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9 July 2009 : Column 939W—continued
Armed Forces: Food
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much (a) chicken, (b) beef, (c) lamb and (d) pork supplied to the British armed forces was sourced from within the British Isles in the latest period for which information is available. [284818]
Mr. Quentin Davies: A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. These two reports covering the years 2006-08 can be found at the following link:
The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat categories purchased.
Although it is too early to show a trend, the report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. The proportion of domestically produced food procured by MOD has gone up from 43 per cent. in 2006-07 to 59 per cent. in 2007-08. We expect to publish a third report at the end of 2009.
Armed Forces: Housing
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost is of fitting a kitchen in a service family accommodation unit under his Department's upgrade programme. [284684]
Mr. Kevan Jones: It is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the average cost of installing a kitchen in a service family accommodation property, as the cost will depend on a number of variables. For example, not only does the size of kitchen and amount of work required vary from property to property (plumbing, wiring, plastering, tiling, etc), but the cost will be dependent on the number of properties included in a programme on any given site.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Willie Rennie) of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 380W, on armed forces: housing, for which geographical area each grading board is responsible. [284685]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Grading boards are convened at brigade or unit level rather than by geographical area and therefore the information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of units of (a) single living accommodation and (b) service family accommodation at each location in Scotland are at each grade. [284819]
Mr. Kevan Jones: At each of the following locations in Scotland, as at December 2008 single living accommodation (SLA) was at the following grade, an assessment of the condition of both the accommodation and ‘scale’ (as defined in Joint Service Publication 315 which is available to view on the Defence Estates website:
| Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Total SLA bed-spaces at each location | |||||
| Location | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
Details of service family accommodation (SFA) cannot be provided on the same basis as for SLA. However, SFA properties in each of the Department's housing areas in Scotland are at the following Standard for Condition:
| S 1 fC | S2fC | S3fC | S4fC | Total SFA properties in each area | |||||
| Housing area | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
|
Scotland North (inc. RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Kinloss, Inverness) | |||||||||
| (1) Less than 1 per cent. | |||||||||
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many reported break-ins to service personnel accommodation there have been in Scotland in each year since 2004. [285565]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The information requested is not held centrally in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Army: Uniforms
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of progress in respect of the cut and sew contract for army uniforms; and if he will make a statement. [284643]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The cut and sew contract tendering process began in April 2009, with nearly 50 companies expressing interest. A pre-qualification exercise is currently under way and the contract is scheduled to be awarded later this year.
Defence Council: Defence Ministerial Council
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many times the (a) Defence Council and (b) Defence Ministerial Committee has met in the last three years. [284517]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Defence Council has met once, on 18 October 2006. The Defence Ministerial Committee was established in 2008 and has met on the following dates: 20 May 2008, 25 June 2008, 17 September 2008, 13 November 2008, 17 December 2008, 4 March 2009 and 3 June 2009. This information is available on the MOD website found at the following link:
Defence: Procurement
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the prospects for implementation of the European Defence Agency code of conduct on offsets; and if he will make a statement. [285009]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The European Defence Agency (EDA) code of conduct on offsets came into effect on 1 July 2009. A reporting and monitoring system, which also became operational on 1 July 2009, will be used to manage the practical implementation of the code, covering offset agreements signed from this date onwards. 25 of the 26 EDA participating member states have subscribed to the code of conduct on offsets and its reporting arrangements. In addition, Norway has subscribed to the code of conduct under its administrative arrangement with the EDA.
Demos
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has any contracts with the think tank Demos. [279511]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Information held centrally indicates that the Ministry of Defence has no current contracts with the think tank Demos.
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