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5 Mar 2008 : Column 2557W—continued
With the exception of the Senior Civil Service, the figures in the table are for the main body of civilian staff covered by the MOD annual pay award. The figures exclude staff in Trading Funds, those whose pay is determined by analogue to outside counterparts (e.g. MOD police), locally engaged civilians overseas and many highly specialist grades linked to the MOD main pay award.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Spring Supplementary Estimates 2007-08, if he will break down, by sub-head, his Department’s revised provision in (i) near cash and (ii) non-cash terms. [191681]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the anticipated operating and non-operating appropriations in aid are for each year of the comprehensive spending review; and whether they were included in the near cash resource and capital departmental expenditure limits given in his answer of 10 September 2007, Official Report, column 1893W, on Departments: public expenditure. [191685]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
Anticipated operating and non-operating appropriations in aid are published in Departmental Estimates. Operating and non-operating appropriations in aid were included in the 2006-07
outturn figures quoted in my answer of 10 September 2007, Official Report, column 1893W.
Departmental Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will break down by sub-heading the payment of £55 million per year to the main contractor for his Department's main building. [187603]
Derek Twigg: I am unable to break down the annual payment for the provision of fully serviced office accommodation for Main Building and Old War Office under the PFI Contract as the contract is not constructed in this manner. The contract payments include a service element and the repayment of the bank debt under the terms of the PFI credit agreements.
The £55 million annual payment figure is derived from the £1.65 billion project approval figure (based on a constant price estimate i.e. excluding inflation) spread equally over 30 years.
Gurkhas: Dismissal
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers from the Gurkha Regiment were discharged under manning control in the last 12 months. [191445]
HMS Southampton
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current status is of HMS (a) Southampton and (b) Exeter; and when a decision will be taken on their out of service dates. [190643]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: HMS Exeter and Southampton are currently in operational service with the Royal Navy. On present plans, they are due to be withdrawn from service during 2009.
Iraq: Helicopters
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what enhancements to helicopter capabilities his Department is making in response to experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. [191609]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 4 March 2008]: As a result of experience on operations, we are taking steps to increase the robustness of our existing helicopter fleets, such as the purchase of the six Danish Merlin helicopters and the conversion of the eight Chinook Mk3 helicopters to a support helicopter role. We have carried out extensive modifications to improve the operational capability of our helicopters in response to Urgent Operational Requirements, including fitting new rotor blades to some of our Sea Kings to improve their performance in hot and high conditions, enabling their deployment to Afghanistan. We are also uplifting the number of flying hours we will deliver each month to commanders on the ground in Afghanistan from our Chinook and Apache fleets.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to provide free Wi-Fi for front-line troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. [191448]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: It is not possible at this time to provide a date of when free Wi-Fi will be provided to personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, it is my intention to inform the House on progress soon.
Iraq: Resettlement
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Government has provided air transport for Iraqi citizens formerly employed by the Ministry of Defence granted leave to enter the UK from the Middle East; and whether there are plans to provide such transport in the future from (a) Iraq and (b) third countries. [190410]
Mr. Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
No Iraqi citizens formerly employed by the Ministry of Defence have yet been granted indefinite leave to enter the UK from the Middle East under the criteria for the Locally Engaged Iraqi staff assistance scheme. Therefore the Government have not provided air transport to assist their movement to the UK.
All formerly employed staff who are accepted for resettlement under the Gateway Protection Programme, will be provided with travel to the UK on commercial airlines from third countries in the Middle East.
A small number of current staff have been made redundant since 7 August 2007 and have opted to seek indefinite leave to enter the UK. Assistance with transport and flights from Iraq to the UK will be provided for these staff and their dependants.
Joint Rapid Reaction Force
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which brigade forms the Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF); whether it is fully equipped; whether the JRRF is deployed; and when the future JRRF will take over. [190670]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Army commitment to the Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) is normally centred on the Spearhead Land Element (SLE), the Lead Airborne Task Force (ABTF) and the High Readiness Mechanised or Armoured Brigade. Due to 16 Air Assault Brigade’s impending deployment to Afghanistan the ABTF was replaced by the Small Scale Focused Intervention Battlegroup (SSFIBG) on 15 February 2008 and will not be re-established until January 2009.
The Army elements of the JRRF that are currently held at high readiness are the SLE and SSFI BG. The SSFI BG is based on a Light Infantry Role Battlegroup, provided by The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland until 19 May 2008. The SLE is based on 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles until 30 March 2008.
For non-discretionary JRRF tasks, equipment holdings exist to ensure mission success. However, some equipment might need to be re-apportioned from supporting training
for operations or from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, depending on the task, to ensure that appropriate quantities are available.
Military Aircraft: Expenditure
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total expenditure was on transport aircraft (a) procurement and (b) maintenance by his Department in each year since 1997. [190640]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The RAF air transport fleet is comprised of C-17, Hercules C-130J/K, Tristar, VC10, BAE 125 and BAE 146 aircraft.
Between 1996 and 2000, the MOD introduced 25 Hercules C-130J aircraft into service with the RAF. The total procurement cost for these aircraft was US$ 1.4 billion; however, the costing profile is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Two additional C-17 aircraft are due to be delivered to the RAF later this year. I am withholding information on procurement costs as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
A number of areas within the Department incur maintenance expenditure on the RAF’s air transport fleet. The financial information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The figures provided in the following table are the logistic support costs that can be directly attributed to the fixed wing aircraft fleets in the financial years for which costs are readily available.
The table does not include contract lease costs for three commercially owned military registered Agusta A109E helicopters which are used in the VIP transport role, as disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
| Financial year | £ million |
| Notes: 1. Costings for financial years prior to 2002-03 are incomplete and are not included. 2. These figures include the lease cost of four C-17 aircraft. Disclosure of the value of the lease would prejudice commercial interests. 3. Defence Equipment and Support staff costs are not included. 4. Costs have been rounded to the nearest million. | |
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times helicopters of the (a) Army Air Corps, (b) Fleet Air Arm and (c) Royal Air Force were cannibalised for spare parts in each year since 2001, broken down by helicopter type. [190647]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The numbers of cannibalisations for helicopters operated by the Army Air Corps, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force are shown in the following table. The figures shown are for the Forward Fleet—i.e. aircraft with the front-line commands and utilised for operational deployments or other tasks.
| Airframe | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08( 1) |
| (1) Figures shown are as at January 2008 | |||||||
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