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16 Jan 2008 : Column 1248W—continued
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many explosive devices have been activated against or by (a) Mastiff and (b) Vector/Pinzgauer vehicles since being deployed to theatre; how many (i) deaths and (ii) injuries have resulted in relation to each type of vehicle; and how many vehicles have been damaged beyond repair. [177985]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have nothing to add to the answers given by me on 30 October 2007, Official Report, columns 1343-44W to the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson).
Delivery Services
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which companies are under contract to his Department to provide mail services. [170164]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence gave on 22 March 2007, Official Report, column 1034W, to the hon. Member for South-West Norfolk (Mr. Fraser).
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.
Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Liam Fox:
I undertook to write to you in answer to your parliamentary question on 7 January 2008, Official Report, column 42W, about the total expenditure in near cash terms in each financial year since 2000-01 as listed in the MOD’s resource account code hierarchy.
I provided a detailed breakdown of the MOD’s Outturns for the financial years 2001-02 to 2007-07 in my letter of 30 November 2007 to Oliver Letwin, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. I enclose a copy for ease of reference. The Department did not operate a near cash regime prior to 2001-02. Near cash figures are not readily available at resource account level and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Recycling
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recycling scheme is in operation in each building operated by his Department. [176504]
Derek Twigg: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department's recycling policy states that all non-hazardous waste products especially those generated from offices are recycled, this including, for example, paper, glass, aluminium cans, fluorescent tubes, printer cartridges, toners etc.
It is the responsibility of the organisation within the Department that owns or manages the individual building, site or establishment to introduce a recycling scheme in accordance with this policy which is dependent upon local recycling availability and local recycling infrastructure.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what weight of paper his Department recycled in each of the last five years. [179459]
Derek Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested, however information is available on the amount of waste produced and the total amount recycled. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 December 2007, Official Report, column 1457W, to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr. Hayes).
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service members the 25 December 2007 Permanent Joint Headquarters Personnel Report stated were in (a) Iraq, (b) Kuwait, (c) Bahrain, (d) Oman, (e) Qatar and (f) at sea in support of Operation Telic. [177524]
Des Browne [holding answer 10 January 2008]: Figures are not available for 25 December 2007. The following table provides the number, of UK service personnel deployed on operations in the locations specified as at 26 December 2007 taken from the personnel report of that date. Numbers for Iraq are rounded to the nearest 100, and for other countries to the nearest 10.
| Location | Number |
The number of personnel in theatre will naturally fluctuate on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including leave (rest and recuperation), temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement offerees and other factors. Personnel deployed in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar or at sea provide support both to Operation Telic and to other operations in the region.
Kuwait
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's personnel were based in Kuwait in support of Operation Telic in each year since 2003. [170824]
Des Browne: Following the end of combat operations in Iraq in 2003, the number of UK forces based permanently in Kuwait was reduced to a small contingent responsible for defence diplomacy and support to operations. The size of this contingent fluctuates naturally and we do not have separate records for 2004 and 2005 (for which figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost). However mid and end year numbers (rounded to the nearest five) for the other years requested are as follows:
| Personnel | |
As of 6 January 2008, the UK had some 380 logistic and support personnel deployed in Kuwait. These figures do not include those temporarily deployed in connection with roulements and other temporary support activities.
Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency: Manpower
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ministry of Defence police officers there were in each year since 1997. [177586]
Derek Twigg: The figures for the number of Ministry of Defence police (MDP) officers since 1997 are provided in the following table.
| Number of MDP officers | |
Princess Royal Barracks
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he proposes to take to preserve the site-based evidence relating to the deaths of army recruits at Deepcut barracks between 1995 and 2002 in the event of the closure and disposal of the Deepcut site. [179336]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Responsibility for evidence relating to the deaths of the four recruits at Deepcut between 1995 and 2002 lies with Surrey Police, who undertook the investigations. The Ministry of Defence has not been required to retain any on-site evidence.
RAF Lyneham
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates the (a) C130K and (b) C130J Hercules fleets will be moving from RAF Lyneham to RAF Brize Norton. [178001]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The move of the C130K and C130J fleets from RAF Lyneham to RAF Brize Norton is being planned for summer 2011. The transfer is planned to complete to enable the Royal Air Force to vacate RAF Lyneham by the end of 2012. While it had been previously announced that the C130K fleet would remain at RAF Lyneham until its out of service date, further planning has identified operational benefits and logistic efficiencies from keeping the two aircraft types collocated.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the effect on the number of civilians employed at RAF Lyneham of the transfer of the support contract to a new contractor. [178004]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Department does not specify how many personnel the contractor should employ: instead an output specification is used as the basis for the contract. It is the new contractor’s decision as to how many people they employ to satisfy the requirement.
The new contractor is currently making plans to take over the service contract at RAF Lyneham from 1 April 2008. The scope of the new contract is the same as the old contract and there are no plans to change the number of MOD civil servants employed at RAF Lyneham on the basis of this new service contract.
House of Commons Commission
House of Commons Finance and Administration Department: Costs
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much the Department of Finance and Administration cost to run in (a) 1986, (b) 1996 and (c) 2006. [179185]
Nick Harvey: The total resource cost of running the former Department of Finance and Administration for the year ended 31 March 2006 was £17,953,000. This figure includes a significant level of corporate expenditure which is not directly attributable to the direct costs of running the Department. Some of the larger corporate items during 2005-06 included pension contributions (£10,277,000), contracts management (£608,000), and child care vouchers (£217,000).
Comparisons with 1986 and 1996 are difficult because of organisational changes and the accounts being cash rather than resource based. The direct cash cost of running the Administration Department in 1986 was £2,372,000; and the Department of Finance and Administration in 1996 was £8,252,000.
House of Commons Finance and Administration Department: Manpower
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many members of staff worked in the Department of Finance and Administration in (a) 1986, (b) 1996 and (c) 2006. [179184]
Nick Harvey: The Department of Finance and Administration had the following staff in post as at 31 March:
1986: 95
1996: 114
2006: 151
House of Commons: Planning
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many building projects the Commission has commissioned since 1997; and how many of them were (a) over budget and (b) late. [179182]
Nick Harvey: I regret that information to this level of detail cannot be readily produced without disproportionate cost, but if my hon. Friend wished to table a more specific question about a particular project I shall endeavour to give him a full reply.
Poultry Meat
Mr. Oaten: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what proportion of chicken served on the House of Commons estate was free range in the most recent period for which figures are available. [179297]
Nick Harvey: During calendar year 2007, £75,300 was spent on chicken meat (fresh); £7,400 was spent on free-range chicken (that is, just under 10 per cent. of expenditure on chicken). As many products are purchased as individual items, not by weight, the proportion by weight is estimated at 7 per cent. of the total.
Most of the free range products purchased were chicken breasts. Certain chicken products are not readily available as free range, for example boiling fowl, chicken wings and halal—these amounted to 6 per cent. of expenditure.
It is the House of Commons catering service’s policy to buy chicken from two reliable suppliers with very high standards of food safety. All fresh poultry products purchased, including chicken, are fully traceable to the farms of origin.
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