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1 Sep 2009 : Column 1806W—continued
Scotland
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department plans to make a submission to the Scottish Executive's National Conversation consultation on Scotland's constitutional future. [288950]
Bill Rammell: The Ministry of Defence has not submitted evidence to the Scottish Government's National Conversation.
The Commission on Scottish Devolution was established by majority vote in the Scottish Parliament and with the full support of the UK Government. UK Departments submitted evidence to the Commission during its first phase of evidence gathering.
The Commission recently published its final report, which can be found at:
A Steering Group has been established under the Chairmanship of the Secretary of State for Scotland to help the UK Government and the Scottish Parliament plan how to take forward the Chairman's recommendations and deliver stronger devolution within a stronger United Kingdom.
Trident
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of conventional forces protecting Trident was in 2008-09. [288764]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We do not routinely calculate the operating cost of specific committed or contingent force elements in support of the deterrent, and such estimates are necessarily illustrative. The answer that my right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne), as Defence Secretary, gave to the hon. Member on 8 March 2007, Official Report, column 2131W, estimated the annual operating costs of committed conventional force elements to be around £25-30 million. We have not prepared a more recent estimate as to do so would incur disproportionate costs.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on Trident II; and what his Department's estimate is of how much it would cost to order (a) three and (b) four boats to replace Trident I. [287200]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The current Trident II D5 missile is expected to remain in service until 2042. No expenditure has been incurred on a successor to the Trident II D5 missile.
As set out in the 2006 White Paper, we estimate that the procurement costs of the replacement for the current Vanguard class submarines will be between £11-14 billion at 2006-07 prices. The total spent on the replacement submarine and associated propulsion system since the beginning of April 2007 to the end of June 2009 is some £250 million.
Work is ongoing to assess whether continuous at sea deterrence could be achieved with a three boat fleet, and at what cost.
Unmanned Air Vehicles
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies his Department has undertaken into the skill levels and qualifications required to fly unmanned aerial vehicles. [288198]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The UK's armed forces currently operate a range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Medium Altitude Long Endurance Reaper System is flown by fully qualified pilots following their completion of conversion training. Smaller systems, such as Hermes 450 and Desert Hawk, do not require the full range of pilot skills and can therefore be operated by non-pilots who have received specialist UAV training only.
Several UK studies have been undertaken into current and future requirements for skill levels and qualifications for UAV operators as our capabilities in this area have developed. These include studies to define the skills and competences required to underpin operator selection and training and to derive formal standards for training programmes. This work is ongoing.
USA: Arms Trade
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made on the Defence Technology Transfer Treaty between the US and UK; and if he will make a statement. [288606]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Her Majesty's Government continue to discuss the Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty with the US Government at all levels. The Treaty still awaits ratification by the US Senate. The UK has worked hard to ensure that members of the Senate are aware of the importance the UK places on the Treaty and the benefits for both nations in operational and industrial terms. MOD and FCO officials in the British embassy in Washington regularly discuss Treaty implementation with their US colleagues in preparation for ratification.
White Phosphorus
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2009, Official Report, column 1160W, what information his Department holds on munitions containing white phosphorus manufactured in the UK. [288805]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 21 July 2009]: The 120 mm white phosphorous shell is the only white phosphorous munition in the UK armed forces inventory manufactured in the UK. The inventory also includes the 60 mm and 81 mm white phosphorous mortar bombs, which are manufactured outside the UK.
The Department holds a range of information on the 120 mm white phosphorous shell, as it does on all its munitions. This includes, but is not limited to, information on contracts, Through Life Management, safety, legality/International Humanitarian Law, composition, performance, storage, handling, transportation, training, in-service surveillance, stockpile, and usage.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Departmental Contracts
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many contracts let by his Department were awarded to businesses with fewer than 50 employees in each of the last five years; and what the monetary value of such contracts was in each such year. [287800]
Dan Norris: The Department does not request or hold any central or local information on the number of staff in each of its suppliers. The number of staff in a supplier may vary over a period. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2009, Official Report, column 386W, on departmental internet, what the (a) names and (b) versions are of the web browsers used on the (i) desktop machines and (ii) laptop computers used by his Department's (A) Permanent Secretary, (B) chief information officer, (C) head of communications and (D) head of finance. [288994]
Dan Norris: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 15 July 2009, Official Report, column 386W.
All DEFRA staff, including the permanent secretary, chief information officer, head of communications and head of finance, are provided with Internet Explorer 7 on their desktop computers or laptops via our internal office system.
Scotland
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department plans to make a submission to the Scottish Executive's National Conversation consultation on Scotland's constitutional future. [288958]
Dan Norris: DEFRA has not submitted evidence to the Scottish Government's National Conversation.
The Commission on Scottish Devolution was established by majority vote in the Scottish Parliament and with the full support of the UK Government. UK Departments submitted evidence to the Commission during its first phase of evidence gathering.
The Commission recently published its Final Report, which can be found on the Commission on Scottish Devolution website.
A steering group has been established under the chairmanship of the Secretary of State for Scotland to help the UK Government and the Scottish Parliament plan how to take forward the Calman recommendations and deliver stronger devolution within the United Kingdom.
Water Charges
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people have accessed social tariff schemes in each water company area in each of the last five years. [288505]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The number of customers accepted on to the vulnerable groups scheme by water companies in each of the last five years is set out in the following table.
This will not strictly equal the number of customers currently on the tariff, owing to applications expiring during the year, bereavements, changes of occupancy and applications still being processed at year end.
Ofwat only routinely collects these data for the compulsory vulnerable groups tariff (WaterSure), and not for any other social tariffs which individual companies may offer.
| Total number of successful applications for vulnerable groups tariff | |||||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| (1) In 2007, South East Water absorbed mid-Kent water. The figures shown above for the new South East Water (including mid-Kent) until 2007-08 are a sum of the figures reported by the former separate companies. The split between the former companies is shown in italics for information. These figures do not contribute to the industry totals. | |||||
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