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13 July 2009 : Column 22W—continued


BVT Shipyards

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in his Department's negotiations with BVT Shipyards on a terms of business agreement. [284822]

Mr. Quentin Davies: MOD and BVT Surface Fleet Ltd. are working to establish a new long-term incentive based terms of business agreement (TOBA), which is intended to provide MOD with the confidence that industry can deliver significant improvements in efficiency and performance needed to underpin the future programme, while providing industry with the confidence to enable investment and long-term planning. Commercial negotiations with BVT are at an advanced stage.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department is giving to BVT Shipyards to promote its shipbuilding facilities and services in export markets. [284824]

Mr. Quentin Davies: Government support to the export efforts of the UK defence industry, including BVT Surface Fleet Ltd., is led by UKTI. The MOD works closely with UKTI's defence and security organisation on these matters.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when representatives of his Department last met representatives of BVT Shipyards; and what was discussed. [284828]

Mr. Quentin Davies: The MOD is BVT Surface Fleet Ltd.'s (BVT) principal customer and has had meetings and discussions with BVT since the inception of the joint venture.


13 July 2009 : Column 23W

Departmental Internet

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department plans to update its web browsers from Internet Explorer 6. [285018]

Mr. Quentin Davies: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently implementing the Defence Information Infrastructure (Future) (DII(F)). DII(F) will, once delivered in full, incorporate around 140,000 terminals supporting some 300,000 users at over 2,000 defence sites worldwide, including on ships and deployed operations. DII currently uses Internet Explorer 6 and at the current time does not have a requirement to move to an updated version.

At the current time, the MOD has various other IT systems, which include closed, isolated and restricted use networks-some of these will necessarily fall outside the scope of DII due to their purpose. The information requested for each of these systems could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Procurement

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes have been made to his Department's (a) office equipment and (b) stationery purchasing policy in the last six months. [285309]

Mr. Quentin Davies: None, although we continue to keep our office equipment and stationery purchasing policies under review.

Detainees

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his statement of 26 February 2009, who the authors of each of the papers sent to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and the Secretary of State for the Home Department in April 2006 were; and what the subject matter of each paper was. [260500]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 3 March 2009]: These papers were written in the Cabinet Office and provided an update to Ministers, which informed HMG's evidence collection for the ISC's July 2007 Report into Rendition.


13 July 2009 : Column 24W

Gurkhas: Pensions

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received on his Department's future policy on the Gurkha pension scheme; and if he will make a statement. [285678]

Mr. Kevan Jones: The Department has received representations from Members of both Houses of Parliament in the form of correspondence and parliamentary questions. An early-day motion has also been tabled on the subject. These representations are linked to the British Gurkha Welfare Society's campaign to pay Gurkhas pensions at Armed Forces Pension Scheme rates.

Hercules Aircraft: RAF Brize Norton

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the capital cost will be of relocating the Hercules fleet to RAF Brize Norton; and what his latest estimate is of the number of years of revenue savings that cost will equate to. [285419]

Mr. Quentin Davies: The capital cost of relocating the RAF CI30 Hercules fleet from RAF Lyneham to RAF Brize Norton is currently estimated to be approximately £60 million. This figure excludes service accommodation costs which cannot be accurately attributed to the CI30 Hercules fleet as distinct from other units at RAF Brize Norton. This figure should be fully offset by savings in running costs within the first four years.

Intelligence Corps

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) required, (b) actual and (c) fit for duty strength of each rank in the Intelligence Corps has been in each year since 1997. [284539]

Bill Rammell: The Intelligence Corps (Int Corps) consists of a Military Intelligence Brigade that includes three Regular Battalions-1, 2 and 4 Military Intelligence Battalions.

The figures requested are provided in the tables. Due to implementation of the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system, data from 1 April 2007 are provisional and subject to review.


13 July 2009 : Column 25W

13 July 2009 : Column 26W
Required strength
January
Rank 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Officers

Lieutenant Colonel

21

18

18

23

23

23

21

21

21

23

32

32

35

Major

66

64

63

73

73

73

90

90

86

108

110

108

101

Captain

115

96

96

110

110

110

104

104

90

112

124

126

131

Subaltern (Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant)

21

22

18

21

21

21

20

20

18

24

26

29

37

Other ranks

Warrant Officer 1

35

25

23

26

26

26

29

29

27

23

30

29

28

Warrant Officer 2

157

145

138

154

154

154

159

159

137

165

178

177

180

Staff Sergeant

141

132

132

134

134

134

144

144

143

136

161

164

157

Sergeant

294

271

267

295

295

295

301

301

272

294

326

308

305

Corporal

224

217

228

222

222

222

327

327

340

343

398

396

432

Lance Corporal

182

180

166

167

167

167

185

185

185

212

210

175

173

Private

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-


Actual strength
April March April
Rank 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Officers

Lieutenant Colonel

25

25

25

30

35

35

35

35

35

35

40

45

40

Major

105

100

100

100

95

90

100

110

115

105

105

110

95

Captain

100

100

100

110

100

100

105

95

85

95

100

115

120

Subaltern (Lieutenant and Second Lieutenant)

30

25

25

25

25

20

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Other ranks

Warrant Officer 1

35

35

35

35

35

35

40

45

45

45

40

35

35

Warrant Officer 2

150

145

135

145

145

140

145

155

165

165

185

170

165

Staff Sergeant

150

160

165

165

165

170

160

160

160

160

160

165

160

Sergeant

200

190

185

175

165

205

215

210

220

230

225

210

210

Corporal

205

165

165

145

140

180

230

255

320

290

295

295

270

Lance Corporal

180

160

145

185

200

265

245

235

230

245

275

300

320

Private

10

25

20

10

5

20

15

15

(1)-

35

5

(1)-

(1)-

(1) Fewer than five.

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