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26 Oct 2009 : Column 23W—continued
Swimming: Finance
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications there have been for funding from Pot 4 of his Department's funding for its free swimming initiative; and in respect of which swimming pools the applications have been received. [295319]
Mr. Bradshaw: Sport England has advised that they have received 173 eligible applications for funding in the second round (2010-11) of Pot 4 of the Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Programme.
The breakdown is as follows: 126 applications for funding for public swimming pools (DCMS allocated funding), and 47 applications for pools on educational sites (DCSF allocated funding).
Video Games
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect of the recession on the UK video games industry. [295296]
Mr. Simon: We have not carried out an assessment of the impact of the recession on the UK video games industry. However, industry evidence suggests that the UK games sector continues to demonstrate remarkable success with total sales of £4.034 billion in 2008, a rise of 23 per cent. from 2007.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the economic growth rate in the UK video games industry has been in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the likely rate of growth in 2009-10. [295297]
Mr. Simon: Accurate data on the video and computer games sector are not readily available to the Department, particularly as the sector has not had its own separate Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. A new SIC code for computer games has now been agreed though this will not deliver data until 2010 at the earliest.
We do not project future trends of the markets but, according to industry figures, since 2004 the UK Video Games industry has experienced modest growth of around 4 per cent. per annum and this is projected to continue to 2011.
Source:
Oxford Economics 2008
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the contribution of the video games industry to the UK's gross domestic product in each of the last five years; and what the estimated contribution is for 2009-10. [295298]
Mr. Simon: Accurate data on the video and computer games sector are not readily available to the Department, particularly as the sector has not had its own separate Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. A new SIC code for computer games has now been agreed though it will not deliver data until 2010 at the earliest.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many people were employed in the UK video games industry in each of the last five years; [295299]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies in the UK video games industry in the last 12 months. [295300]
Mr. Simon: Accurate data on the video and computer games sector are not readily available to the Department, particularly as the sector has not had its own separate Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. A new SIC code for computer games has now been agreed though this will not deliver data until 2010 at the earliest.
DCMS does not hold employment data of this kind.
Defence
Service Justice System
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made in developing governance arrangements for the operation of each part of the Service Justice System; and what external stakeholder groups he has identified to participate in such arrangements. [295197]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Arrangements for the governance of the whole Service justice system were approved by Ministers in December 2007. The purpose of governance is to set direction, provide oversight and facilitate cooperation between stakeholders within and outside the Ministry of Defence. These functions are undertaken by the Service Justice Board and a supporting executive group. Stakeholders outside the Ministry of Defence include the Attorney-General's Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Judge Advocate General.
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of C Company, 2 Rifles were (a) killed and (b) injured during the Company's most recent tour in Helmand province. [295181]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Since May 2009 there have been 13 members of 2nd Battalion The Rifles killed in Afghanistan.
Between April and September 2009 14 members of 2nd Battalion The Rifles have been very seriously injured or seriously injured. We do not publish data on less severe injuries, so this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which EU military operations UK military personnel are serving; and how many are serving in each operation. [295170]
Bill Rammell: The UK contributes military personnel to two EU operations: protection of World Food Programme and vulnerable shipping off the horn of Africa (Operation Atalanta) and peace-keeping in Bosnia (Operation Althea). At present the UK contributes 51 military personnel to Operation Atalanta and 10 military personnel to Operation Althea.
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ex-service personnel have made claims in the last 30 years for compensation for adverse health effects arising from exposure to chemicals during their service in Canada between 1960 and 1980; and in how many such cases compensation was paid. [294782]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The War Pension Scheme (WPS) provides no-fault compensation for all former Service Personnel where illness, injury or death is caused by service before 6 April 2005.
Although the War Pension Computer System contains details of medical conditions relating to claims for War Disablement Pensions, details of the specific causes of these medical conditions are not recorded. The current system was implemented in 1995 and claims prior to this date are not held electronically. The manual search and assessment of many thousands of files would be required to provide the information requested and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Drugs
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel have (a) tested positive for drugs and (b) been dismissed from the service for drug taking in the last three years. [295084]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The following table indicates the number of armed forces personnel who have tested positive for drugs during a Compulsory Drug Test (CDT) and those who have been dismissed from the service for drug offences including positive CDT test results in the last three full years.
| Positive CDT tests | Discharges due to drug offences | |
Armed Forces: Housing
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many properties have been leased by Defence Estates to meet otherwise unfulfilled needs using funds within its own resources in each year since its formation; and if he will make a statement. [295198]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I assume the hon. Member is referring to service accommodation.
Substitute Service Family Accommodation (SSFA) and Substitute Service Single Accommodation (SSSA) is used to meet our obligation to house entitled service personnel and their families in cases where no service accommodation is available.
With regards to SSFA, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor on 3 December 2007, Official Report, column 823W. Updated figures are provided in the table.
| Number of properties taken on during year | Total number of properties rented during year | |
SSSA is commonly granted where service personnel are working at MOD sites where little or no Single Living Accommodation is available. Wherever possible DE uses vacant SFA to meet demands for SLA. SSSA properties may be used to accommodate more than one single serviceman. Figures for SSSA from 2003 are provided in the table.
| Number of properties taken on during year | Total number of properties rented during year | |
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of properties of Defence Estates' stock have been classified as (a) Condition 3 and (b) Condition 4 in each year since the formation of Defence Estates; and if he will make a statement. [295199]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 1 June 2009, Official Report, column 36W.
For the latest number of Service Family Accommodation in England and Wales at Standard 3 and 4, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 July 2009, Official Report, column 873W, to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to improve the maintenance and repair of service accommodation. [295589]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Defence Estates works closely with all of its repair and maintenance contractors to ensure that levels of service continually improves and that repair jobs are completed within required timescales and to an acceptable standard of workmanship.
As an example, in England and Wales, to improve the maintenance and repair of service accommodation, personal digital assistants (PDA) will be introduced to allow better access to information about the property, including details of previous jobs. Among other benefits, this should ensure the right trade goes to the right job. We also aim to ensure better management of the supply chain to ensure there is a focus on getting repairs right first time.
All SFA locations are to be assigned to a specified DE Housing Officer and MHS Technical Officer who will work closely to provide a cohesive approach to enhanced service delivery. They will act as dedicated focal points for local commanders and will be responsible for holding housing clinics, getting to know families and resolving everyday problems.
Armed Forces: Mental Health Services
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on mental health care services in each year since 2001. [295086]
Mr. Kevan Jones:
The majority of mental healthcare for service personnel is provided through MOD's 15 military-run Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) in the UK (with additional centres in
Germany, Cyprus and Gibraltar), which have since 2004 provided out-patient mental healthcare for members of the armed forces. Responsibility for their individual management is shared between the single service commands, with oversight from the Joint Medical Command. However, each service funds its respective DCMHs differently. Owing to the number of different internal budgets to which costs would be attributable, any detailed analysis of DCMH finances would therefore incur disproportionate costs.
In-patient care, when necessary, is provided in specialised psychiatric units under contract with an external provider. Between April 2004 and March 2009, this was provided by the Priory Group, and costs in each financial year are contained in the following table:
| Contract value (£ million) | |
These figures take into account the cost of assessing patients as well as any treatment programmes provided; the individual care needs of each patient will vary depending on their particular medical circumstances. They also include services provided by the Priory Group between 1 December 2003 and April 2004 prior to the formal contract start date.
The contract with the Priory Group has been replaced by a new one, awarded in November 2008 following open competition, with a partnership of seven NHS trusts led by South Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Foundation Trust. Costs for its first full 12 months of operation will be available in spring 2010.
Prior to April 2004, in-patient care was provided at MOD's Duchess of Kent Psychiatric Hospital at Catterick. Full historic costs back to 2001 are not available, although costs in its final year of operation (2002-03) were some £10 million.
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