on External Assistance have been placed in the Library of the House on an annual basis since 1995-96. Furthermore, information on organisations, including consultancy firms, paid £5 million or more by the Department in each financial year is published in the UK Defence Statistics. Copies are also available in the House Library.
Departments: Manpower
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of employees in (a) his Department and (b) each (i) executive agency and (ii) non-departmental public body funded by his Department are above state retirement age. [158936]
Derek Twigg: The number and percentage of employees in the Department and each Executive agency as at 1 September 2007 are shown in the following table.
| All staff above retirement age (SRA) | ||
| Number | Percentage | |
| (1) Less than 5. Source: DASA (Quad Service). | ||
Data for non-departmental public bodies funded by the Department is not held centrally.
Meteorology: Manpower
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of how many meteorologists work in the UK. [157208]
Derek Twigg
[holding answer 24 October 2007]: At the current time, the Met Office has some 400 forecasting and observing staff working directly in weather forecast production in the UK. The Met Office
also has a small number of forecasters and observers working in overseas locations. In addition there are some 300 scientists working in meteorological research and development. There are also a number of staff working in management and support roles who have a meteorological background.
The Royal Navy currently has 136 HM (hydrographic, meteorological, oceanographic) officers and 13 warrant officers and chief petty officers who have received some form of training as meteorological forecasters. Only a proportion of these will be directly employed on forecasting duties at any one time. In addition to the trained forecasters, the RN has around 70 junior and senior rates trained as meteorological observers/forecasters’ assistants, most of whom will be employed on forecasting duties at any one time.
In addition to those working at the Met Office and in the Royal Navy, the Royal Meteorological Society estimates there are approximately 550 meteorologists working in academia and industry throughout the UK.
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of meteorologists likely to be needed in the UK in (a) 2010, (b) 2020 and (c) 2030; and if he will make a statement. [157209]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 24 October 2007]: On current plans the requirement for meteorologists both at the Met Office and in the Royal Navy is likely to remain broadly constant in the future although the requirement is kept under regular review.
I am unable to comment on the future requirement for meteorologists working outside of MOD.
Nuclear Weapons: Testing
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what categories of records of human exposure to radiation during (a) British nuclear warhead tests and (b) plutonium dispersal tests at Maralinga are held by the Health Protection Agency. [160506]
Derek Twigg: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) hold an epidemiological database which is used for the ongoing follow-up study of the UK participants in the UK Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests and experimental programmes at Maralinga, conducted between 1952 and 1964.
The HPA epidemiological database includes details of individuals recorded as having been issued with film badges as well as recorded details of any external doses that had been incurred above the threshold of detection.
In addition to the information on the database, HPA has carried out post mortem radiochemical analyses on tissues from four nuclear weapons tests participants, at the request of either a coroner or relatives of the individual. The results of these analyses have been passed to the relevant individuals and are not in the public domain and are not part of the epidemiological database.
Royal Irish Regiment
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many full-time Royal Irish home service corporals and section commanders were on short service type S engagement contracts on (a) 1 July 2000, (b) 1 July 2002 and (c) 1 July 2006. [160483]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: This information is not readily available in the format requested. I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Service Children's Education: Standards
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of 11-year-olds in schools operated by Service Children's Education achieved level 4 in (a) English, (b) mathematics, (c) science, (d) reading, (e) writing, (f) reading and writing and (g) reading, writing and mathematics in each year since 1997. [156042]
Derek Twigg: The information for 2005 and 2006 is shown in the table:
| SCE Key Stage 2 Student Performance—Level 4 | ||||
| 2005 | 2006 | |||
| Subject | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage |
Academic results for 2007 await formal validation. They will be published in the Service Children’s Education Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 February 2006, Official Report, columns 708-709W, by the then Under Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for gave answers for the years from 1997 to 2004.
Unidentified Flying Objects
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2007, Official Report, column 801W, on unidentified flying objects, for what reasons his Secretariat (Air Staff)/Defence Secretariat were not sent a copy of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Report. [160948]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 27 June 2007, Official Report, column 801W.
Northern Ireland
Departments: Accountancy
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what departmental budget items have been reclassified, under consolidated budgeting guidance, following Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 decisions; and what the (a) former and (b) new (i) classification and (ii) sum budgeted is in each case. [160408]
Mr. Woodward: None of the Northern Ireland Office’s budgets, including its Agencies and NDPBs, have been reclassified following the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.
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