| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Jun 2009 : Column 827W—continued
Leader of the House
Members: Allowances
Roger Berry: To ask the Leader of the House what discussions she has had with the House authorities on the interpretation of the requirement in the Additional Costs Allowance rules, paragraph 3.11.1 of the 2006 Green Book, that ‘the location of your main home will normally be a matter of fact. If you have more than one home, your main home will normally be the one where you spend more nights than any other'; what external (a) legal and (b) accountancy advice (i) has been obtained and (ii) is planned to be obtained on that interpretation; and if she will make a statement. [278162]
Barbara Keeley: The interpretation of the rules governing Members' allowances is a matter for the House authorities. The Standards and Privileges Committee considered the rules relating to the designation of main homes in its Fifteenth Report of 2007-08 (HC 1127). It is the responsibility of individual Members to ensure that the designation of their main home complies with the rules of the House.
The Office of the Leader of the House has taken no external legal or accountancy advice on this subject and has no plans to do so.
Roger Berry: To ask the Leader of the House what discussions she has had with the House authorities on the interpretation of the requirement in the Additional Costs Allowance rules, paragraphs 3.1.1 and 3.10.2 of the 2006 Green Book, that expenses must be ‘wholly, exclusively and necessarily' incurred for the purpose of an hon. Member performing parliamentary duties; what external (a) legal and (b) accountancy advice (i) has been obtained and (ii) is planned to be obtained on the interpretation of those words; and if she will make a statement. [278163]
Barbara Keeley: The interpretation of the rules governing Members' allowances is a matter for the House authorities. It is the responsibility of individual Members to ensure that their claims comply with the rules of the House.
The Office of the Leader of the House has taken no external legal or accountancy advice on this subject and has no plans to do so.
Private Members’ Bills: Parliamentary Procedure
Mr. Amess: To ask the Leader of the House if she will bring forward proposals to amend Standing Orders to provide that in respect of private members' Bills on Fridays no fewer than 20 hon. Members rising in their places, at or after the moment of interruption, shall be required to constitute objection to further proceeding; and if she will make a statement. [278448]
Barbara Keeley: My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the deployment of the Headquarters of 6 (UK) Division to command the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command (South) from November 2009 to November 2010 will change the establishment number for UK troops in Afghanistan. [274969]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The deployment of the Headquarters of 6 (UK) Division will be managed within the approved UK force levels in Afghanistan as announced by the Prime Minister in his statement to the House on 29 April 2009, Official Report, column 871.
Armed Forces: Deployment
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of UK military equipment formerly deployed to Iraq is intended to be (a) redeployed to Afghanistan and (b) gifted to the Iraqi armed forces; and if he will make a statement. [278044]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 8 June 2009]: Information on the proportion of military equipment that was formerly deployed to Iraq but which may be redeployed to Afghanistan is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
With respect to items previously gifted to the Government of Iraq, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor on 12 May 2009, Official Report, column 748W, to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell).
Armed Forces: Fuels
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of transporting each type of fuel to each zone in which British troops are engaged in military action in each of the last three years. [272799]
Mr. Quentin Davies: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Pensions
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel received overpayments in their pension provision in each of the last 10 years; for
what reasons the overpayments were made; what the reasons were for the time taken to identify the error in making payments; and if he will make a statement. [278242]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 8 June 2009]: In the last 10 years there have been three incidents of armed forces pension overpayments caused by systemic errors. The majority of these errors stem from the complexity of the scheme legislation and required extensive programmes of investigation to identify individuals affected and take corrective action.
The first was in 2001 when the National Audit Office identified 2,300 cases where the national insurance abatement had not been applied. All the affected pensions were corrected by 11 April 2005 and recovery of the overpayments made was not sought.
In 2006, an error in the transfer of information between the former Veterans Agency and the former Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency resulted in 98 AFPS overpayments. All errors were corrected by 31 March 2008 and recovery of the overpayments was not sought.
In December 2008, the guaranteed minimum pension (GMP) error identified 4,716 AFPS pensions that required correcting. The majority have now been corrected and the recovery of the overpayments was not sought.
Overpayments made on an individual basis are only held for the last three years and are provided in the following table.
| Reason for overpayment | Number |
| (1 )Combination of revised pension awards, payments to incorrect bank accounts non-entitlement to pension after remarriage, overpayment child pensions and others. | |
Army: Lost Property
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army (a) guns and (b) other weapons have (i) been stolen and (ii) otherwise gone missing in each year since 1997. [278451]
Bill Rammell: The following table shows the number of Army guns (pistols, rifles, machine guns, shotguns and cadet rifles) reported stolen or lost since 1997. No weapons other than those defined above were reported stolen or lost in this period. These figures exclude information from incidents on operations, which are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Gun thefts | Gun losses | |
| (1 )Up to 5 June 2009. | ||
Cabinet: Glasgow
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) special advisers and (b) officials of his Department accompanied him to Glasgow for the Cabinet meeting on 16 April 2009. [273913]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: My predecessor was accompanied by one private secretary.
For information relating to the Cabinet and public engagement event held in Glasgow on 16 April I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 3 June 2009, Official Report, column 487W.
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what car journeys he took in attending the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009. [273914]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: My predecessor made three journeys by car during the visit. These were from the airport to visit a defence contractor at Govan shipyard, from Govan to the Cabinet at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), and from the SECC to the airport.
For information relating to the Cabinet and public engagement event held in Glasgow on 16 April I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 3 June 2009, Official Report, column 487W.
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how much expenditure was incurred by his Department in respect of the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009; [273915]
(2) what expenditure on (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) food (i) he and (ii) officials in his Department incurred in connection with the Cabinet meeting in Glasgow on 16 April 2009. [273916]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The only direct expenditure by the Ministry of Defence was the purchase of two return London-Glasgow plane tickets for my predecessor and an accompanying official, totalling £767.
For information relating to the Cabinet and public engagement event held in Glasgow on 16 April I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 3 June 2009, Official Report, column 487W.
Departmental Buildings
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) land and (b) buildings his Department has sold since 1997. [278021]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Records of transactions prior to 2000 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I will write to the hon. Member with the information on land and buildings sold since 2000 as soon as these data have been verified and collated.
Kenya: Piracy
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2009, Official Report, column 1159W, on Somalia: piracy, how long the eight suspects transferred to Kenyan custody were held on Royal Navy vessels before being transferred; and if he will make a statement. [273045]
Bill Rammell: The eight suspects were detained on board Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Knight for five days while transiting to a Kenyan port, before being transferred to Kenyan authorities for prosecution under the provisions of a memorandum of understanding. Prior to this they had been detained for three days on board the pirated dhow under Royal Navy escort.
Special Forces: Defence Equipment
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to provide for counter-sniper systems similar to those used by US forces in Iraq to be used by British armed forces. [277910]
Mr. Quentin Davies: We do have a shot detection capability, the details of which I am withholding for reasons of operational security.
Special Forces: Finance
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he plans to take in respect of funding for the UK special forces in advance of the implementation of the rebalancing strategy for the armed forces. [277909]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: It is the long-standing policy of this and previous Governments not to comment on matters relating to UK special forces, as their disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
War Pensions
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what recent progress his Department has made in its review of the future of war pensions committees; whether the review will take account of the views of disabled veterans and their families served by such committees; and whether hon. Members will be given the opportunity to comment on the conclusions of the review before final decisions are taken; [276732]
(2) if he will make it his policy to publish the outcomes of his review of the future of war pensions committees. [276846]
Mr. Kevan Jones:
A review of the War Pensions Committees is currently under way. The review is being conducted in consultation with the Committees and
other stakeholders and an initial symposium was held on 25 March 2009. It is our intention to consult widely as the review develops, in line with normal practice. Any hon. Member who has shown an interest in this review will be invited to respond to any consultation before final decisions are made.
As with other policy developments and consultations, the outcome of the review, and a summary of responses to consultation, will be published.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |