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2 Dec 2009 : Column 725W—continued
Defence
Armed Forces: Cadets
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what funding will be disbursed to the army cadet programme in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011; [300759]
(2) whether he plans further to reduce the budget of the army cadet programme; [300760]
(3) what his most recent assessment is of the likely effects on recruitment to the army cadet programme of reductions in its budget. [300761]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 23 November 2009]: The funding disbursed to the army cadet programme in 2009 was £42.46 million. In-year savings have reduced this amount by £4 million.
Planning is under way across the Army for next and future financial years but it is too early to say what the outcome of this will be.
We are extremely grateful to the adult cadet instructors for their commitment and dedication. As a result of their leadership, the vast majority of cadet detachments are riding out the temporary difficulties caused by the reduction in the Army Cadet Force budget this year.
Armed Forces: Vehicles
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military Land Rovers are deployed in Northern Ireland. [302822]
Bill Rammell: There are currently 266 military Land Rovers in Northern Ireland.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of maintaining his Department's website in the 2008-09 financial year; and what the forecast cost is of maintaining websites within his responsibility in the 2009-10 financial year. [302414]
Bill Rammell: The Ministry of Defence and armed forces collectively maintain four corporate websites. Identified direct expenditure on running these in the financial year 2008-09 was as detailed in the following table. This analysis complies with the guidance issued by COI on the methodology for identifying website costs in response to a Public Accounts Committee recommendation(1).
(1) Public Account Committee Sixteenth Report;
| Website | URL | FY 2008-09 (£) | FY 2009-10( 1) (£) |
| (1) Forecast costs for 2009-10 are based on the best available information. (2) Excludes some external support costs which cannot be separated out from costs incurred in support of the internal Defence Intranet. (3) Projected costs for FY 2009-10 are not available as the rationalisation of Army websites is in the scoping phase and costs are being defined. It is likely to be in the region of £1.35 million. | |||
A number of other websites are run by different parts of the Ministry of Defence, but these are not managed centrally. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Geneva Conventions
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what advice his Department gives British troops in theatre on their requirements under the Geneva Convention. [303565]
Bill Rammell: Aspects of the Geneva Convention are applied throughout military training and will be bolstered before deployment to an operational theatre by further mandatory training, common across all the Services. Irrespective of the theatre to which a person is deploying, specific training based on the Geneva Convention as applied to UK law must be fulfilled. This training includes: compliance with operational law, such as the legal basis for operations, the law of armed conflict, the application of the rules of engagement, the use of force, prisoner handling, understanding the powers of stop and search and the powers of arrest; culture and language training, including cultural awareness; firepower training, including identifying and engaging targets and reacting to fire control orders; and protection training, including procedures for challenging and reaction to direct and indirect attack.
All deployed personnel are issued a rules of engagement card, which specifies exactly the aspects of the law that allows them to conduct operations and react to hostile action.
Role specific training that covers the pertinent application of the Geneva Convention is also undertaken. For example, dedicated prisoner handling teams and medics are briefed in depth of their responsibilities that may be in addition to those usually held.
Trained and qualified lawyers are deployed on all standing operations and are an integral part of the targeting process, are consulted on all forms of the conduct of operations and are available for specialist queries if doubt exists.
Royal Military Academy: Admissions
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have applied for a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in each month of the last five years; and how many of those applications were rejected in each such month. [302826]
Bill Rammell: The following table provides the number of applicants who attended the three and half day Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB) and those that were successful.
| Financial year | Those that having applied to join the Army were invited to attend AOSB | Those that were successful at AOSB |
Those that are found unsuccessful at any stage of the officer recruitment process will be given feedback on where they have not met the required standard. Those who attend AOSB and are unsuccessful are rarely rejected outright. Their application will usually remain open, should they at some point decide to re-apply.
These figures do not include: serving soldiers applying to become officers, potential Gurkha officers, Territorial Army applicants or professionally qualified officer applicants (doctors, lawyers, etc).
Somalia: Piracy
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department has taken to contribute to measures to deter piracy in the Gulf of Aden in the last five years; what contribution his Department has received from the governments of (a) Kenya and (b) the Seychelles in such effects; and what steps are available to armed forces personnel upon detection of an act of piracy on the Gulf of Aden. [300484]
Bill Rammell: We are taking the situation off the coast of Somalia very seriously and have played an important role in developing the military response to pirate activity. We have key command roles within all of the international task forces and continue to develop our strategies in line with changing operational and political requirements. Piracy is a symptom of wider instability in Somalia and the MOD continues to work comprehensively with other Government Departments and the International community as part of a coherent strategy to address the root causes of piracy.
The UK is providing a sizeable contribution to the military effort in the region and has a leading role in countering pirate activity off the coast of Somalia:
MOD has been at the forefront of the European Union mission-Operation Atalanta-since it was introduced in December 2008, providing the Operation Commander, the Operation HQ at Northwood, and a frigate for the first period of the operation.
The Royal Navy has a long standing commitment of frigates and a tanker to the Combined Maritime Force conducting maritime security operations in the region.
The Royal Navy is a contributor to the Standing NATO Maritime Groups, which at present are rotationally undertaking NATO's counter piracy mission-Operation Ocean Shield. The UK currently has command of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2.
The Royal Navy manned UK Maritime Trade Organisation has been supporting Merchant Vessels transiting through the region since 2001.
The UK has a bilateral arrangement with the Kenyan and Seychellois Governments which allows the transfer of suspected pirates for prosecution. Kenya is currently prosecuting eight suspected pirates detained by a Royal Navy vessel. We are very grateful for their ongoing support.
Royal Navy vessels and coalition forces in the region seek to deter and disrupt pirate activity. Specifically, Royal Navy vessels can actively search for suspected pirate vessels. The Royal Navy can also take robust action to come to the aid of a victim vessel under attack by pirates in international waters. This can again range from deterring and disrupting the attack to the use of reasonable force to defend the victims. However, the safety of any hostages involved remains paramount.
If suspected pirates are encountered, a decision will be made by the UK Maritime Component Commander, based on legal advice, on whether or not they could be transferred to a regional state for prosecution. If there is insufficient evidence to be confident of a successful prosecution, they will be released. Any piracy equipment found, such as ladders and weapons will be seized and disposed of accordingly.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many pirates have been apprehended by UK forces off the Somalia coast; whether prosecutions have been brought against any of them; and if he will make a statement. [301402]
Bill Rammell: To date, eight suspected Somali pirates have been detained by the Royal Navy and transferred to Kenya for prosecution. A further 53 suspected pirates have been encountered during boarding operations. However, following detailed analysis of all physical evidence and witness statements, all suspects were released as it was assessed that there was insufficient evidence to be reasonably confident that a successful prosecution could be undertaken in either Kenya or (more recently) Seychelles. The subsequent destruction of any pirate equipment and weapons serves as a disruption measure and prevents their future use.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Agriculture: Subsidies
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the European Commission on the effectiveness of controls over payments under the 2005 and 2006 Single Farm Payment schemes. [303425]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has, in the normal way, been in regular discussion with the European Commission to follow up audits of the 2005 and 2006 Single Payment Schemes. However, no definitive conclusions have been reached to date and further discussions are expected in due course.
Badgers
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many licences to move badger setts English Nature has issued in each of the last 10 years. [302760]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Policy on wildlife management issues is a devolved matter, therefore this answer relates to England only.
Since it was formed in October 2006, Natural England has issued all licences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. Prior to this the licensing responsibility was split between English Nature and DEFRA depending upon the purpose for which the licence was to be issued.
Licences are not issued to move badger setts, but to trap and move badgers. The number of licences issued each year since 2001 is as follows:
| Number of licenses | |
Records are unavailable prior to 2001. The 2007 licence was issued by Natural England. The licences from 2001 to 2005 were issued by DEFRA.
Forests
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for the implementation of the recommendation of the recent report commissioned by the Forestry Commission for an additional four per cent. of the United Kingdom's land to be planted with new woodland. [303437]
Huw Irranca-Davies: Forestry is a devolved matter so plans for woodland creation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the respective governments. In England DEFRA and the Forestry Commission are working with key stakeholders to develop a framework to encourage an enhanced woodland creation programme. This work is being undertaken to respond to the potential for woodland creation to deliver emissions abatement as outlined in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and to the announcement that 'the Government would support a new drive to encourage private funding for woodland creation'. Progress on this work will be outlined in DEFRA's Climate Change Plan early next year.
Livestock: Antibiotics
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the level of use of the practice of using antibiotics as a surrogate for growth promoters in livestock. [303620]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Following the ban of antimicrobial growth promoters by the EU in 2006, DEFRA is not aware of any evidence to suggest that farmers are using antibiotics as replacements for antimicrobial growth promoters.
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