Previous Section Index Home Page

27 Jan 2009 : Column 309W—continued

Military Aid: Belize

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) joint manoeuvres and (b) other military co-operation there has been between the UK and Belize in each of the last 20 years. [250737]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Substantial British support has been provided to the Belizean Defence Force (BDF) since Belize's independence in 1981.

The British Army Training Support Unit Belize (BATSUB), formed in 1994, co-ordinated joint training
27 Jan 2009 : Column 310W
activities and military co-operation initiatives but details of these for the last 20 years are not recorded.

Examples of joint manoeuvres and military cooperation in the last three years, and activities which we expect to continue, include:

Military Aircraft

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) required and (b) actual level of spare part availability is for each aircraft type in the Royal Air Force. [Official Report, 18 November 2009, Vol. 501, c. 1MC.] [249704]

Mr. Quentin Davies: The required level of spares for RAF aircraft is included in contractual agreements with industry, or is set by the Front Line Command. The achieved level of available spares is measured as part of these agreements.

The following information for the required and achieved level of spares is provided as at 30 November 2008 unless otherwise stated. Although not used as a performance indicator as part of a contract with industry, the off the shelf satisfaction rate (OTSSR) is also measured for some aircraft types, and is therefore included in the table. The OTSSR is defined as the percentage of demands for spares satisfied direct from MOD stock.


27 Jan 2009 : Column 311W

27 Jan 2009 : Column 312W
Percentage
Aircraft Requirement Achieved OTSSR

Typhoon

80

76

76

Tornado GR4

Provided under an aircraft availability contract with industry; spares availability is not measured.

95

Tornado F3

As above

98

Harrier GR7/GR9/T10/T12

85% of spares to be delivered within the required delivery date

86

96

Nimrod MR2/R1

Provided under an aircraft availability contract with industry; spares availability is not measured

Tristar

85

83

74

VC10

80

87

-

Sentry

90

95

-

Sentinel

75, 95 and 95% of (1)spares to be delivered within the required delivery date

(2)81, 73 and 71

-

Hercules C-130J/K

Provided under an aircraft availability contract with industry; spares availability is not measured.

C-17

As above

BAE 146

Spares availability is not measured(3)

BAE 125

As above

Sea King 3/3a airframe(4)

Less than 5% operational days lost due to lack of spares

0.1% operational days lost in Oct-Dec 2008

96(5)

Sea King engines(6)

95

95

(5)95

Dominie

Spares availability is not measured.

85

HawkTl/T2

Provided under an aircraft availability contract with industry; spares availability is not measured.

86

Tucano

As above

95

Vigilant Glider

Spares availability is not measured.

95

Viking Glider

As above

95

(1) 75% figure is for mission non-critical spares, 95% is for mission critical spares and 95% is for consumables.
(2) This was for the period October-December 2008.
(3) These aircraft are military derivatives of civil aircraft. Spare parts are procured on a "just-in-time" basis from the civil market to supplement minimum stock holdings held at the main and forward operating bases.
(4) The Sea King Mk 3/3a is used by the RAF in the Search and Rescue role.
(5) As at 31 October 2008.
(6) These figures include the Sea King Mk4, Mk5 and Mk7 operated by the Royal Navy.

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on helicopter (a) procurement and (b) maintenance in each year since 2001. [249706]

Mr. Quentin Davies: The amount spent on helicopter procurement in each financial year since 2001 is shown in the following table.

£ million

2001-02

710

2002-03

470

2003-04

250

2004-05

110

2005-06

160

2006-07

190

2007-08

490


In addition, sums in the region of £500 million have been spent on maintenance and support of in-service helicopters in each financial year since 2001-02. This includes equipment support, some stock consumption and manpower costs, along with the costs associated with the repair, maintenance, overhaul and associated Post Design Services. Other maintenance costs elsewhere, such as at the Front Line Commands, have not been included as these figures are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Official Cars

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what cars are (a) owned, (b) leased, (c) hired and (d) otherwise regularly used by his Department, broken down by cubic capacity of engine. [250131]

Mr. Quentin Davies: The Ministry of Defence has two lease agreements in place for the provision of the majority of non-operational cars (white fleet vehicles). It does not therefore own such vehicles under these arrangements. As at 31 December 2008 there were 8,701 cars leased under the UK and British forces Germany white fleet contracts. The engine sizes are broken down as follows:

Class Size Number

Motor Vehicle Registration System (MVRIS) Class B

Supermini (1000-1400 cc)-e.g. Ford Fiesta/Vauxhall Corsa

1,885

MVRIS Class C

Lower Medium (1300-2000 cc)-e.g. Ford Focus/Vauxhall Astra

4,907

MVRIS Class D

Upper Medium (1600-2800 cc)-e.g. Ford Mondeo/Vauxhall Vectra

1,300

MVRIS Class H

Dual Purpose 4x4 Vehicles (2500 cc)

55

MVRIS Class I

People Carriers (1800-2000 cc) e.g. Ford Galaxy/ Renault Espace

554


MVRIS is a motor industry system which provides data on the registration of new vehicles in the UK.

The MOD also hires vehicles as and when required. This amounted to approximately 185,000 last year for the UK mainland. This can be broadly broken down as follows:

MOD agencies such as the Defence Support Group, Met Office and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and overseas dependencies are outside of the White Fleet contract and have separate local arrangements. These details are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Information on the small number of cars owned by Ministry of Defence for use on operations is being withheld as its disclosure could prejudice operational capability.


27 Jan 2009 : Column 313W

Pakistan: Nuclear Weapons

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what matters relating to Pakistan's nuclear weapons and their impact on security in the subcontinent were discussed on his recent visit to Pakistan. [250157]

Mr. Hutton: These matters were not discussed.

International Development

Departmental Secondment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on how many occasions (a) Ministers and (b) officials from his Department have (i) met and (ii) spoken on the telephone to representatives of (A) Anglo American plc, (B) BHP Billiton plc, (C) Rio Tinto plc, (D) Vedanta plc and (E) Xstrata plc since April 2007; and how many staff from each such company have been seconded to his Department in that period. [245890]

Mr. Thomas: The following table shows the number of meetings and consultations by telephone which Ministers have had with the five companies since April 2007.

Minister
Contact since April 2007 between DFID and: phone meeting

Anglo-American

1

4

BHP Billiton

0

0

Rio Tinto

0

1

Vedanta

0

0

Xstrata

0

0


The information requested on meetings and calls between officials and these five companies cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

No staff from these companies have been seconded to the Department for International Development (DFID) since April 2007.

Olympics

Departmental Cooperation

Mr. Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics on what dates since June 2008 she has met (a) the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, (b) the Director General of the Government Olympic Executive, (c) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (d) Treasury officials to discuss the budget for the 2012 Olympics. [250266]

Tessa Jowell: I have frequent meetings with a wide variety of colleagues to discuss all aspects of the 2012 Olympic programme. Naturally, many of these discussions include the budget.


Next Section Index Home Page