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21 July 2009 : Column 1196W—continued
Chinook Helicopters
Sir Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Chinook helicopters are inoperable because they are awaiting modifications. [288646]
Mr. Quentin Davies: In addition to eight Chinook Mk3 aircraft that are being converted to provide additional support helicopter capability, there are currently four Chinook Mk2/2a helicopters that are being modified to provide them with an enhanced capability on operations.
Defence: Procurement
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the cost of preparing the Defence Industrial Strategy; and when the strategy will be published. [283656]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We remain committed to the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) 2005, which we intend to update in due course. No recent estimate has been made of the total cost of the DIS.
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he last met representatives of Nexter to discuss defence procurement. [288201]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Secretary of State for Defence has not met with representatives of Nexter to discuss defence procurement.
Departmental Buildings
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what properties (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies have sold in each of the last five years; and how many have been sold for housing developments. [265108]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I will place a copy of the list of land and property sold by the Department and its agencies in each of the last five years, together with an indication of the expected planning use in the Library of the House. This replaces any previous lists. It should be noted that actual future use is a matter for the purchasers and local planning authorities to determine.
The MOD and the Department for Communities and Local Government are delivering affordable housing as part of wider Government agenda. We have in the past sold a large number of strategic sites to DCLG, including Oakington barracks in Cambridge, Connaught barracks
in Dover and Roussillon barracks in Chichester. This relationship continues with other sites at Aldershot, Daws Hill and Borden being currently discussed.
Substantive answer from Kev a n Jones to Grant Shapps:
In my answer of 27 April (Official Report, column 1022W) I undertook to write to you with details of what Ministry of Defence (MOD) properties have been sold in each of the last five years and how many have been sold for housing developments.
The requested list of properties, including details of their expected planning use, has been placed in the Library of the House.
This list does not include details of sites which subsequent to sale by this Department may have been sold on and then used for residential development. This issue is would be a matter for the new owner and MOD does not maintain a record of such cases.
Departmental Databases
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what categories of personal information on members of the public are contained on each database which contains such data managed by his Department and its agencies; when each category of information was first collected; and if he will make a statement; [284895]
(2) what databases managed by his Department and its agencies hold personal information on members of the public; on what date each such database became operational; and if he will make a statement; [285986]
(3) which of the planned databases that will be managed by his Department or one of its agencies and which will hold personal information on members of the public are expected to become operational in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [286144]
Bill Rammell: Ministry of Defence officials are currently collating and validating the data needed to answer these questions. I will write to the hon. Member again shortly.
Departmental Finance
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's (a) gross resource outturn, (b) operating appropriations on aid outturn, (c) gross capital outturn and (d) non-operating appropriations on aid outturn was under each budgetary sub-heading in (i) near cash and (ii) non-cash terms for the financial year 2007-08. [284569]
Bill Rammell: I have placed a copy of this information in the Library of the House.
Departmental Housing
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many units of accommodation of (a) one, (b) two and (c) three or more bedrooms his Department retains for the purposes of accommodating serving (i) officers and (ii) officials on long-term secondment to his Department; and what his most recent estimate is of the average annual (A) gross and (B) net cost of each type of accommodation in each such category. [273432]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I will write to the hon. Member.
Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Neil Turner:
I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 14 May 2009 (Official Report, column 946W), about Service accommodation for senior Officers and officials on long- term secondment to the Department.
Service accommodation is provided to house entitled Service personnel and their families in accordance with the entitlements set out in the Tri-Service Accommodation Regulations (TSARs). The Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently holds the following numbers of Service Family Accommodation properties (SFA) to accommodate entitled senior officers:
| Type | Bedrooms | Indicative Entitlement | UK SFA | Overseas SFA |
Senior Officers may also occupy SFA of a lesser type in cases where SFA to entitlement is not available or in other circumstances set out in the TSARs.
All Officers of the equivalent rank of major and above are entitled to Single Living Accommodation (SLA) comprising an en-suite bedroom and separate sitting area. There are currently 2,418 SLA bed-spaces of this type in the UK with a further 219 overseas.
The information on cost is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The MOD does not retain any accommodation for the purposes of accommodating civilian officials. However, in areas where there is a temporary surplus of SFA, eligible civilians may occupy properties on a non-entitled basis, on the understanding that it be vacated if required for an entitled Service family. The number of civilians who occupy SFA on this basis is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Future Large Aircraft
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will terminate negotiations with partner countries on procurement plans for the A400M aircraft. [288615]
Mr. Quentin Davies: I have no immediate plans to terminate discussions with partner nations and I am continuing to seek acceptable conditions under which the UK can continue to support the programme. I am meeting with Ministers from participating nations on 24 July, with the objective of reaching a joint decision on the future of the A400M programme.
Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the Joint Strike Fighter consortium on final assembly and checkout of the aircraft in the UK. [288196]
Mr. Quentin Davies:
The primary production facility for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has been established at Lockheed Martin's plant in Fort Worth, Texas, building on the huge investment already made in the development phase of JSF, 90 per cent. of which has been funded by the US. All nine JSF partner nations that have signed the JSF Production, Sustainment and Follow-on Development (PSFD) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2006, including the UK, are committed to funding an equitable share of this production facility,
which will eventually produce in excess of 3,000 JSF aircraft. It is our intention to use this best value solution for the build of all UK JSF aircraft.
UK industry has benefited within the development programme to date and is well placed to continue through production. We estimate UK industry will provide in excess of 10 per cent. of the JSF production programme as we progress through the PSFD phase.
Military Aircraft
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) required and (b) actual crew number for each aircraft type in the armed forces was in each of the last five years. [284542]
Bill Rammell: The historical information requested is not held centrally and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
The required and actual crew number for each aircraft type in the armed forces as at 9 July 2009 is given in the following table. Air crew numbers fluctuate on a day-by-day basis as individuals are re-assigned, medically downgraded or leave the service. The variations in the required and actual crew numbers are principally due to an increased requirement to support new and increased aircraft types, such as the Typhoon, where it takes time to train aircrew to meet the associated manpower requirement. Similarly, aircraft types such as the Hercules C130K and Tornado F3 are in the process of drawing down and crew numbers are temporarily in excess of requirement. These changes are reflected in the figures. However, action is taken to ensure that current operations are not affected.
| Aircraft type | Required | Actual |
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