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9 Jun 2008 : Column 63W—continued
Armed Forces: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 20 May 2008, Official Report, columns 15-18WS, on helicopters on operations, where training will be conducted as part of the helicopter support initiative. [207651]
Des Browne: The European Defence Agency, with support from the UK and France, is currently analysing member states' training capacities and training needs to assess the potential added value of multi-national initiatives. At this stage it would be premature to speculate on solutions.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 15th May 2008, Official Report, column 1580W, on Bosnia and Herzegovina: peacekeeping operations, whether (a) the UK, (b) Germany and (c) Italy will backfill the requirement for the Ready Battalion Operational Reserve Force while the UK deploys the 2 Battalion, The Rifles to Kosovo. [207108]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There is no requirement to backfill the Operational Reserve Force ‘Ready’ Battalion while 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, is deployed to Kosovo.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer of 14th May 2008, Official Report, column 1580W, on Bosnia and Herzegovina: peacekeeping operations, what the operational language is for those units serving in the multi-national NATO/EU pan-Balkans Operational Reserve Force. [207111]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The operational language for the NATO/EU pan-Balkans Operational Reserve Force is English.
Climate Change
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of each of the research reports commissioned by his Department on climate change in the last five years. [203568]
Derek Twigg [holding answer 6 May 2008]: In the last five years the MOD has produced four unclassified reports:
Impacts of sea level rise based on current state-of-the-art modelling;
Environmental stresses from detailed climate model simulations for the middle east and Gulf region;
Briefing document on environmental stresses from climate change; and
Report on changes in storm surges from detailed model simulations for the Bay of Bengal.
I shall place copies of the reports in the Library of the House.
Defence
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will publish the revised defence planning assumptions. [209805]
Des Browne: The Defence Planning Assumptions are currently under review as part of the Department's routine strategic planning cycle. I expect this work will be completed this year and the results published in the next Defence White Paper in the usual way.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff funded by the public purse in his Department are classified as people without posts. [208759]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of employees in his Department who received a performance-related bonus at their last appraisal were (a) male, (b) female, (c) from an ethnic minority, (d) disabled and (e) not heterosexual; and if he will make a statement. [208382]
Derek Twigg: Some 52,500 individuals are recorded as having received a bonus in the principal Ministry of Defence bonus award process for civilian staff in 2007. This number is broken down as follows:
| Thousand | Percentage | |
HMS Superb
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for HMS Superb to dock and have her damage assessed before returning to the UK; and if he will make a statement. [208735]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
An initial assessment of the damage has been made while HMS Superb has been alongside in Aqaba, Jordan. HMS SuperB has been
judged to be safe to sail but will be undertaking further assessment alongside in Crete before completing her transit to the UK.
Iraq: Detainees
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have been (a) captured, (b) arrested and (c) detained by British forces during the conflicts in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan. [209309]
Des Browne [holding answer 6 June 2008]: The Ministry of Defence is undertaking a review of its detention records. I will write to the hon. Member when the review has completed.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British and Commonwealth service personnel have been killed in blue on blue incidents in Iraq since 2003. [209585]
Des Browne: We believe eight members of the UK armed forces have been killed as a result of blue-on-blue incidents in Iraq since 2003.
National Recognition of our Armed Forces Inquiry
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what occasions the Study for the Inquiry into National Recognition of our armed forces met representatives of service museums; and what the dates were of those meetings. [209813]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The study for the Inquiry into National Recognition of our Armed Forces met representatives of the Service museums on the following occasions and dates:
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard: during a visit to Portsmouth Naval Base on 16 January 2008;
National Army Museum: during a visit to the National Army Museum Chelsea on 7 March 2008
and
RAF Museum: at a meeting with the RAF Museum Director (Dr Michael Fopp) in Portcullis House on 4 March 2008.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2008, Official Report, column 692W, on the National Recognition of our Armed Forces Inquiry, what timescale he has set for a full response to the National Recognition Study Report. [209818]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Government aim to provide a full response to the National Recognition Study report to Parliament before the House rises for the summer recess on 22 July.
Nuclear Submarines
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) X berths and (b) Z berths are available for use by the Royal Navy's nuclear submarines between the Red Sea and the UK. [208734]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There are no X or Z berths between the Red Sea and the UK as these types of berth are only located within the two submarine base ports of HMNB Devonport and HMNB Clyde.
Special Nuclear Vehicles
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times special nuclear vehicles were used on the road between April 2007 and March 2008; and how many special escort group operations there were in the same period. [209339]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I am withholding the information requested, as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice national security.
USA: Armed Forces
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 21 May 2008, Official Report, column 379W, on the armed forces: USA, on how many occasions since 1997 visiting US personnel have been (a) prosecuted under UK law and (b) dealt with under US law for offences committed in the UK; and what information his Department holds on the results of such cases dealt with by the US military authorities. [208919]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Ministry of Defence does not hold records of legal cases involving US visiting force personnel.
War Pensions
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to reintroduce a link between war pensions and average earnings; and if he will make a statement. [208457]
Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 176W, to the hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper).
Home Department
Departmental Targets
11. Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effect of relevant targets set by her Department on police priorities; and if she will make a statement. [208953]
Mr. McNulty: In developing our new public service agreements—which came into effect in April—the Home Office and Ministry of Justice consulted extensively with the police service over the impact that previous PSA targets had had on police priorities. The new objectives on crime reduction and criminal justice reflect that feedback and place a renewed emphasis on the police and their partners identifying and addressing specific local priorities while ensuring that the most serious crimes and criminals are tackled as a matter of course in all areas.
Tackling Gangs Action Programme
12. Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on the lessons learned from the Tackling Gangs Action programme. [208954]
Mr. Coaker: TGAP demonstrated how a relatively small amount of money—£2 million—can drive focused cross-agency action to deliver prevention, risk management, community reassurance and enforcement—and make a real difference on the ground. Further details are available in TGAP's monitoring report and in ‘Tackling Gangs: A Practical Guide’ on the Home Office's Crime Reduction website.
Communications Data Storage
13. Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to put in place measures for the comprehensive storage of national telephone and e-mail communications data. [208955]
Mr. McNulty: We are considering how we ensure that we can continue to have access to communications data in the light of changing technology, and are developing proposals for the Communications Data Bill announced in the Government's draft legislative programme.
These proposals relate to communications data—not the content of communications.
Local Policing
14. Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how she plans to consult local communities on local policing priorities. [208957]
Mr. McNulty: Since April 2008 every area in England and Wales has had a neighbourhood policing team. These teams meet with their local communities to agree the local priorities for action. And in the Green Paper that I will publish shortly, I will set out our plan to introduce a policing pledge which will set out a national standard on what people can expect from the police, underpinned in each area by a set of local priorities agreed by people in each neighbourhood.
Immigration
15. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to review the adequacy of the immigration arrangements to the UK for New Zealand nationals. [208958]
Mr. Byrne: We are delivering the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for over 40 years.
We will listen hard to the views of the New Zealand Government and I met with the High Commissioner (Derek Leask) last week to ensure their views are taken into account.
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