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18 Dec 2007 : Column 1456W—continued
Departmental Marketing
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which personnel are responsible for his Department's public relations. [173962]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence Directorate of Public Relations comprises 69 personnel, working across internal and external communication channels. The personnel breakdown as follows:
| Personnel | |
| (1 )Including photographers | |
Accurate information on personnel levels in Defence agencies, top level budget areas, trading funds, joint headquarters, single service commands and military units is not held centrally, and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many items of post sent by his Department were reported missing by the intended recipient in each year since 1997; [171287]
(2) what steps his Department has taken to protect the personal data on members of the public which it holds. [171417]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007, Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review.
Departmental Public Participation
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Fareham of 10 December 2007, Official Report, column 59W, on Departmental Public Participation, if he will place in the Library the findings of the opinion polls conducted by his Department. [174553]
Derek Twigg: The results of the top level reputation tracking by Ipsos/MORI are already available in the Library of the House. Results from the other opinion polls listed in my previous answer will be placed there as soon as possible.
Departmental Recycling
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) volume and (b) percentage of its waste his Department recycled in each of the last five years. [172506]
Derek Twigg: Data for the amount of waste generated and recycled in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) over the past five years are outlined in the following table. This is based on partial data, since not all parts of the MOD are yet able to report the amount of waste generated. The information for 2005-06 and the figures for the amount of waste produced and the percentage recycled in 2004-05 were included in the sixth annual Sustainable Development in Government report published by the Sustainable Development Commission. A copy of that report can be found at:
| Amount of waste produced (Tonnes)( 1) | Amount of waste recycled (Tonnes) | Percentage recycled | |
| (1) Waste arisings data are given as the amount produced (weight) in metric tonnes and not in volume (m3). (2) Not known. | |||
The collection of data on the amount of waste produced and the amount of waste streams consigned to recycling continues to improve. The Department is working towards full waste data coverage in line with departmental policy set out in the MOD Sustainable Waste Management Strategy.
Data for 2006-07 will be reported by the Sustainable Development Commission early in 2008.
Firing Ranges: National Parks
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when the licence of each training area which requires a licence from a national park authority expires; [174470]
(2) how many training areas require licences from a national park authority before military training can be conducted. [174492]
Derek Twigg: One of the parcels of land used for military training in the Peak District National Park requires a licence as it is owned by and licensed from the Park Authority rather than a private landowner. Military training in National Parks is usually authorised by a planning consent.
The licence from the Peak District National Park expires on 17 April 2085. The lease on a parcel of land owned by the Peak District National Park Authority expires on the same date.
Foreign and Commonwealth Nationality Report
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the monthly Defence Analytical Services Foreign and Commonwealth Nationality Report issued since April 1997. [174480]
Derek Twigg: Copies of the Defence Analytical Service Agency Nationality of British Army Personnel report has only been published in this format on a monthly basis since April 2005. Copies of these documents will need to be collated. I will place copies of the documents in the Library of the House when the work has been completed.
Illegal Immigrants
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many illegal immigrants have been discovered working for his Department and its agencies in the last year for which figures are available. [170477]
Derek Twigg: Recruitment to the civil service is carried out in accordance with the civil service nationality rules, which are available at:
There is no record of any illegal immigrants being discovered working for the MOD during the last 12 months.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Government have spent on its own legal (a) advice and (b) representation on the inquest into the service personnel killed in the Hercules crash in Iraq; what future costs have been projected; and if he will make a statement. [175284]
Des Browne: The total costs that have been charged to MOD for external legal advice and representation in respect of the inquest into fatalities arising from the Hercules crash in Iraq on 30 January 2005 is £25,414.94. This covers bills up to the end of October. No estimate can be provided for the future costs, as it is not possible to predict with any certainty what further work will be required.
The MOD’s own in-house legal advisers have also provided assistance in matters relating to preparation for the Hercules inquest. However, this work will have been done as part of their routine duties and cannot separately be costed.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many chest seals were issued to personnel in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan in each year since 2003. [164546]
Derek Twigg: Chest seals are supplied in Team Medic Packs, which are issued from a central pool for both theatres. These are issued to personnel who have been trained to fulfil an extended first aid role within the unit only. The number of packs issued to a unit will depend on the operational context at any given time. There have been no shortages in fulfilling operational demands for chest seals.
It is possible to provide data on the numbers issued from 2006 only when new information management structures were introduced in theatre. Quantities of chest seals issued to the supply sections of the respective theatres are as follows:
| Operation Telic | Operation Herrick | |
The increase in numbers does not correlate with usage and does not reflect a rise in the number of chest wounds within operational theatres as un-used chest seals can be reissued to incoming units and replacement is required when the packaging, is damaged. Additionally, the introduction of the Team Medic, a combat soldier who has been identified, trained and equipped to take charge of the treatment and evacuation of casualties, has also contributed to the increase in numbers.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which out-of-service dates for (a) armoured vehicles, (b) aircraft, (c) helicopters and (d) weapons systems will change as a result of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [171900]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We keep the out-of-service dates of military equipment under review to reflect the impact of operations as well as other factors.
Prisoners of War: Compensation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 312-3W, on prisoners of war: compensation, how many claims under the scheme for compensation for British civilian prisoners of the Japanese came forward after the Elias case; and how many of these have been rejected. [174201]
Derek Twigg: As at 10 December, the position with claims for compensation for injury to feelings resulting from having been discriminated against on the grounds of national origin by having had an application under the ex-gratia payment scheme for former Far East prisoners of war and civilian internees rejected under criteria based on place of birth (the “birthlink”) was as follows:
Claims received: 299
Offers of payment made: 208
Claims rejected: 58
Claims under consideration: 33
Reasons for rejections were: that the original claim was made by a surviving spouse; that the claimant had not been a British subject at the time of internment or that they had not been interned; that the claim had not been rejected under the birthlink; and that the claimant had not been discriminated against on the grounds of national origin.
Royal Military Academy: Army Benevolent Fund
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the breakdown was of costs charged to the Army Benevolent Fund for the use of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 22, 23 and 24 September 2006 for the Music on Fire event. [170849]
Derek Twigg: Each application for the use of Ministry of Defence land for fund raising or other purposes is considered on its individual merits and an appropriate system of charges is applied. A charge of £7,041.01 was raised against the Army Benevolent Fund for the use of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for the Music on Fire event held in 2006. This total contained VAT of £1,049, commercial insurance of £2,500 and a Defence Estates licence fee of £100.
I am withholding a more detailed breakdown of costs as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests. However, the charges reflect an abated figure of the full amount permissible in accordance with Treasury Government Accounting Rules.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Aviation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) how many air miles were travelled by Ministers in his Department in each year since its establishment; and what estimate he has made of the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced as a result; [172232]
(2) how many miles he and Ministers in his Department travelled on short haul flights in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced as a result of these flights. [172571]
Mr. Thomas: Since 1999 the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500. Information for the last financial year was published on 25 July 2007. Details for the current financial year will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. From next year, the list will include details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the ministerial code. All central Government ministerial and official air travel has been offset from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated on an annual basis and subsequently offset through payments to a central fund. The fund purchases certified emissions reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries.
In addition, offsetting the flights of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development, and the Prime Minister has been backdated to 1 April 2005.
A list of Government Carbon Offsetting Fund members, their emission figures and what activities they have offset through the fund is available online at:
Biofuels: South West Region
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much energy is produced from miscanthus grass crops in the South West; and how much miscanthus produce is in storage (a) in energy producing facilities, (b) in agricultural settings and (c) underground. [165182]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
Information on the energy produced from miscanthus or where the harvested crop is stored is not collected.
On the basis of average yields, the following table estimates the potential yields in tonnes that could be produced in the south-west:
| Potential yields (in tonnes) in: | ||||
| Planting year | Hectares (ha) claimed under ECS | Second year (based on 4-10t/(ha) | Third year (10-13/ ha) | Subsequent years (12-16t/ha) |
| Notes: 1. The crop is harvested annually after the second year for 15 to 20 years. 2. A further 158 ha were planted under objective 1 from 2000-2007 but an annual breakdown is not available. 3. Miscanthus has a new calorific value, on a dry matter basis, of 17 mega joules/kilogramme. This means that the energy value of 1 tonne of dry miscanthus is equivalent to 0.4 tonnes of coal. | ||||
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