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7 Dec 2009 : Column 94W—continued
| Western sovereign base area | |||||
| 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009 | 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 | 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007 | 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2006 | 1 April 2005 to 31 December 2005 | |
DA Notices
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria his Department applies in determining when to issue a D notice regarding troop movements; and if he will make a statement. [304550]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Defence Advisory (DA) Notice System provides guidance to the UK Media on the public disclosure of sensitive national security information. It is an entirely voluntary system, is not supported by any form of sanction, and the advice offered under it can be accepted or rejected in whole or in part. The five standing DA Notices define the limits of the System. DA Notice No 1-which deals with military operations, plans and capabilities-sets out the criteria applied to the public disclosure of information about troop movements. Specifically, it asks that DA Notice advice should be sought before publishing or broadcasting information about the:
'operational movements of .... individual units or formations (as distinct from routine movements unconnected with operations)'.
It is for the DA Notice Secretary to provide this advice by applying the general guidance given in the DA Notices to specific public disclosure cases. In doing so, he seeks expert advice when necessary from appropriate staffs and takes into account relevant information already widely available in the public domain.
Defence: Procurement
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Mk7 helmets (a) have been ordered, (b) have been delivered to theatre and (c) are planned to be delivered to theatre; and over what period the latter are planned to be delivered. [304673]
Mr. Quentin Davies: 15,000 Mk7 helmets have been ordered, of which 5,000 have been delivered to theatre. A further 7,000 will be delivered to theatre early next year. Defence Clothing is seeking to contract for more Mk7 helmets to meet requirements over and above the 3,000 remaining from the original contract.
Because helmets are a personnel issue item, theatre stocks will be continually replenished as service personnel return to the UK with their helmet at the end of their tour of duty.
Departmental Contracts
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts his Department has entered into since January 2009; and what the (a) name of the contracting company, (b) monetary value, (c) purpose and (d) date of each was. [303350]
Mr. Quentin Davies [holding answer 1 December 2009]: I will place the requested information in the Library of the House.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efficiency savings projects (a) his Department and (b) its agencies put in place under the Operational Efficiency Programme; on what date each such project was initiated; how much each such project was expected to contribute to departmental savings; how much had been saved through each such project on the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [300926]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
The MOD is firmly committed to delivering the recommendations of the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP). My hon. Friend the Minister
for Veterans, my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham, (Mr. Jones) has been appointed Value for Money (VFM) Minister and is supported by a board composed of the Minister for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform, the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, the second permanent under-secretary and the directors general finance and strategy, ensuring senior ownership for driving efficiency throughout the Department. A single programme has been established to deliver the VFM agenda.
MOD's response to the OEP was a £450 million increase in its comprehensive spending review 2007
(CSR07) VFM target to a total of £3.15 billion VFM savings by 2010-11. There is no separate OEP target in this spending review period beyond this contribution to the CSR07 £35 billion cross government target.
By the end of FY 2008-09 MOD had achieved around £650 million VFM savings. An indicative breakdown of the initiatives that make up this figure, along with their anticipated savings by FY 2010-11 are described as follows.
Additional VFM savings are being delivered through the Department's planning round, which includes discrete efficiency initiatives and allocative savings, where the Department has chosen to reprioritise its expenditure to ensure its highest priority, delivering success on operations, is supported most effectively. Further progress will be reported in our autumn performance report, which will report VFM savings of around £1.2 billion in the first 18 months of the CSR07 period. We are therefore broadly on track for delivery of the £3.15 billion target.
Work is also in progress to deliver the specific OEP recommendations, which will contribute to the £9 billion which will be delivered across Government in the next spending review. Progress to date includes:
An annual benchmarking of Defence (including trading funds) finance, human resource, estates, information technology, and back office costs;
A review of several MOD assets (the Met Office, the Oil and Pipelines Agency, the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency); and
Exploration of collaborative procurement opportunities.
A number of VFM studies to explore further savings within the Department.
Departmental Domestic Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions he visited (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [303486]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have visited Scotland four times, Wales twice and Northern Ireland twice in an official capacity in the last 12 months.
Departmental Drinking Water
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2009, Official Report, column 415W, on departmental drinking water, what the reasons are for the increase in expenditure against the contract between November 2008 and October 2009. [304519]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The increase towards the end of the 12 month period was primarily due to support to Operation Panther's Claw, including provision to members of the Afghan national army and US forces.
Departmental Security
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many security passes his Department has issued to contractors providing consultancy services in the last 12 months. [303949]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Taxis
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many miles (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department travelled by taxi in the course of their official duties in each year since 1997; and at what cost to the public purse in each such year. [302713]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth:
Taxis are used where it is the most cost-effective and economical way of conducting
business travel. The mileage accrued when travelling is not recorded. Due to the way that expense data are recorded, the Department is not able to identify expense claims for taxi travel. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he last travelled by (a) bus and (b) taxi in the course of his official duties. [302737]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have not travelled by bus in the course of my official duties, and last travelled by taxi on 30 July 2009.
Devonport Dockyard
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department paid to Rolls Royce for work on the refuelling capabilities of Devonport dockyard; and how much his Department originally budgeted for the project. [304778]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The nuclear refuelling facilities at Devonport Royal Dockyard were upgraded as part of the D154 contract, to support Vanguard class submarine refits. Rolls-Royce was a subcontractor for this work; the prime contractor was Devonport Management Ltd.
The original budget for the Rolls-Royce element of this work, when it first started in 1996-97, was £20.4 million. By the completion of the work in 2002, £126 million had been paid to Rolls-Royce.
Ex-servicemen: Radiation Exposure
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what legal costs have been incurred by his Department in the case of the nuclear test veterans (a) since the start of the litigation, (b) since 6 February 2009, (c) in relation to the appeal alone and (d) for barristers' fees. [302180]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The legal costs incurred in the case of the nuclear test veterans are as follows:
| £ | |
These are the actual costs as invoiced to 27 November 2009.
In addition, the High Court ordered the Department to make an interim payment of £7,500,000 on account of costs to the claimants' legal representatives Rosenblatt Solicitors although the Ministry of Defence was given leave to appeal the High Court judgment.
At the conclusion of his judgment Mr. Justice Foskett said:
"The Government is, of course, pledged to settle legal cases by alternative dispute resolution in all suitable cases whenever the other party agrees to it. In my view, this is such a case."
The Ministry of Defence has adhered to the judge's wish but, unfortunately, I cannot reveal the contents of
the negotiations because this would breach the confidentiality agreement between the parties. However, I can say that genuine negotiations have taken place between the parties respective counsels and a settlement proposal was made by the Ministry of Defence, although I cannot disclose the amount. To date, no response has been received from the claimants' counsel or the law firm representing them (Rosenblatts). This is obviously disappointing, but we remain open to meaningful discussions. In the meantime, we have been left with no option but to proceed with our appeal for which the High Court judge has given us permission. I understand the appeal is listed for a three week window starting on 4 May 2010.
HMS Endurance
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects HMS Endurance to be (a) repaired and (b) back on operations. [304360]
Mr. Quentin Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) on 2 November 2009, Official Report, column 648W.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many commercial (a) aeroplanes and (b) ships were hired to assist with the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq; and at what cost. [304364]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: A total of 62 commercial passenger aircraft flights were chartered to assist the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq between 19 April and 31 August 2009. The cost of these flights was £6.11 million.
A total of 29 commercial freight aircraft flights were chartered to assist the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq between 19 April and 31 August 2009. The cost of these flights was £1.77 million.
No ships were hired specifically to assist with the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq and there were no costs in this area. The majority of equipment, vehicles and stores were withdrawn from Iraq on five sailings using the ro-ro ships operated by Foreland on behalf of the MOD under the 25-year private finance initiative arrangement entered into in 1999. A limited quantity of equipment was transported back to the United Kingdom in containers under normal commercial arrangements with contractors using commercially scheduled sailings.
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