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4 Feb 2008 : Column 796W—continued
| Non-commissioned Army personnel | ||||||
| £ per year | ||||||
| Years of reckonable service | Lance Corporal and below | Corporal | Sergeant | Staff Sergeant | Warrant Officer Class 2 | Warrant Officer Class 1 |
Although a breakdown by rank is not available, the actual average annual pensions for the AFPS 1975 and 2005 schemes, paid in Financial Year 2006-07, were £16,641 for commissioned personnel and £5,976 for non-commissioned personnel. These figures include those who left before their immediate pension point but have, on reaching age 60, received their preserved AFPS pensions.
Armed Forces: Training
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) name, (b) date and (c) location was of each EU military training exercise in which British military personnel have taken part since 2004; and how many British military personnel participated in each. [183509]
Des Browne: EU policy is that it will only conduct Command Post Exercises, practising its Command and Control arrangements. British military personnel have taken part in two such exercises since 2004:
MILEX 05, which took place from 22 November-1 December 2005 in Mt. Valerien in France, where five British military augmentees participated, and in Ulm, Germany, where two British military augmentees participated.
MILEX 07, which took place from 7-15 June 2007 in Brussels, where one British military augmentee participated and in Enkoping, Sweden, where one British military augmentee participated.
DA Notices
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence advisory notices were issued in each of the last four quarters. [183871]
Des Browne [holding answer 1 February 2008]: The Secretary of the Defence Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee (DPBAC) has written to all UK editors to amplify the general guidance on the following occasions in relation to various DA notices:
| Letters | |
This corrects the information previously provided in my answer of 16 October 2007, Official Report, column 937W, to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) where I stated that the Secretary of the Defence Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee had previously sent seven letters to all editors for 2007 up to October when he had in fact provided eight.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to reduce his Department's carbon dioxide emissions in 2008-09. [181846]
Derek Twigg:
The MOD is determined to lead the way in reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. We have already made significant progress in this area by taking a range of actions including: improving building energy management and energy efficiency; working with the Carbon Trust to identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvements at the top 220 energy-consuming defence sites; making central funds available for estate emissions
reduction projects and embedding pro-rata energy efficiency targets into service delivery agreements between the MOD Permanent Under-Secretary and the Department's management areas. We have also worked with our road vehicle fleet contractors to provide more energy-efficient vehicles and have offset emissions from business and ministerial flights.
Work in these areas will continue during 2008-09 and beyond. In addition, we will develop and implement a carbon neutrality strategy for the MOD office estate, increase our procurement of non-climate change levy electricity and use of on-site micro-renewable energy systems, and make staff more aware of the environmental impact of their travel through a new self-booking travel tool.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on travel (a) within and (b) outside the UK for officials in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of his Department's overall expenditure was spent on such travel in each such year. [181525]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All travel is conducted in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Departmental Visits Abroad
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many overseas visits by officials in his Department took place in each of the last 10 years; which countries were visited; and how much was spent on such visits in each such year. [181590]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Information on the number of officials accompanying Ministers on overseas visits is included in the list. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
ATHENA
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is expected that the President of the European Council will convene and chair the meetings of the ATHENA Special Committee under the treaty of Lisbon if ratified; and if he will make a statement. [183518]
Des Browne: The Lisbon treaty does not specify who will convene and chair the meetings of the ATHENA Special Committee. Currently, the chairmanship is rotated every six months among member states.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether (a) qualified majority voting, (b) unanimity and (c) another voting procedure is used when voting in the ATHENA Special Committee. [183511]
Des Browne: Decisions of EU Special Committee ATHENA are taken unanimously by its members.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the UK has spent on European Security and Defence Policy training exercises under the ATHENA mechanism since January 2004. [183508]
Des Browne: The UK share of eligible costs under the ATHENA mechanism attributed to European Security and Defence Policy training exercises since January 2004 is £104,561.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the bank account used by the ATHENA Special Committee for EU military missions has ever been overdrawn; and if he will make a statement. [183506]
Des Browne: Bank accounts used for EU-led operations having military or defence implications are managed under the authority of the EU Special Committee ATHENA by: the administrator of the ATHENA mechanism; the commander of each operation (in relation to the operation which he/she commands); and an accounting officer. No ATHENA bank account may be overdrawn.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) name and (b) country of location was of the bank used by the ATHENA Special Committee for each EU military mission since 2004. [183507]
Des Browne: The bank used by Special Committee ATHENA for each military mission since 2004 is ING-Bruxelles in Belgium.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on bank charges relating to payments from the UK’s contribution to the ATHENA mechanism in each year since 2004; and if he will make a statement. [183510]
Des Browne: The UK share of ATHENA bank charges that have been paid in each year since 2004 is as follows:
| £ | |
Dr. Fox:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of the ATHENA mechanism common funding of EU military missions has been paid to NATO for use of NATO assets for EU (a) military
missions and (b) military training exercises by (i) the UK, (ii) the EU and (iii) NATO member states who are not members of the EU in each year since 2004. [183512]
Des Browne: None. It was agreed in 2003 by the NATO and European Councils that NATO would charge the EU only for incremental or out-of-pocket costs for using NATO assets. To date it has not been necessary for NATO to charge such costs.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether NATO member states who are not members of the EU providing troops and resources to an EU military mission which falls under the 2002 Berlin Plus Agreement are allowed to (a) participate in and (b) be present during voting in the ATHENA Special Committee; and if he will make a statement. [183505]
Des Browne: NATO nations who are not members of the EU but who contribute to the financing of the common costs of an EU-led operation are considered as ‘contributing third states’. ‘Contributing third states’ are entitled to take part in the proceedings of Special Committee ATHENA but are not permitted to take part in or be present at its votes.
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