| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
16 Dec 2008 : Column 552W—continued
The typical length of a training package is two weeks.
Chinook Helicopters
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Chinook helicopters the RAF possesses; and how many of these are fully serviceable. [243669]
Mr. Quentin Davies: There are 40 Chinook Mk2/2a in the fleet.
‘Fully serviceable’ is interpreted as those aircraft in the Forward Fleet considered Fit for Purpose. Forward Fleet aircraft are those that are available to the Front Line Command for operational and training purposes, of which Fit for Purpose are those considered capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date. In the latest month for which figures are available (October) an average of 19 were considered Fit for Purpose.
Aircraft which are not Fit for Purpose are considered to be Short Term Unserviceable and are able to be brought up to standard very quickly. During October only 11 aircraft were undergoing depth repair and not able to be bought up to standard quickly. Operational capability is measured in terms of flying hours rather than the number of airframes available.
Departmental Marketing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months. [243895]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The amount spent is £46.3 million. This figure represents expenditure in 2007-08 on public relations services (including sales marketing and advertising), service and civilian recruitment expenses and expenditure on schools and community relations initiatives. It includes expenditure by the defence agencies, but not by the MOD’s trading funds and Executive non-departmental public bodies, which lie outside the MOD’s accounting boundary.
EH101 Helicopters
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many flying hours have been recorded on each of the six Merlin helicopters which were transferred from Denmark in each of the last three months. [243433]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The number of hours flown by each of the six Merlin helicopters acquired from the Danish Government in the last three months are shown in the following table in hours and minutes. Merlin ZK001 is still undergoing conversion at AugustaWestlands and is due to be delivered to RAF Benson on 9 January 2009.
| September | October | November | |
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen have lost limbs while serving in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan in the last 12 months. [242819]
Mr. Hutton: Between 1 December 2007 and 30 November 2008 a total of 24 service personnel have suffered amputations due to injuries sustained while on operational deployment; one in Iraq and 23 in Afghanistan. These amputations can range from the loss of part of a finger or toe up to the loss of entire limb(s).
Iraq: Reconstruction
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in the (a) development of Basra International Airport and (b) renovation of Umm Qasr port since 8 October 2007; and what contribution has been made to each project by the UK. [240834]
Mr. Hutton: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in his statement on 22 July 2008, Official Report, columns 660-63, preparing to transfer Basra International Airport to Iraqi civilian control is one of the key remaining tasks for UK forces in southern Iraq. Good progress has been made and the Iraqi civilian authorities now operate it as a civil airport during daylight hours. We remain on course formally to transfer responsibility for the airport to the Iraqi civilian authorities around the turn of the year.
Trade at Umm Qasr port has increased by 10 per cent. over the last year, and is forecast to increase by more than that again in 2009. Regeneration plans for the port are now being led and co-ordinated by the Iraqi Government, with support from Coalition personnel, including from the UK. UK personnel are providing advice and facilitation to the regeneration efforts, and UK forces are providing training to a company of Iraqi Marines guarding the port’s perimeter.
Tristar Aircraft
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of fitting the RAF Tristar fleet with glass cockpits is expected to be; and what his proposed timescale for these upgrades is. [243432]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The cost of fitting glass cockpits to the RAF TriStar fleet is estimated to be in the order of £20 million. It is planned that this work will be completed by early 2011.
Olympics
Departmental Disabled Staff
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what conclusions her Office has reached in fulfilment of its duty under section 3.111 of the statutory code of practice of the disability equality duty. [240995]
Tessa Jowell: In respect of my Private Office, the Cabinet Office published its Single Equality Scheme in February 2008, which included a report on progress in meeting its disability equality duties. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House and on the Cabinet Office website at:
In respect of the Government Olympic Executive (GOE), the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (of which GOE is a part) published its first annual report on progress on disability equality in March 2008, available on the DCMS website:
The report describes progress on each item in DCMS's action plan and further action, for example, the establishment of a Disability Reference Group, plans to improve data collection on participation by disabled people in its sectors and work to improve the diversity of the boards of its public bodies.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much he expects to have been paid out under the 2008 Single Payment Scheme by 25 December 2008; and to how many claimants he expects payment to have been made by that date. [241238]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 8 December 2008]: RPA is committed to meeting its formal targets of making 75 per cent. of payments, by value, by the end of January 2009 and 90 per cent. by value by end of March 2009.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on administering non-compliance penalties made under the Single Farm Payment Scheme since its inception. [241992]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 9 December 2008]: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) administrative and (b) legal costs have been incurred by his Department in relation to outstanding claims made under the Single Farm Payment Scheme in each year since its inception. [241993]
Jane Kennedy [holding answer 9 December 2008]: The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Animals: Imports
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many CITES import permits his Department has issued for
long-tailed macaques originating from Cambodia in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [242943]
Huw Irranca-Davies: In the last three years the UK CITES Management Authority has not issued any permits for the importation of live long tailed macaques from Cambodia.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if his Department will suspend the issue of import permits for long-tailed macaques originating from Cambodia under Article 4(2) of EC Regulation 338/97. [242944]
Huw Irranca-Davies: If the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) decides that it is appropriate to suspend trade, the decision will be implemented in the EU under Article 4.2 of Council Regulation 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein.
We are not aware of plans to do this and the EU’s Scientific Review Group (SRG) is not separately considering suspending trade in this species as no concerns over trade have been raised. The UK has no plans to take unilateral action and if any concerns were brought to our attention we would first raise them through the SRG to ensure coordinated action across the single market.
Bluetongue Disease
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likelihood of British livestock being affected by the bluetongue virus serotype (a) one and (b) six; and what discussions he has had with representatives of the live-stock related industry on the development of vaccines against each strain. [241480]
Jane Kennedy: DEFRA monitors occurrence of major animal disease outbreaks worldwide as an early warning to assess the risk these events may pose to the UK. These risk assessments are published on the DEFRA website.
DEFRA is in discussion with existing manufacturers of BTV1 vaccine, and companies with BTV1 vaccine in development, to encourage applications to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate for provisional marketing authorisations (PMAs). If vaccine should be required, the early granting of PMAs will help supply to the market to be achieved more quickly. DEFRA has not placed orders for vaccine against serotypes 1 or 6. To our knowledge, there are no BTV-6 vaccines yet in development.
We have an agreed policy for controlling incursions of any new serotypes under the existing UK Bluetongue Control Strategy. This strategy was reviewed recently in light of this year's experience and to address risk from other serotypes, and was published on the DEFRA website on 1 December.
DEFRA continues to urge industry to consider the risks and check the health and vaccination status of animals when sourcing any animals, from within the UK or abroad.
British Waterways
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what income British Waterways generated from its property portfolio in each of the last three years. [243142]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The following table breaks down the income from British Waterways' non-operational property endowment and share of joint venture profit and losses.
| £ million | |||
| 2007-08 | 2006-07 | 2005-06 | |
| (1) Net trading profit before tax | |||
Dairy Products: China
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to ban the import of dairy products from China; and if he will make a statement. [241387]
Jane Kennedy: The rules on imports are decided collectively at EU level. Imports of heat-treated milk, milk-based products and raw milk intended for human consumption from China into the EU are not permitted. Safeguard measures applying to products from China that contain dairy ingredients have been agreed by the EU and the Food Standards Agency has implemented them in the UK.
Departmental Disabled Staff
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what conclusions his Department has reached in fulfilment of its duty under section 3.111 of the statutory code of practice of the disability equality duty. [240985]
Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA produced a new Disability Equality Scheme at the end of 2007. This was developed to provide a more focused and effective scheme than the joint equality scheme which it succeeded. This new scheme was developed with the involvement of disabled people and was approved by the Equalities and Human Rights commission. It is published on the DEFRA website and can be found on:
We have made real and tangible progress for disabled staff over the past year. This progress, against the objectives set out in the Scheme’s action plan, will be reported in our Annual Progress Report on 31 December 2008.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 4 November 2008, Official Report, columns 336-37W, on Government Departments: information and communications technology, which IP addresses are used by (a) his Department and (b) computers in the offices of its (i) Ministers, (ii) communications officials and (iii) special advisers. [241951]
Huw Irranca-Davies: To help defend against electronic attack, it is standard good information security practice for corporate IT systems, not to publish internal IP addresses.
When accessing internet websites, the IP addresses of all of the computers on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs internal office IT system are hidden behind the following IP addresses which are publicly available: 195.92.40.49 and 62.25.106.209. These IP addresses are shared with other Government Departments that use the Government Secure Intranet.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |