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14 July 2008 : Column 166W—continued
In some instances it has not been possible to determine the highest Protective Marking of material which the systems were accredited to hold as it was not established when the incident was reported and subsequent clarification has proved inconclusive (these are classified as 'Not Determined' in the table).
Our investigation may not have identified all instances where a higher Protective Marking of material was held on a lower classification of system. Attempting to confirm these would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold. Processes have been amended to establish the highest Protective Marking of material held on systems as part of our data capture and investigation of such incidents.
Departmental Land
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much of the land owned by his Department has been deemed surplus to requirements; and what the estimated value of such land is; [218473]
(2) what the estimated value of his Department’s land planned to be decommissioned is. [218475]
Derek Twigg: Information regarding sites both in disposal and also those potentially surplus to requirements in the future is available in the Library of the House and is periodically updated.
Details of the estimated sale value of land that is due to be disposed of are not published as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
Departmental Legal Costs
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on legal fees defending cases in the courts in each financial year since 1997. [218447]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the internal guidance available on his Department's staff intranet on the drafting of answers to Parliamentary Questions. [217337]
Departmental Pay
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of staff in his Department and its agencies did not receive the maximum bonus possible under a bonus scheme applying to them in the last two years. [217059]
Derek Twigg: The proportion of staff who, under their respective pay arrangements did not receive the maximum bonus possible was 92 per cent. in 2006 and 94 per cent. in 2007.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what bonuses were paid to senior civil servants in his Department in 2007-08; [218510]
(2) what proportion of bonus payments to senior civil servants in 2007-08 was paid to officials in his Department; and if he will make a statement; [218511]
(3) how many senior civil servants in his Department were eligible for bonus payments in 2007-08; and how much his Department paid in bonus payments in that year. [218512]
Derek Twigg: We are not yet in a position to provide the information requested as this year’s Senior Civil Service Pay Committee process for 2007-08 is not yet complete. I will write to the hon. Member when the information is available.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will break down his Department’s main estimate in (a) near cash and (b) non-cash terms on the same basis as in his Answers to the hon. Member for Aldershot on 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2346W and 5 March 2008, Official Report, column 2284W. [218334]
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 pursuant to the Answers to (a) the hon. Member for Aldershot of 10 September 2007, Official Report, column 1893W and (b) the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre of 26 February 2008, Official Report, column 1359W on departments: public expenditure, if he will clarify his Department’s budget in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [218335]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Ministry of Defence’s planned expenditure over the next three years (including 2008-09) is detailed in section IV of the Defence Plan published in June 2008.
Departmental Responsibilities
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many reviews of regulation (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have conducted or commenced since July 2007; and in which areas. [215624]
Derek Twigg: The majority of regulations made by the Ministry of Defence relate directly to the armed forces. Following the Armed Forces Act 2006 the Department has begun, and is continuing, a programme which will involve the replacement of all the single service subordinate legislation with tri-Service regulations under the new Act. However, this does not cover all regulations to which the question refers. That information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Television
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence to what premium Sky, digital terrestrial or cable television channels (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies subscribes; and at what yearly cost in the most recent period for which figures are available. [215651]
Derek Twigg: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Training
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies spent on training courses for staff in the last (i) 12 months and (ii) five years. [210558]
Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training courses were (a) available to and (b) taken up by civil servants in his Department in the last 12 months. [210575]
Derek Twigg: The Defence Academy, the MOD’s internal training provider, runs 660 different courses that are open to civil servants, of which some run several times a year, making a total of 5,439 courses available.
The take-up by civil servants over the last 12 months was 54,602. This figure does not include any e-learning courses undertaken, and may include the same civil servant attending and completing more than one course.
Information about courses run by external training providers can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Wastes
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department has taken to reduce the volume of waste produced by it and sent to landfill in each of the last two years. [215916]
Derek Twigg: Over the past two years the Ministry of Defence has undertaken a series of actions to reduce the amount of waste it produces and sends to landfill. These include: conducting a series of site waste audits to determine the processes that generate waste; implementing site waste minimisation schemes; and commissioning a Waste Management Improvement Project. This examined waste management activities carried out throughout the defence estate and how these could be improved to reduce the amount of waste generated in the first instance and to increase the amount of waste that remained to recycling and recovery operations. The recommendations from this report are in the process of being actioned.
The Ministry of Defence is also working closely with not-for-profit organisations such as WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) to increase the amount of construction waste re-used on site and recycled off-site, and NISP (National Industrial Symbiosis Programme) which looks to create industrial synergies with local businesses and organisations so that the Department’s waste is used as another’s resource.
The MOD Specialist Training School at RAF Halton also runs an accredited three-day waste management course which teaches individual site environmental advisers the practical aspects of waste management with an emphasis on waste reduction and recovery.
Departmental Written Questions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long on average his Department took to answer (a) ordinary written and (b) named day questions in each of the last three years. [215469]
Derek Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested. However, during session 2006-07, 25 per cent. of both named day written questions and ordinary written questions were answered on time.
EU Defence Policy
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which UK (a) military units and (b) vessels have taken part in EU military operations. [216656]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Armed Forces on 10 September 2007, Official Report, column 1894W, to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox).
The UK is also contributing a total of four military officers to the current ESDP mission to Chad/Central African Republic (CAR): two officers in the operational HQ at Mont Valerien in Paris and two officers in the force HQ in Chad/CAR. These staff officers are being provided under standing EU headquarters augmentation procedures.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian contractors employed by his Department serving on (a) Operation Telic and (b) Operation Herrick have been (i) wounded and (ii) killed in each year since 2003. [207909]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We greatly value the work done by contractors in supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and we take very seriously our responsibilities towards them in both theatres. However, collating comprehensive data on injuries or fatalities suffered by our contractors is very difficult. As a result, detailed and reliable information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of Iraqi insurgents his Department estimates to be (a) Ba’athists, (b) Nationalists, (c) Kurdish Worker Party members, (d) the Salafi, (e) Badr Organisation members and (f) Mahdi Army members; and if he will make a statement. [218023]
Des Browne: It is not possible to estimate with any accuracy the proportion of Iraqi insurgents that belong to specific categories. Membership of individual groups fluctuates with their fortunes and divisions between them can be blurred, making assessments of their numbers difficult.
The Badr Organisation is not an insurgent group, but a legitimate political party. The Kurdish Workers’ Party is a Turkish, not Iraqi, group which operates against Turkey.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how often armoured vehicles have been penetrated by insurgent ordnance in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan. [218446]
Des Browne: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of our armed forces.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contact lens infections have been reported in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan amongst armed forces personnel since 2003 in each country. [218455]
Derek Twigg: The following numbers are recorded as having been aeromedically transferred to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak with contact lens related ulcers:
| Theatre | Time period | Number of cases |
There may also have been a small number of cases treated successfully in-theatre. Details will be recorded on the individuals' personal medical files, but are not recorded centrally.
Korean War
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British servicemen who went missing in action during the Korean War remain unaccounted for. [217504]
Derek Twigg: The cases of all Korean war servicemen who were not accounted for at the end of the war were extensively investigated in the early 1950s. In 1954, following these investigations, the War Office presumed death had occurred for all 118 cases of servicemen identified as missing. This was later changed to 113 to reflect the recovery of five bodes in the late 1950s.
Martyn Compton
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 7 July 2008, Official Report, column 1175W, on Martyn Compton, when he expects to make a decision on the compensation payable to Lance Corporal Compton. [218366]
Derek Twigg: I will write to the hon. Member when a decision has been made.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average number of (a) planned and (b) actual flying hours for each helicopter type in the (i) Army Air Corps, (ii) Fleet Air Arm and (iii) Royal Air Force was in each year since 2001. [216251]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: There is no requirement to hold data on average flying hours. The total planned and actual flying hours for each helicopter type in the three services for each year since 2001 are shown in the following tables. Information on planned flying hours prior to 2004-05 is not available for all aircraft types.
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