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7 Jan 2008 : Column 41W—continued
Departmental Freedom of Information
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of the Freedom of Information requests his Department has received in the last 12 months were answered with (a) the information requested, (b) a refusal and (c) a partial disclosure (i) within 20 working days and (ii) after more than 20 working days. [175321]
Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence received 3,103 Freedom of Information requests in the period from October 2006 to September 2007, the most recent 12-month period for which statistics are available. Of these requests, 2,571, 83 per cent., were answered within 20 working days. 532 requests (17 per cent.) required longer than 20 working days to answer. However, in 148 of these cases (5 per cent. of the total received), the delay was authorised by a legitimate extension of the 20-working day time limit, permitted under the Freedom of Information Act; the Department, therefore, answered 88 per cent. of requests for information 'in-time'.
Of the total requests for information received, 2,639 were deemed 'resolvable', i.e. it was possible to make a substantive decision on the release of the information sought, as distinct from those cases where the Department does not hold the information requested, or where the request is withdrawn or altered by the applicant. 1,810 (69 per cent.) of these resolvable requests were answered in full with all the information requested, 354 (13 per cent.) requests were refused in full; while 224 (8 per cent.) requests were answered by partial disclosure of the information requested. The remaining 10 per cent. of requests had not received a response at the time these statistics were collected, which is done by quarterly report.
| Status of FOI requests by number and percentage for the period October 2006 to September 2007 | ||
| Status | Number | Percentage |
| (1 )Of 2,639 resolvable requests. (2) 148 permitted extension. | ||
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the office costs for his Department's special advisers for 2007-08 are expected to be, including costs of support staff; and how many full-time equivalent civil servants work in support of such special advisers. [164929]
Derek Twigg: One civil servant is employed at the Ministry of Defence to provide dedicated support of a non-political nature to the special advisers in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. The pay band for the post range between £24,700 and £33,250 per annum.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on special advisors in 2006-07; how much has been allocated for 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [172819]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 147-50WS.
Departmental Pay
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Departmental employees were paid (a) over £60,000 and (b) over £100,000 per annum, inclusive of bonuses, in the most recent financial year for which figures are available. [173102]
Derek Twigg: The numbers of civilian staff in the Ministry of Defence and its Agencies who received taxable pay (including salary, allowances and bonuses) of over £100,000 in financial year 2006-07 was some 70; the number who received over £60,000 was some 1,175. The nearest equivalent figures for members of the armed forces relates to salary levels including bonuses and specialist pay in the current year, where some 550 armed forces personnel receive salaries in excess of £100,000, and some 6,100 receive salaries in excess of £60,000.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure in near cash terms was in each financial year since 2000-01 as listed in his Department’s resource account code hierarchy. [175446]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Ex-servicemen: Military Decorations
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people in each London constituency have received the veterans’ badge in each of the last three years. [175369]
Derek Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested and can be provided only at disproportionate costs. However, we have identified from our records that a total number 3,612 badges have been issued to residents in the London area.
Hazardous Substances: Fort Halstead
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements are in place for the removal and transport of hazardous materials from Fort Halstead in Kent; what such materials have been removed from the site in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [175557]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Fort Halstead site is owned by QinetiQ but leased to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), who have a 90-year lease. The transportation of hazardous material from the site is managed by the Dstl Facilities Management Provider, Serco.
Over the last five years the hazardous materials transported have included sealed radioactive materials, explosives and a variety of toxic or harmful chemicals. All of these materials have been transported following
detailed risk assessments and in accordance with UK legislation, e.g. the use of controlled waste administrators and pre-qualified licensed carriers, and have been moved only to approved/licensed sites. In addition to this, as a duty of care, both Dstl and Serco have conducted sample audits of the process.
Helicopters
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) planned and (b) actual average flying hours for each helicopter type in the (i) Army, (ii) Royal Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force was in each month of 2007. [175449]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Total planned and actual flying hours for each helicopter type in each of the three services from January to November 2007 are shown in the following tables:
| Army Air Corps | |||||||||||
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | |
| Royal Navy | |||||||||||
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | |
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