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16 Mar 2009 : Column 829W—continued
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units of (a) blood platelets and (b) blood plasma transported to Afghanistan for use by the armed forces were destroyed because they were past their use-by date in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [262567]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Records held by the MOD reflect the difference between the amount of blood supplied to operations and the amount transfused. From August 2007 to the end of February 2009, the difference between the amount of blood supplied to Afghanistan and the amount transfused was 265 units of blood platelets and 327 units of fresh frozen plasma. Each unit contains approximately 300 ml. There are a number of reasons for this difference—for example, expiration of the use-by date, damage in transit or accidental exposure to high temperature.
Prior to August 2007, information was not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Blood
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration he has given to introducing pathogen-inactivated blood products for military personnel in theatre; and if he will make a statement. [262563]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 February 2009, Official Report, column 19W, to the hon. Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson).
Armed Forces: Health Services
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of levels of cleanliness in medical centres operated by his Department. [263681]
Mr. Kevan Jones: In 2008, the MOD’s Surgeon General invited the Healthcare Commission to carry out a review of the Defence Medical Services’ (DMS) clinical governance processes to help benchmark the DMS’s achievement, and help them to continue to meet a high standard of care for Service Personnel by identifying those areas where improvement was needed.
The Commission’s Report, published on 2 March, identified some areas where we must improve, including levels of cleanliness in some of our primary care medical centres. Action has already started to address the issues raised by the Commission, and the Surgeon General has instigated further work across the DMS to identify any other locations with similar problems so that appropriate action can be taken.
We welcome the review’s recommendations, which will help the DMS continue to drive quality improvement as well as recognising where we are already demonstrating best practice in delivering healthcare.
Armed Forces: Pay
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Armed Forces Pay Review Body submitted its 2009 report on armed forces pay to his Department; and when his Department plans to publish (a) the report and (b) its response to the report’s recommendations. [263888]
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he received the report of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body for 2008; on what date he proposes to publish the report; and if he will make a statement. [263810]
Mr. Hutton: The Armed Forces Pay Review Body submitted its report for 2009 to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Defence on 29 January 2009. The Government intend to make only one public sector pay award announcement this year and this will be made in due course.
Armed Forces: Pensions
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will bring forward proposals to give retrospective effect for two years to the provisions of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme which provide that military spouses shall receive one-half of the total of the serving spouse’s basic pension contributions. [263477]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 (AFPS 75) increased the rate of widows’ and widowers’ pension from one third of the member’s pension to one half, from 31 March 1973. Individuals serving on or after this date were provided with the opportunity to make additional contributions so as to qualify former service for the half rate of widows’ pension. On this basis, it would be difficult, in equity, to extend the half rate pension to widows whose husbands had left the service before that date, and who had not, as a result, contributed financially towards the improvement. It has also been the long-standing policy of successive Governments that discretionary changes to improve the benefits offered by public service pension schemes should be implemented for future service only.
Armed Forces: Young People
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent steps the Government have taken to assist service personnel under the age of 18 years. [263458]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I refer my hon. Friend to Ministry of Defence policy on the care of service personnel under the age of 18, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Defence: Finance
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of defence inflation in each year to 2015. [263444]
Mr. Hutton: No estimate has been made of defence inflation for individual years out to 2015.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which factors have been identified by his Department as underlying defence inflation. [263540]
Mr. Hutton: Defence inflation is identified as increases in the costs of all elements of defence spending, including of civilian and service personnel and bought-in goods and services, after allowing for changes in quantity and quality of those goods and services.
Departmental Data Protection
Patrick Mercer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to paragraph 2.36 of the Final Report on Data Handling Procedures in Government,
June 2008, what the result has been of each spot check carried out by the Information Commissioner since June 2008 in his Department. [263360]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Ministry of Defence has not been subject to any spot checks by the Information Commissioner.
Departmental Impact Assessments
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many equalities impact assessments his Department has undertaken in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such assessments. [255076]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Details of the Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment undertaken during the last 12 months are published in our Annual Report 2007-08 against the MOD's Equality and Diversity Scheme, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. We do not record the costs for this work separately as they are part of our normal business.
Departmental Lost Property
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. [263114]
Mr. Kevan Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The value of property lost or stolen is included, with a range of other types of losses, in the summary of losses and special payments published in the MOD’s Annual Report and Accounts, copies are available in the Library of the House and in the MOD’s publication scheme on line at:
(see note 29 in the departmental resource accounts for financial years 2003-04 and 2004-05 and note 31 for subsequent financial years). The summary identifies those individual cases with a value of £250,000 or more.
Departmental Property
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many and what proportion of houses and flats owned by his Department were empty at the latest date for which figures are available; what recent estimate he has made of the cost of refurbishing empty properties for occupation; and what sustainability criteria are applied to work carried out under his Department's refurbishment programme; [263605]
(2) which companies have been contracted to refurbish living accommodation for military personnel and their families in the last 10 years; and what the monetary value of each contract was. [263833]
Mr. Kevan Jones:
The term ‘refurbishment’ is not one formally used by the Department, and is difficult to define. Work which might be categorised as ‘refurbishment’
could include a number of activities, including the maintenance, modernisation and upgrade of service accommodation.
To provide details of every contract for the provision of these services over the last 10 years would incur disproportionate cost.
The majority of the 70,000 service family accommodation (SFA) properties worldwide are leased or rented by the Department, of which some 12,000 are currently void (not in use).
While most properties are void pending planned moves of service personnel, some are void to allow for work to bring them up to the top standard (of four) for condition, under the Department’s SFA upgrade programme.
In addition to the significant investment in recent years, some £38 million will be spent in this financial year upgrading 600 properties, with plans for a further 800 in each year thereafter at a cost of some £48 million per year.
Departmental policies to achieve excellence in sustainability are considered in upgrading all properties and applied where it is affordable and cost effective to do so.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military equipment he expects to leave in Iraq following the withdrawal of most UK forces later this year. [261793]
Mr. Hutton: We will retain that military equipment required by those UK personnel who remain in Iraq as part of our enduring relationship with the Government of Iraq. The details of this enduring relationship remain under discussion with the Government of Iraq. Planning for the withdrawal of UK forces continues and any proposal to gift equipment to Iraq would follow established procedures.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the letter of 2 March 2009 from a constituent of the hon. Member for South West Devon, Mrs Popperwell. [263356]
Mr. Kevan Jones: While the Department aims to respond to all correspondence within 15 working days of receipt, we have no central record of a letter from the hon. Member’s constituent.
Military Aircraft
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1366W, on Hercules aircraft; what the average annual estimated hourly usage over the 30 years' expected service life of the Hercules C-130J is. [263552]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Our current planning assumes that the average annual usage of the C-130J Hercules aircraft will be 824 flying hours per platform per year.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2009, Official Report, column 1440W, on future large aircraft, what the contractually agreed delivery dates are for each tranche of aircraft to be delivered between March 2010 and April 2015; and what the liquidated damages are for late delivery against contractually specified delivery dates. [263553]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The contracted delivery dates for UK A400M aircraft are as follows:
| UK A/C | Delivery dates |
I am withholding the precise details of the liquidated damages as release would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2009, Official Report, columns 133-4W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, in what ways the Merlin MK3/3a helicopters have been upgraded. [263554]
Mr. Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 March 2009, Official Report, column 1363-64W, to the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth).
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