| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
6 Oct 2008 : Column 253W—continued
Departmental Buildings
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the location is of each office occupied by (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies which has been (i) newly occupied and (ii) refurbished in the last 24 months; and what the floor area in square metres is of each. [221949]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The information requested is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Home Working
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 7 July 2008, Official Report, column 1169W, on departmental home working, if he will make it his policy to collate and maintain central records of all home working by his Department’s staff. [222473]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Since November 2006, information about applications to move to home working have been held centrally for civil service staff in the Department, excluding the trading fund agencies. However, the Department has no plans to hold details centrally of discretionary arrangements for staff to work at home on an ad hoc basis.
Departmental Official Residences
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what permanent residential accommodation is provided for use by civil servants in his Department; how many residential dwellings are provided; where they are located; and for what grade of civil servant they are provided. [221945]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence does not provide any permanent residential accommodation in the UK for civil servants.
The following table gives details of residential accommodation provided overseas to civil servants and other entitled civilians, including but not limited to: teachers, welfare workers, contractors, customs officials and meteorological officers.
| Number | |
The grades of these civilian occupants are not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Property
Mr. Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many houses owned by his Department in each location in Argyll and Bute constituency are empty; and how many years it is since each was last occupied. [220166]
Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 21 July 2008]: In the UK and overseas, a number of service family accommodation (SFA) properties are ‘void’. Void SFA are those properties that are unoccupied to allow for planned moves of service units, planned upgrades, sale or release, modernisation or demolition.
Within the Argyle and Bute constituency there are 249 void SFA at Rhu and Helensburgh. The 169 void SFA properties at Helensburgh have been void for the following periods:
| Number | |
The 80 void properties at Rhu have all been empty for five years.
These properties have remained void subject to the outcome of the Naval Base Review, which was started in September 2006 and completed in June 2007. We are now identifying future requirements for SFA. Once this work is complete we will consider whether it would be possible to dispose of any of the properties at Helensburgh and Rhu.
Departmental Publicity
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of materials his Department has distributed to schools in the last three years. [222549]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I have provided copies of all the material released by central MOD schemes, Single Service teams and the MOD Schools team to the Library of the House.
A number of MOD resources, notably Defence Dynamics, are online resources that are designed for web usage and are constantly refreshed. It is not possible or practical to provide print outs or electronic downloads because of the size. Additionally, the web will always provide the most up to date version.
In order to access the Defence Dynamics website:
a generic account has been set up for House of Commons Library users. Access details are:
Username: hofclibrary
Password: hofclibrary
by using the following log-in details:
Username: hofclibrary
Password: hofclibrary
It is not possible to track every item that may have been given out at local establishment level.
Departmental Surveillance
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have made under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to (i) undertake directed surveillance, (ii) use covert human intelligence sources, (iii) acquire communications data and (iv) undertake intrusive surveillance in the last 24 months. [221948]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Ministry of Defence does undertake operations involving powers described and governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ('RIPA'). RIPA provides that oversight of the use of these controlled powers is by regular inspection and publication of annual public reports by independent Commissioners and it is a matter for the Commissioners what details they disclose.
Figures on public authority use of covert techniques controlled by the RIPA are published annually by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner who each have particular inspection and oversight responsibilities under RIPA. The latest reports were laid before Parliament and copies placed in the House Library on 22 July. The figures provided in the reports are not broken down by individual public authority use of specific covert techniques as, depending on the particular technique and authority using it, this could either reveal sensitivities or be misleading. The question of further disclosure for any particular public authority is a matter for the relevant Commissioner.
Devonport Dockyard
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effects of the Equality Act 2006 on redundancy terms for employees at Devonport Dockyard aged 50 years and over. [222418]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: It is for Babcock Marine, the owner of the Devonport dockyard, to determine the terms of redundancy for its employees, including the requirements of legislation. Any assessment of the effects of the Equality Act 2006 on such redundancy is therefore a matter for the company.
EC Defence Policy
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2008, Official Report, column 449W, on EU defence policy, how many departmental (a) military and (b) civilian personnel work in each position listed. [222065]
Mr. Hutton: All 19 staff posts listed in the sections “EU Military Staff” (18) and “EU Military Committee” (1) are filled by UK military staff officers.
For the “European Defence Agency” and “Other EU Institutions” sections, the following numbers of (a) military and (b) civilian personnel work in each position listed:
Capabilities Director (1 UK military staff officer):
Responsible for the leading of Agency work in European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) activities related to capabilities development, from goal definition to project design, and including capability harmonisation, assessment and evaluation.
Head of Capabilities Development Support Unit (1 UK military staff officer):
Supports the capabilities director in the co-ordination of the directorate's work, and in managing external interfaces (with member states, European Union military staff (EUMS) and other key stakeholders).
Research and Technology (R&T) Assistant Director (1 MOD civilian):
Responsible for preparing strategies and policies for increasing co-operation and strengthening of defence R&T and the European defence technological and industrial base.
Principal Officer for Armaments Co-operation (1 MOD civilian):
Responsible for supporting the armaments director in his relations with OCCAR (Organisation conjointe de coopération en matière d'armement) and member states regarding the management of co-operative programs.
Senior Officer for Defence Market (1 MOD civilian):
Responsible for assessing and analyzing the European defence equipment market including collecting, comparing and reporting quantitative and qualitative data, and ensuring close relations with the Commission, industry and others regarding industrial issues.
Principal Officer for Defence Industry (1 MOD civilian):
Responsible for contributing to assessing and analysing the European defence technological and industrial base (DTIB), preparing strategies and policies regarding DTIB and developing measures for enhanced security of supply of defence goods between European nations.
European Council General Secretariat—Seconded National Expert (1 MOD civilian):
Desk officer responsible for providing advice and briefings on EUFOR ALTHEA (EU mission to Bosnia-Herzegoina).
European Commission—Seconded National Expert (1 MOD civilian):
Desk officer in DG Environment.
European Global Navigation Satellite System Supervisory Authority (GSA)—Seconded National Expert (1 MOD civilian):
Security advisor and project officer for the Galileo project.
EDF
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have with EDF energy; and how much (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies paid to EDF energy in each of the last 10 years, broken down by the purpose of the payment. [221844]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Information on contracts the Department and its agencies have with EDF energy is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
I am able to provide figures on MOD payments to companies and entities forming part of EDF Energy plc as it was structured at 31 March 2008. Data are provided from 2001-02 onwards. Before this there was no record of any MOD payments to EDF Energy plc or companies and entities that currently belong to it.
The payments made are detailed in the following table. The data exclude payments made by the MOD trading funds, for which records are not held centrally. The purpose of these payments was for the provision of utilities (e.g. electricity) for the MOD.
| Annual MOD payments to EDF Energy (VAT exclusive at current prices) | |
| FY | £000 |
EU Law
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officials in his Department are wholly or mainly tasked with the negotiation, implementation or the administration of EU legislation and consequent policies. [222282]
Mr. Kevan Jones: In the Ministry of Defence there are four members of staff working exclusively on intergovernmental aspects of European Security and Defence Policy issues in the Directorate for Policy on International Organisations, and three full-time members of staff dealing with EU business in the Defence Equipment and Support International Relations Group. A number of other staff throughout the Department are involved for part of their time in a wide range of EU business.
The MOD has nine military and civilian staff in the UK Military Representation to the EU in Brussels and two seconded to the UK diplomatic representation to
the EU to work on European Security and Defence Policy. In addition 18 British military officers are seconded to the European Union Military Staff, and one British military officer seconded as the Military Assistant to the permanent Chairman of the EU Military Committee. One MOD civilian is seconded to each of the European Council General Secretariat, the European Commission and the European Global Navigation Satellite System Supervisory Authority (GSA) and six military and civilian staff are seconded to the European Defence Agency.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |