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20 Oct 2008 : Column 129W—continued
In addition to the battalions shown above there are three incremental Guards companies which are primarily for public duties but which can also be used to augment the other Guards battalions as required;
| Unit | Required strength | Actual strength | Fit for task strength |
Campaign Against the Arms Trade
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times officials from his Department have met representatives from the Campaign Against Arms Trade since September 2006; what the title was of each departmental official attending; what the date was of each meeting; and what the length was of each meeting. [226836]
Mr. Hutton:
We have no record of any meetings between officials of this Department and representatives from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) since September 2006. Previously, the then Head of Defence
Export Services met representatives from CAAT on 30 August 2005. The meeting lasted around half an hour.
Responsibility for Government support to defence exports was transferred from the Ministry of Defence to UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) on 1 April this year. I understand that the Head of UKTI Defence and Security Organisation has agreed recently to meet CAAT representatives in the near future.
China: Armed Forces
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration was given by officials in his Department to the terms of the Madrid Declaration 1989 when agreeing to (a) its bilateral programme with China and (b) the attendance of Chinese cadets at Sandhurst. [228531]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I set out the basis of the MOD’s bilateral programme with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in my answer to the hon. Member on 17 September 2008, Official Report, columns 2250-51W. Since the Madrid Declaration of 1989, our bilateral relationship with China has developed considerably. As with other EU partners, most of the measures adopted then, such as suspension of bilateral ministerial and high-level contacts have long since fallen into disuse. The arms embargo, however, remains in place.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from his US counterpart on (a) his Department’s Chinese bilateral programme and (b) the training of Chinese military personnel in the UK. [228533]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We have received no such representations.
Departmental Marketing
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of his Department. [226520]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The armed forces and MOD civilian recruiting organisations employ a wide range of measures to ascertain the effectiveness of their recruitment advertising campaigns. For example, the MOD uses regular independent pre and post-advertising tracking research which explores the attitudes and behaviour of the target audience towards the campaigns, and the awareness of each burst of advertising to inform what percentage of the target audience has been reached. These are then set against advertising expenditure to assess the cost effectiveness of the various media channels and tools used compared with each other, across government and with industry averages.
The Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA) undertakes two modest regional awareness campaigns each year to raise awareness of its services to veterans. As part of a wider campaign evaluation, a coupon is attached to each advertisement that readers can return. For the last two campaigns 19 and 101 coupons were returned respectively. Small ‘feature’ entries for SPVA are also included in all British Telecom phone books,
but no realistic assessment is possible of these entries. In addition, a small number of ad-hoc advertising opportunities are exploited throughout the year in ex-service and commemorative magazines. These are low value and are not formally evaluated.
The Department also works closely with the Central Office of Information to develop a system which will provide clarity on the value for money of advertising campaigns in the future.
Departmental Pay
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost. [226416]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The number of non-pensionable bonuses awarded to members of the senior civil service (SCS), to fixed term appointees and to civil servants below the level of the SCS covered by the MOD main pay deal (excluding trading funds and agencies), relating to performance in Financial Year 2007-08 and paid in FY 2008-09 to end September 2008, are listed in the tables one to three. The Ministry of Defence also awards special bonuses to individuals and teams for exceptional performance in a specific task or for the achievement of professional qualifications which benefit MOD and the individual; these are shown in table four as payments to date.
| Table 1: Bonuses paid to senior civil servants | |
| 2008-09 | |
| Table 2: Bonuses paid to senior fixed term appointees | |
| 2008-09 | |
| (1) There are eight outstanding bonus payments still to be agreed. | |
| Table 3: End-of-year bonuses paid to staff below the level of the SCS( 1) | |
| 2008-09 | |
| (1) Excluding MOD trading fund agencies. | |
| Table 4: Special bonuses( 1) | |
| 2008-09( 2) | |
| (1) Excluding MOD trading fund agencies. (2) To end of September 2008. | |
Energy: Research
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research has been carried out by his Department into the kinetic energy of hypersonic mass over the last five years. [228111]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Over the past five years the MOD has commissioned research into the electromagnetic launch of kinetic energy projectiles to achieve hypersonic velocities. This research ended in 2005 as it was determined that the technology did not offer cost effective alternatives to current capabilities.
The Department now maintains an awareness of electromagnetic launch and hypersonic projectiles technologies, and a capability to model KE projectile/target interactions as set out in the Defence Technology Strategy, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether combat simulation studies have been carried out to analyse the capabilities of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter against those of other aircraft, including the Sukhoi SU 27/35 series. [225699]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The UK has undertaken combat simulations with a variety of aircraft but due to the high classification of these simulations, I am withholding the details of this information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
Merlin Helicopters
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) in-service and (b) operational delivery dates are of each of the six Merlin helicopters procured from Denmark. [226911]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The Merlin helicopters acquired from Denmark are known as Merlin Mk3a, when converted.
The first Merlin Mk3a was delivered to 78 Squadron on 22 January 2008 and the second on 31 January. The initial Release to Service (flight clearance) was signed on 21 January this year. Since then, aircraft have been incrementally modified to keep a maximum number available to the forward fleet. An Initial Operating Capability (IOC) was agreed by Joint Helicopter Command on 31 March for two aircraft. By 30 July, five aircraft had been delivered to RAF Benson for tasking. The sixth helicopter will be returned to RAF Benson next month, following completion of specialist communications testing which is normal for a new class of aircraft.
Meteorological Office: Finance
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Government have provided by way of grants or subsidies to (a) the Met Office and (b) the Met Office Hadley Centre in each financial year since 1998. [227855]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Government have provided no grants or subsidies to the Met Office. The Met Office is a trading fund within the MOD and, as such, is paid by its customers, both government and commercial, to provide a range of weather and climate related services. In the last 10 years, the Met Office has received the following revenue from government customers:
Military Bases: Security
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many break-ins were reported at UK military bases in each of the last 12 months. [227874]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The numbers of break-ins reported to the Ministry of Defence police at UK military bases in each of the last 12 months are shown in the following table.
For the purpose of this answer we have defined break-ins at UK military bases as all reported instances of burglary and trespassing at MOD establishments.
| Burglaries | Trespass | |
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