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2 Feb 2009 : Column 866W—continued
Departmental Conditions of Employment
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that no changes affecting the terms and conditions of staff will be made to the contractual parts of any staff handbooks within his Department without the consent of a recognised trade union. [253235]
Mr. Hoon: The Department for Transport may make changes to the staff handbook following consultation or negotiation as appropriate with its recognised trade union.
Departmental Procurement
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the status of the tender notice entitled UK-London: Reward Strategy and Benefits Project detailed on his Department's Procurement Portal has changed to closed. [253234]
Mr. Hoon: The contract notice published on 11 November 2008 changed to a closed status when the 30 day deadline for submission of applications to participate passed.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Industrial Disputes
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he plans to take to recover funds due to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency identified in the Central London employment tribunal case between Mr Geoff Topliss and NCP Services Ltd. [253474]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There are no outstanding funds to recover. DVLA has receipts and appropriate documentation to show that all revenue due has been received by the agency.
Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency: Personal Records
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to refuse paper requests to the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency for the release of driver information unless such requests meet the requirements applicable to requests submitted electronically. [253231]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The procedures in place for the release of vehicle keeper details from DVLA’s vehicle register are kept under review. An announcement will be made shortly on the additional measures DVLA intend to introduce for car park enforcement companies requesting vehicle keeper details manually.
Public Transport: Complaints
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce an ombudsman system to deal with complaints concerning the transport system. [252903]
Mr. Hoon: I have no plans to put such a system in place. A range of bodies already exist to deal with transport-related complaints.
Railways: Catering
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the specification of restaurant car services in rail franchises let by his Department, with particular reference to franchises held by National Express. [253228]
Paul Clark: For the recently-let rail franchises, the policy of the Department for Transport has been not to specify restaurant car services. This policy was applied to franchises now held by National Express.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilians have been killed in military action in Helmand province since February 2006. [249207]
Mr. Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 October 2008, Official Report, columns 622-23W.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents of theft of British military equipment supplies during transit from the port of disembarkation in Pakistan to the final destination in Afghanistan have been reported since 18 July 2008. [251985]
Mr. Hutton: Two incidents of theft of British military supplies during transit from the port of disembarkation in Pakistan to the final destination in Afghanistan have been reported to the Royal Military Police between 18 July 2008 and 26 January 2009 inclusive.
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers from the First Battalion The Rifles have been injured in Afghanistan since October 2008. [252119]
Mr. Hutton: Between 1 October 2008 and 24 January 2009 one soldier from 1st Battalion The Rifles was very seriously injured, and another Rifleman was seriously injured.
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 23W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations (1) how long the training will take; and what personnel will be involved in the training; [253215]
(2) where the training of personnel will take place; [253216]
(3) what aspects of the flying training will be conducted. [253217]
Mr. Hutton: The aspects of flying training to be conducted will be appropriate to the environmental and operational conditions in Afghanistan.
The training of RAF Merlin Force air and ground crew will take place in the UK (at RAF Benson, on Salisbury Plain and other UK training areas), with some elements likely to be overseas as part of a rolling programme prior to deployment.
Much of the theatre-specific preparation will need to take place during the four month period between completion of deployment to Iraq and commencement of deployment to Afghanistan; but some elements of training may commence earlier.
I am withholding further details as their disclosure would, or would likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many insurgents in Afghanistan were captured by British forces in each month in 2008; and how many (a) were subsequently released, (b) transferred to Afghan authorities and (c) remain in British custody. [253375]
Mr. Hutton: I have nothing to add to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil) on 14 October 2008, Official Report, column 1016W.
Air Force: Manpower
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many multi-engine aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force have (a) navigators and (b) flight engineers as part of the crew. [252389]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: 59 aircraft of the RAF Multi-Engine fleet that are planned to be in service on 31 March 2009 have Weapons System Officers (Navigator) (WSO(Nav)) as part of the crew. These comprise the Hercules C130K, VC10, Sentry, Sentinel, Nimrod MR2 and Nimrod R1 aircraft.
63 aircraft of the RAF Multi-Engine fleet that are planned to be in service on 31 March 2009 have Air Engineers as part of the crew. These comprise the Hercules C130K, Tristar, VC10, Sentry, Nimrod MR2 and Nimrod R1 aircraft.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) navigators and (b) flight engineers are available to serve in multi-engine aircraft in service with the RAF. [252454]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Navigators form a sub-branch of the weapon system officer specialisation and flight engineers are more correctly known as air engineers. Currently there are 285 weapon system officer (navigators) and 175 air engineers available to serve in multi-engine aircraft(1). These figures include personnel who are currently trained and qualified to serve in a multi-engine aircraft, those who occupy another type of flying appointment and those who occupy a non-flying post. Those in the last two categories would require refresher training before they would be available to serve in multi-engine aircraft.
(1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest five.
Armed Forces: Deployment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) endorsed number, (b) actual number and (c) location was of all UK personnel deployed on operations on 1 January 2009. [249735]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The endorsed force levels for UK military operations are set out in the following table by location.
| Location | Endorsed number (at 1 January 2009)( 1) |
| (1 )Rounded to 50 (2) On 15 December 2008, the Prime Minister announced a temporary increase in the number of British troops deployed to Afghanistan, from just over 8,050 to 8,300, Official Report, column 816. The endorsed figure for Operation Herrick 9 remains unaffected. (3) Providing support to the Senior British Military Representative—Iraq. (4 )Small scale deployments in support of EU and UN missions, and headquarters liaison officers. | |
The precise number of personnel in each theatre at any one time fluctuates very significantly on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including mid-tour rest
and recuperation, temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement of forces, visits and a range of other factors. We do not therefore publish actual figures for personnel deployed in theatre.
Armed Forces: Females
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many women have been recruited into the General Duties (Pilot) branch of the Royal Air Force in the last 12 months. [250025]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: In the 12 month period, ending on 31 October 2008, out of a total of just over 100 personnel recruited into the General Duties (Pilot) branch of the Royal Air Force, fewer than 10 were women.
This figure has been rounded up to the nearest 10 in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the convention on presentation of national statistics.
Armed Forces: Housing
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent removing asbestos from (a) single living accommodation and (b) service families accommodation since 1997. [248658]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Occupants of service accommodation are made aware of the location of any asbestos known to be present in their accommodation and are given appropriate health and safety advice. Reports by occupants of suspected damage to any asbestos-carrying material are investigated, and, where required, action taken in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations.
Armed Forces: Manpower
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the manning (a) requirement and (b) level was in each unit of each service in the armed forces in each of the last five years. [252099]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Information on strengths and requirements of the armed forces by service can be found in table 1 of Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 4—UK armed forces quarterly manning report. TSP 4 is published quarterly and, the most recent publication shows figures as at 1 October 2008, can be found at:
Requirement is not split by unit for the three services. Strengths information by unit can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Pakistan
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel are based in Pakistan; and what their role is. [250843]
Mr. Hutton: There are currently 18 UK armed forces personnel based in Pakistan. UK personnel undertake a variety of roles, including training and liaison. In addition, some personnel undertake diplomatic duties and fill exchange posts.
Armed Forces: Training
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals in each branch of the armed forces have failed to complete successfully basic training in each year since 2000. [246701]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The number of individuals in the armed forces that have failed to complete successfully basic training in each year since 2000 is not centrally held.
Information on outflow to civil life from the untrained strength of UK regular forces by sex and ethnic origin can be found in Table 7 of Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 4—UK armed forces quarterly manning report. TSP 4 is published quarterly and, the most recent publication shows figures for the 12 months to 30 September 2008, can be found at:
Outflow to civil life from the untrained strength of UK regular forces includes outflow from phase 1 (basic) and phase 2 training.
Outflow to civil life from the untrained strength of UK regular forces by branch information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Ridgback armoured vehicles have been shipped to (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq since 2001. [251647]
Mr. Quentin Davies: No Ridgback vehicles have yet been shipped to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Delivery to Afghanistan is due to begin later this year and there are no plans to deploy Ridgback to Iraq.
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