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30 Oct 2007 : Column 1351W—continued
The salary scales for the civilian drivers employed do not include London weighting or overtime. Vehicle costs are contract/hire costs or maintenance costs as appropriate. Information on fuel usage is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Defence: Exports
Mr. Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department will still have support for defence exports as part of its remit following the changes to departmental responsibilities in this area announced on 25 July 2007. [160094]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Yes. When the change of departmental responsibilities for defence trade promotion is put in to effect, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will remain committed to supporting defence exports. A service level agreement setting out the future relationship between the MOD and UK Trade and Investment on defence trade promotion is currently being drafted. In addition, MOD will remain responsible for exports made under Government-to-Government agreements.
Defence: Procurement
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost is of procuring one (a) SA-80 rifle, (b) Type-45 Destroyer, (c) Astute Class Submarine, (d) Typhoon aircraft, (e) Chinook helicopter and (f) Apache helicopter. [157032]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Departments: Civil Proceedings
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many were settled out of court, before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements cost the public purse since 1998. [160702]
Derek Twigg: It has not proved possible to respond to the right hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Departments: Contracts
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what circumstances his Department awards contracts to outside organisations without undertaking a tendering process. [154032]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Department’s commercial policy and procedures require a tendering process to be undertaken whenever it is proposed to award contracts to outside organisations on either a competitive or non-competitive (i.e. single source) basis.
Departments: Lisbon Agenda
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policies his Department has adopted to assist the United Kingdom’s fulfilment of the Lisbon Agenda criteria. [155832]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Government fully support the aims of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. Reforms across EU member states consistent with the Strategy to boost productivity and skills, expanding participation in the labour market and increasing social inclusion, are key parts of the response to the challenges and opportunities of globalisation.
In line with the aims of the Lisbon Strategy, the Government are pursuing a comprehensive programme of long-term structural reform to deliver strong and sustainable economic performance and employment growth. This is set out in the UK National Reform programme, progress against which the Government report on annually. The most recent progress report was published in September and is available in the Library of the House and on the website of HM Treasury.
Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any of his Department’s special advisers have declared a conflict of interest. [160784]
Derek Twigg: Special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Departments: Ministerial Responsibilities
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Ministerial responsibilities are of each member of his ministerial team. [161528]
Derek Twigg: The Defence Minister’s responsibilities are explained on the Cabinet Office website at
Departments: Official Engagements
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his official engagements were between 9 September and 7 October. [157030]
Des Browne:
Throughout the period from 9 September until 7 October, I had various meetings in London and Scotland, including with ministerial colleagues and officials from the MOD and Scotland Office. On 12 September, I hosted a seminar on conflict resolution at Glasgow university. On 13 September, I visited HQ 52 Brigade in
Edinburgh prior to their deployment to Afghanistan. On 18 September, I hosted the Commander Multi-national forces Iraq (General Petraeus) and the US Ambassador to Iraq (Ambassador Crocker) in London for talks. On 19 September I met the US Ambassador to Afghanistan (Ambassador Woods) to discuss the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and, later that day, also met the Canadian Defence Minister for bilateral discussions, including on our joint commitment to Afghanistan. On 20 September, I attended the opening of the new BBC building in Glasgow and met the Director General of the BBC for discussions. On 28 and 29 September, I attended a meeting of EU Defence Ministers to discuss a range of issues, including Kosovo and Afghanistan.
Departments: Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions he has visited each region in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [158918]
Des Browne: The number of visits to the regions by Defence Ministers between 1 October 2006 and 19 October 2007 are shown in the following table:
| Secretary of State | Minister for the Armed Forces | Minister for Defence Equipment and Support | Under-Secretary of State | |
Departments: Public Expenditure
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the additional £2.7 billion funding for defence programmes to 2010-11 announced at page 231, Annex D8 of the Comprehensive Spending Review, Cm 7227, is earmarked for the progress work on the renewal of (a) the Trident nuclear launch platform and (b) sustaining the capabilities of AWE Aldermaston nuclear warhead design and development work. [160091]
Des Browne [holding answer 24 October 2007]: Of the additional funding made available to the Ministry of Defence in the comprehensive spending review, some £800 million is currently planned for maintaining the United Kingdom’s deterrent capability beyond the life of the current system, as set out in the December 2006 White Paper, “The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent” (Cm 6994) and endorsed by Parliament on 14 March 2007. Some £200 million is for the programme of investment in sustaining capabilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), both to ensure we can maintain the existing warhead for as long as necessary and to enable us to develop a replacement warhead should that be required.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) on what dates his Department breached its (a) resource, (b) near-cash, (c) administration and (d) capital budgets since 2001; what the value of each breach was; and what the reason was for each breach; [160314]
(2) in which financial years since 2001 his Department’s outturn for its capital budget at the end of the year was less than planned at the beginning of the year; and what the (a) value and (b) reason for the underspend was in each case. [160333]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 October 2007, Official Report, column 763W, to the right hon. Member for West Dorset (Mr. Letwin). I have placed a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Departments: Public Participation
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many citizens’ juries were arranged for (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s agencies in each year since 1997; which organisations were commissioned to conduct each citizens’ jury; and what the cost was of each. [160017]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Standards
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department’s public service agreement targets (a) take and (b) do not take account of rural proofing. [159641]
Derek Twigg:
The Ministry of Defence’s current public service agreement targets set out in the 2004 spending review, and the future targets set out in the 2007 comprehensive spending review cover provision of military capability and delivery of the Government’s international defence and security objectives. As such they raise no issues relevant to rural proofing. Strategic environmental assessments are undertaken on Defence Estates programmes and plans, and sustainability appraisals are undertaken on projects. These assessments consider the social, economic
and environmental effects on the rural and urban communities within which we operate and ensure that due consideration is given to the likely impact of new initiatives on rural communities.
Future Large Aircraft
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress being made with the A400M. [160632]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The first complete A400M airframe is now installed in the EADS static test facility at Getafe, near Madrid, in Spain. The first development aircraft is in production at the final assembly line in Seville (Spain). However, the company has recently announced a delay to the contracted delivery schedule of six months to one year. The OCCAR executive administration, on behalf of the A400M partner nations will closely monitor progress under the contract against milestones and regular updates from the company.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of Taliban commanders who have surrendered in Afghanistan as a result of (a) diplomatic and (b) military means. [161773]
Des Browne: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of Taliban members who surrendered then subsequently returned to anti-western forces. [161775]
Des Browne: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken by his Department to obtain a full record of the number of aeromedical evacuations and field hospital admissions in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan before 1 January 2006. [155721]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence is analysing records of aeromedical evacuations prior to January 2006 for both Afghanistan and Iraq, with a view to releasing validated data onto the Ministry of Defence website.
Data for field hospital admissions in Iraq prior to January 2006 is being assessed for validation and release.
We do not hold records centrally for all field hospital admissions prior to January 2006 for Afghanistan and gathering the data could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British soldiers have served in Iraq in the last three years. [158387]
Des Browne: Between January 2003 and January 2007, centrally held records indicate that around 134,000 UK personnel deployed to the Joint Operational Area for Operation TELIC. Centrally held records do not indicate how long each individual spent in theatre, and these figures will include those who were making short visits in addition to those on full deployments. In addition, there may be some double-counting of personnel who have deployed more than once over the period. More detailed information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been (a) allocated and (b) spent on adapting dwellings for UK armed services personnel disabled by injury sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan in each year since March 2003. [161313]
Derek Twigg: Adapting accommodation for all injured and disabled service personnel is taken very seriously by the Department and funds are allocated and spent on adapting accommodation as required. These funds are expended by the local commanders and records of such spend are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the 10 most common injuries sustained in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan were in each year for which records are available; and how many casualties there were in each class of such injury. [161316]
Derek Twigg: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member’s question in the time available before Prorogation.
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