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22 Nov 2007 : Column 1028W—continued
Armed Forces: Enfield
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many serving military personnel live in (a) Enfield and (b) Enfield North constituency. [165124]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Fundraising
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was raised by Defence Estates in each year since its creation from the proceeds of charges levied on services’ fundraising organisers for the use of estate facilities. [167059]
Derek Twigg: Records of the charges levied are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was raised by his Department from the proceeds of charges levied on services' fundraising organisers for the use of estate facilities in each of the five years prior to the creation of Defence Estates. [167060]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Housing
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much (a) has been and (b) will be released to the Treasury under arrangement with Annington Homes for the return to Annington Homes of void married quarters in each year for which figures are available. [165867]
Derek Twigg: Under the terms of the Profit Share Agreement with Annington Homes Ltd., the Treasury has received some £150 million to date. The calculation of the profit share is dependent on the number of properties released, and the proceeds made on their disposal. It is not possible to predict a figure for future receipts.
The breakdown of amounts received by calendar year is as follows:
| £ million | |
It should be noted that the profit share follows disposal of the properties and not their return to Annington Homes Ltd.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he expects married quarters to reach the Decent Homes Standard applicable to social housing by 2010. [165869]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 January 2007, Official Report, column 1631W, to the hon. Members for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) and Colchester (Bob Russell).
Armed Forces: Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many and what percentage of military vehicles have been cannibalised in each year since 2003, broken down by type; [165999]
(2) how many components from each type of military vehicle have been cannibalised in each year since 2003. [166000]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: This information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Cannibalisation of land vehicles is rare and cannibalisation rates are not significant indicators of performance against target availability levels. Vehicle availability on operations continues to be high.
AWE Burghfield
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of the rebuilding of the facility at Atomic Weapons Establishment Burghfield on the decommissioning of Trident warheads. [165026]
Defence: Procurement
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Defence Industrial Strategy II will be published. [164658]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We are currently reviewing the timetable for the publication of the Defence Industrial Strategy and will inform the House in due course.
Departmental Expenditure
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department’s hospitality and entertainment budget is for 2007-08. [162642]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The departmental budget for hospitality and entertainment in 2007-08 is £6.228 million.
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department and its agencies spent on staff working on (a) marketing and (b) branding in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [167308]
Derek Twigg: Currently seven full-time equivalent members of staff are employed in marketing and brand management in the Ministry of Defence Directorate of Public Relations. The staff work on both branding and marketing. Between 1 November 2006 and 31 October 2007, the amount spent on these staff, based on capitation rates, is £470,477. Of this figure £313,061 was spent on military staff and £157,416 was spent on civilian staff.
Defence agencies, top level budgets areas, trading funds, joint headquarters, single service commands and some military units employ brand managers and marketing specialists, or have individuals who carry out marketing tasks in addition to their main role. Information on this is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many departmental mobile telephones were lost in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were for each year. [164783]
Derek Twigg: Information on the number of lost mobile phones is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many full-time equivalent staff are responsible for brand management and marketing in his Department and its agencies. [165236]
Derek Twigg: Currently seven full-time equivalent members of staff are employed in marketing and brand management in the Ministry of Defence Directorate of Public Relations. Defence Agencies, Top Level Budgets areas, Trading Funds, Joint Headquarters, single Service Commands and some military units employ brand managers and marketing specialists, or have individuals who carry out marketing tasks in addition to their main role. Accurate information is not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Visits
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his official engagements were between 8 and 31 October 2007. [162639]
Des Browne:
Between the 8 October and 29 October, I had various meetings in London and Scotland, including with ministerial colleagues and officials from the MOD and Scotland Office. On 11 October I met with Bob Gates, US Defence Secretary during his visit to London. On 12 October I attended the armed forces memorial dedication ceremony in Staffordshire. On 16 October I participated in Scotland Office questions and answered the Defence Policy debate in the House of Commons. On 17 October I met the Albanian Prime Minister, His Excellency Mr. Sali Berisha, before hosting the launch of The Earl Haig Fund's Poppy Scotland campaign. On the 18 October I debated the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent in Crawley. On 19 October I visited new service accommodation at Aliwal Barracks in Tidworth and visited 12 Mechanised Brigade at Bulford. On 20 October I visited HMS Victory in Portsmouth to attend a dinner to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar. On 22 October I participated in defence questions in the
House of Commons. On 23 October I gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee and made an oral statement to the House on the Gould Report before meeting President Karzai of Afghanistan. On 24 and 25 October I was in the Netherlands attending a NATO Defence Ministers meeting. From 29 October to 2 November I was overseas visiting service personnel serving in Iraq.
Iraq: Detainees
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the circumstances in which international human rights law may not apply to Iraqis detained by UK personnel in Iraq. [167365]
Des Browne: The fundamental principles of human rights are enshrined in a range of international treaties, including the Geneva Conventions, which are themselves reflected in UK law. The rule of law is paramount in everything the UK armed forces do and UK forces are subject to English criminal law at all times, wherever in the world they are serving.
Iraq and Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost has been of the detachment of modified Nimrod aircraft tasked to carry out duties over Iraq and Afghanistan in each of the last four financial years and what the equivalent cost was in 2007-08 to date; and what the overseas deployment component of that cost was in each case. [165052]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what exclusive agreements have been made with individual media organisations to report on operations in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan; and what effect those agreements have on times of placing of information in the public domain. [166510]
Des Browne: We have made no exclusive agreements with media organisations to report on operations in either theatre.
Since April 2007, we have facilitated 52 media assignments to Iraq and 78 assignments to Afghanistan, involving a wide range of media organisations.
Ministers
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his ministerial salary is paid to him entirely in respect of his duties as Secretary of State for Defence. [165173]
Des Browne [holding answer 19 November 2007]: Ministerial salaries are paid in accordance with the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975. Details of ministerial salaries are available at:
and in the Library of the House.
Nuclear Weapons: Treaties
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to support the establishment of a nuclear weapons convention; and if he will make a statement. [164135]
Des Browne: The UK considers the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) to be the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and the framework for nuclear disarmament.
Sudan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops are working in peacekeeping operations in Sudan, with (a) the UN, (b) NATO and (c) the EU. [167182]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There are two main mission areas for peacekeeping operations in Sudan: the south, which is covered by the United Nations mission in Sudan (UNMIS), and the Darfur region. This area is currently covered by an African Union mission (AMIS) which is in the process of transforming into an African Union/United Nations hybrid mission (UNAMID).
The UK has two officers in the UNMIS mission, one officer in the UNAMID mission, with a Brigadier shortly deploying as Chief of Staff. Two British staff officers are providing support to the AMIS mission on behalf of the European Union.
Trident: RAF Corsham
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what activities take place at the Corsham Computer Centre in support of the Trident nuclear weapons system; and if he will make a statement. [166999]
Des Browne: The Corsham Computer Centre is a data processing facility in support of Royal Navy operations. I am withholding specific details of its function as they would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
Olympics
Olympic Games 2012: Finance
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what contribution (a) London council tax revenue and (b) Lottery funding will make to Olympics cost overruns. [165436]
Tessa Jowell: Following a thorough review of costs, I announced a revised £9.325 billion funding package for the Games on 15 March 2007. The Government are confident that the Games will be delivered within this package, which includes a prudent contingency of £2.747 billion.
The council tax contribution to the £9.325 billion funding package remains at £625 million, as agreed in 2003. The Mayor of London will also make £300 million available over the lifetime of the Olympic
programme; and has made clear that this will not be found from either an increase in council tax or transport fares.
The Lottery contribution to the overall £9.325 billion funding package is £2.175 billion, this includes: £750 million from the Olympic Lottery games, £340 million from the Sports Lottery distributors and £410 million from the National Lottery from 2009, all of which was included in the original Lottery funding package. A further £675 million is now being sought from the National Lottery from 2009. This sum, together with the £410 million, is subject to parliamentary approval.
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics whether the Mayor of London's pledge to provide £10 million a year as a funder of last resort for Olympics legacy management is (a) a legally binding commitment and (b) sufficient to underwrite the legacy. [165487]
Tessa Jowell: The Mayor of London's commitment to provide £10 million per annum of underwriting towards Olympic venues in legacy formed part of London's bid to host the Games. All venues are being designed with a viable legacy use in mind.
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what consideration is being given to using revenues from business rates to fund the Olympic legacy. [165488]
Tessa Jowell: The Government announced a funding package for the Games on 15 March 2007. This does not include plans to use a business rate.
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