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18 Jun 2009 : Column 466W—continued
Military Aircraft
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the hourly cost of air-to-air refuelling of an RAF VC10 is. [280062]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The full-cost hourly rate of operating a VC10 tanker in the air for financial year 2009-10 is calculated to be £29,235. This figure incorporates a variety of costs to enable an aircraft to operate, such as personnel costs, servicing of the aircraft and fuelling of the aircraft. It does not include the costs of the fuel payload VC10s carry to refuel other aircraft.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the out-of-service dates are for the (a) VC10 and (b) TriStar fleets. [280064]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Under current planning assumptions, the next VC10 will go out-of-service in June 2010 with the last of the fleet going out-of-service in September 2014. This progressive rundown is designed to ensure the smooth and efficient transition of air refuelling capability to the replacement Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft.
The out-of-service dates of the TriStar KCl and C2 aircraft have been extended by one year to 2016 in order to allow the replacement capability, Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft, to be fitted with the most up-to-date protective measures for flying into operational areas. The out-of-service dates of both the VC10 and TriStar are kept under constant review as part of the Department’s internal planning process.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contractual support arrangements there are for the (a) RAF VC10 and (b) TriStar fleets; and what the cost was in each case in each of the last two years. [280065]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Maintenance of the RAF VC10 fleet is provided by BAE Systems under a partnering agreement called JAVELIN (joint approach to VC10 engineering and logistics integration). Logistic support for the Conway engines used on the VC10 is provided by Rolls-Royce plc and engine repairs are undertaken by Vector Aerospace.
The RAF TriStar fleet is supported by the TriStar integrated operational support contract (TRIOS) with Marshall of Cambridge (Aerospace) Ltd. TRIOS excludes the RB211 engines which are contractually supported by Rolls-Royce plc, the auxiliary power units which are contractually supported by Euravia and the air-to-air refuelling equipment which is supported under the VC10 JAVELIN contract.
The cost of these contractual support arrangements is contained in the following table:
| £ million | ||
| Aircraft | ||
| Financial year | VC10 | TriStar |
| Note: Costs have been rounded to the nearest million. | ||
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many equipment failure reports there were in respect of (a) TriStar and (b) VC10 aircraft in each year since 2003. [280068]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
A Serious Fault Signal (SFS) is the reporting method used to notify the discovery of a fault that may have immediate and serious implications to an aircraft fleet, or range of equipment. The figures provided in the following table are the number of SFS reports received which are directly attributed to the TriStar and VC10.
| Tri S tar | VC10 | |
| (1) Records for 2003 are not held centrally. (2) Up until 1 June, the last full month for which data are available. | ||
Navy: Military Aircraft
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the merits of transferring control of the Fleet Air Arm to the Royal Air Force. [280188]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 16 June 2009]: No such assessment has been made.
Nuclear Weapons
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many activities requiring the permission of the Defence Nuclear Weapons Regulator have been authorised at Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport since July 2007. [280424]
Mr. Quentin Davies: There has been no change to the scope of nuclear activities at the Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport since July 2007. No additional permissions have, therefore, been required from the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator, which includes the Nuclear Weapons Regulator.
Business, Innovation and Skills
Departmental Reorganisation
Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost of establishing the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was. [278950]
Mr. McFadden: The cost of setting up the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in June 2007 was met within the existing departmental budgets of the former Department for Education and Skills (now Department for Children, Schools and Families) and the former Department for Trade and Industry.
Higher Education: Student Numbers
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many (a) applicants and (b) accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England there were in each year between 1979 and 1997; and how many such applicants were domiciled in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland. [278342]
Mr. Lammy: Information for the years 1994 to 1997 is given in the first and second tables. The figures cover students who apply to full-time undergraduate courses via UCAS. UCAS does not cover applications to part-time undergraduate or postgraduate courses, or students who apply directly to institutions. Prior to the formation of UCAS in 1994, figures were published separately for the two admission systems, the Universities Central Council on Admissions (UCCA) and the Polytechnic and College Admission Service (PCAS). The data for accepted applicants for these years are shown in the third and fourth tables. Comparable data for applicants are not available.
| Applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England via UCAS 1994 - 97 | |||||
| UK domiciled students | |||||
| Year of entry | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Grand t otal |
| Source: UCAS | |||||
| Accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England via UCAS 1994-97 | |||||
| UK domiciled applicants | |||||
| England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Grand total | |
| Notes on UCAS applicant data.: The applicant figures cover applicants submitting one or more applications to an English institution (in 1994/95 each applicant could submit up to eight applications; this was reduced to six from 1995/96, and to five from 2008/09). Students in this table applying to English institutions may also have applied to institutions in one or more of the other home countries, and some may have been accepted to institutions in those countries. Source: UCAS | |||||
| Accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in England via UCCA 1979 to 1993 | |||||
| UK domiciled students | |||||
| England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Total | |
| (1) Published information on acceptances to English HEIs only is not available for every year. Source: UCCA annual published reports | |||||
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