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30 Jan 2008 : Column 366W—continued
Armed Forces: Schools
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has established a cross-UK forum of devolved administrations, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and his Department as part of the Tri-Service Schools Liaison Policy; and if he will make a statement. [179553]
Derek Twigg:
We have established a cross-UK Service Children’s Education Forum that brings together the MOD, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the devolved administration education authorities. The forum first met in April 2007 and meets twice a year to consider key issues facing service children,
particularly relating to their movement around the UK and between UK and overseas as part of the service community.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the recommendations contained in the Defence Committee report, Educating Service Children (HC (2005-06) 1054), have been implemented; and if he will make a statement. [180433]
Derek Twigg: I have written to the hon. Member in response to him raising this matter during the Armed Forces Personnel debate on 10 January 2008, Official Report, column 617. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library of the House.
Armed Forces: Training
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 878W, on Armed Forces: Training, if he will list each type of aeroplane and helicopter from which British service personnel have made airborne jumps in the last five years. [181204]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The types of fixed and rotary wing aircraft from which British service personnel have made airborne jumps while completing service training or display activities in the last five years are shown in the following list. Records for British service personnel, who have completed jumps from foreign military aircraft, are not held.
Hercules C130 all marks
Islander
Skyvan
CASA 212
Cessna 206
Cessna Caravan
De Havilland Twin Otter DHC-6
Douglas DC3 Dakota
PAC 750
Pilatus Porter
Agusta A109
Bell 212
Chinook HC2/2a
Lynx HAS3/8
Lynx AH7/9
Puma HC1
Sea King HC4
Sea King HAS6CR
Departmental Official Hospitality
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2007, Official Report, column 897W, on departmental official hospitality, what records were kept of entertainment or hospitality received by past or present members of (a) the Defence Council, (b) the Defence Management Board, (c) Defence Equipment and Support, (d) Defence Estates, (e) Science, Innovation and Technology TLB, (f) Central TLB and (g) Defence Export Services Organisation in each of the last three (i) financial and (ii) calendar years. [175596]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 7 January 2008]: Ministers, members of the senior civil service and commanding officers are required to keep Hospitality Books in which are recorded details of all hospitality offered to themselves or members of their staffer unit and whether an offer of hospitality has been accepted or declined.
Detailed departmental rules governing the way in which Crown servants are to react to offers of gifts, reward, or hospitality from outside organisations are set out in a statement of civilian and service personnel policy. Hospitality Books are audited by senior officials and military officers.
Departmental Property
Mr. Devine: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department’s properties in Scotland have been declared unfit for habitation. [182536]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and it will take time to determine what information could be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
I will write to my hon. Friend at the earliest opportunity.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to ensure that blood transfusions given to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are screened effectively before use. [179644]
Derek Twigg: For use in routine transfusions, deployed UK military hospitals maintain stocks of blood sourced from UK National Blood Service (NBS) donor centres, which screen and test their donors according to nationally mandated standards. For most patients, this licensed blood is all that is used for their trauma care.
However, in circumstances when standard blood stocks might not be appropriate where the properties of whole fresh blood are needed, an emergency blood transfusion from donors at a field hospital on or near the battlefield can be the only way of saving lives of gravely wounded UK personnel.
To enable blood to be obtained in such an emergency, UK field hospitals have an Emergency Donor Panel (EDP), consisting of a group of pre-screened volunteer donors who are available to donate blood at short notice. The volunteer donors will have been screened for suitability in accordance with UK NBS guidelines prior to deployment. Prior to donating at an EDP, a further check is made through use of a health questionnaire and an examination of the veins. Blood samples are taken to confirm the blood group, and for retrospective testing by the UK NBS to confirm that the blood transfused remained free from Transfusion Transmitted Infections.
Coalition partners in both Iraq and Afghanistan have their own procedures in place for pre- and post-screening of blood obtained from their equivalent of an EDP. If a seriously-injured UK casualty is being treated in a coalition medical facility, they may be given
a life-saving transfusion of such blood for the same reasons as apply in a UK field hospital, and using the same procedures as would be used to treat one of their own nationals. We co-operate closely with coalition partners in developing world-class life-saving combat medical care work, and in reviewing procedures where appropriate.
Transport
Birmingham New Street Station
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the works to be completed at Birmingham New Street railway station are estimated to cost; and how much of this is expected to be met from public funds. [180244]
Mr. Tom Harris: Costs are subject to ongoing commercial negotiations by Birmingham city council and Network Rail. However, £128 million of Network Rail funding has already been committed in their Strategic Business Plan. Birmingham city council has bid for a £160 million contribution from the Department for Transport through the regional funding allocation. A separate bid for £100 million has been made by Advantage West Midlands to the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Centro has pledged a further £10 million. The total cost includes several contributions from the private sector.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much extra capacity for train movements will be created by the works to be completed at Birmingham New Street railway station; what plans there are to (a) create new platforms and (b) lengthen existing platforms; and if she will make a statement. [180245]
Mr. Tom Harris: Additional train capacity at New Street, and across the network, will be provided via longer trains. The Department has already committed to provide the extra carriages required.
Additional passenger handling capacity at New Street will be provided by improvements to the station, proposals for which are being led by Birmingham city council and Network Rail.
These improvements will deal with passenger growth at New Street for the foreseeable future without the need for new or longer platforms. Proposals for New Street also provide improved station access, environment, interchange and wider regeneration benefits.
Departmental Data Protection
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what processes are in place to ensure that staff of her Department and its agencies have only the security access to data required to do their job. [176934]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The guiding principle used by the Department and its agencies for access to data is that of ‘Need to know’, consistent with the Cabinet Office Manual of Protective Security.
The Department and its agencies make use of both physical and electronic controls to restrict access to sensitive data including user identification, password protection and access restrictions based on user roles.
In addition to the basic checks performed for all personnel, a number of roles require users to have been security cleared to the appropriate level, consistent with the sensitivity of the data to which they require access.
The Department takes data security extremely seriously and is actively participating in the Cabinet Secretary’s review of this matter.
Departmental ICT
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) male and (b) female members of staff in her Department were issued with personal digital assistants in each year since 2001; and if she will make a statement. [181367]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The following figures represent the number of personal digital assistants (PDAs) issued to male and female staff in the Department for Transport and Agencies for each year since the Department was set up in 2003:-
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