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17 Jun 2009 : Column 332W—continued
Valuation Office: Northern Ireland Land and Property Services
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 1049W, on the Valuation Office: Northern Ireland Land and Property Services, if he will place in the Library a copy of minutes of the (a) 47th, (b) 48th and (c) 49th meetings. [279796]
Mr. Timms: A copy of the minutes of the 49th meeting of the Steering Committee on Harmonisation (Practice and Procedure) England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland will be placed in the Library.
For the minutes of the 47th and 48th meetings I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 19 May 2009, Official Report, columns 1369-70W.
Valuation Office: Video Recordings
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Valuation Office Agency has produced any video films under its e-learning programme relating to council tax valuations. [279900]
Welfare Tax Credits
Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit awards were modified or changed in-year from their original calculation in 2007-08. [279733]
Mr. Timms:
The specific information requested is available only at disproportionate cost. However, HM Revenue and Customs processed more than 14 million items as change of circumstances between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008. The changes may not necessarily have led to a change in the calculation of a tax credit
award, while some awards may have changed more than once. This figure includes the processing of change of circumstances notifications and changes made following some IT upgrades.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the mandated target for bottled water holdings is held in Afghanistan. [279946]
Bill Rammell: The volume of bottled water currently held in Afghanistan as at 11 June 2009 is 110 per cent. of the minimum mandated stock holding.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many incidents of (a) theft and (b) vandalism have been reported in relation to British military supplies during transit from the port of debarkation in Pakistan to the final destination in Afghanistan in each month in 2009 to date. [279961]
Bill Rammell: There have been no incidents of theft or vandalism reported on British military supplies during transit from the port of debarkation in Pakistan to the final destination in Afghanistan during 2009.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Pakistani military personnel are (a) assigned, (b) attached and (c) embedded with UK military forces in Regional Command South. [279962]
Bill Rammell: There are currently no personnel from the Pakistani armed forces assigned, attached or embedded with UK armed forces in Regional Command (South).
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements there are for the training of RAF pilots in air-to-air refuelling techniques before Tornado GR4s deploy to Afghanistan. [280000]
Bill Rammell: All RAF crews deploying on Op Herrick are fully combat ready. Combat-ready aircrew training for the Tornado GR4 includes full training for air-to-air refuelling.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2009, Official Report, column 828W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, what his estimate is of the number of troops likely to be required by Regional Command South in October 2009. [280077]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Troop levels within Regional Command (South) are a matter for ISAF.
Air Force: Manpower
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) inflow and (b) outflow rate was of RAF pilot crew for each aircraft type in the most recent period for which figures are available. [279957]
Bill Rammell: The following table shows intakes and outflows of RAF pilots (three year average to FY2007-08).
| Intake | |
| Aircraft type | Number |
Intakes are Into Productive Service flows, personnel flowing from untrained to trained strength.
| Outflow | ||
| Aircraft type | Outflow | Percentage rate |
Outflows are of all pilots, including ranks of Wing Commander and above who are classified as belonging to the General Duties branch, and therefore not all will be flying aircraft when they leave the service.
Rates are a percentage of average trained strength as at 1 April for relevant three years.
Air Force: Military Aircraft
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cannibalisations of each type of RAF aircraft there have been in (a) each year since 2005 and (b) the last 12 months. [279952]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The information requested covers a large number of aircraft and will take some time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member when this work is complete.
Armed Forces: Foreigners
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the cost of making retrospective wage payments to (a) Commonwealth soldiers and (b) soldiers of other nationalities who served in the British armed forces between 1947 and 2004 to make their earnings equivalent to those of UK service people. [280272]
Mr. Kevan Jones: All non-British personnel now serving in the British armed forces have exactly the same pay arrangements as UK personnel and there are currently no plans to undertake a retrospective review. It has long been the policy of successive Governments not to implement changes to pay policy retrospectively, a policy that has been applied across the public sector in the United Kingdom. Accordingly, no estimate has been made of the cost of retrospective treatment in either case, and to do so would involve disproportionate cost. Additionally, pay records are kept for seven years before destruction, so individual cases could not be assessed beyond the last seven years. Given the number of personnel involved the costs would be significant.
Armed Forces: Housing
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on upgrading accommodation for serving personnel and their families in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland since 2000. [274599]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I will write to the right hon. and learned Member with the information requested because it is not held centrally and will take more time to collate and verify.
Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Menzies Campbell:
In my answer of 12 May 2009 (Official Report: Column 432W) I promised to provide you with details on how much has been spent on upgrading accommodation for serving personnel and their families in the UK and Scotland since 2000.
The following was spent upgrading Service Family Accommodation (SFA) in Great Britain (GB) in each financial year since 2001-02, the latest year for which figures are available.
| FY | GB (£ million) |
Of which, the following was spent upgrading SFA in Scotland:
| FY | Scotland (£ million) |
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of each armoured vehicle type is (a) fit for operations, (b) in limited role, (c) awaiting spares and (d) not operational for other reasons. [279947]
Mr. Quentin Davies: This information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what percentage of vehicles of each type in the armoured vehicle fleet has been cannibalised in each of the last 12 months; [279953]
(2) how many vehicles of each type in the armoured vehicle fleet have been cannibalised in each of the last (a) 12 months and (b) four years. [279954]
Mr. Quentin Davies: This information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I refer the hon. Member to the answer the right hon. Member for Coventry, North-East (Mr. Ainsworth) gave him on 28 January 2008, Official Report, column 33W.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many urgent operational requirement armoured vehicles of each type have been (a) ordered since July 2006 and (b) delivered to UK Land Command. [279956]
Mr. Quentin Davies: 1,124 Urgent Operational Requirement armoured vehicles have been ordered since July 2006. As at 12 June 2009, 444 had been delivered to UK Land Forces. The breakdown by type is as follows:
| Vehicle | Ordered since July 2006 | Delivered to UK Land Forces |
| (1) Vector -138 vehicles have been ordered since July 2006; In addition to this figure 60 were ordered in June 2006, and these are reflected in the delivery column. | ||
Army: Defence Equipment
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the Army's latest Total Fleet Requirement document. [279959]
Bill Rammell: A copy of the latest Army Total Fleet Requirement, from 2006, was placed in the Library of the House in January 2008. This remains the extant version.
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