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8 Dec 2009 : Column 209W—continued
Defence: International Cooperation
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many flights the United Kingdom have used under the NATO Strategic Airlift Interim Solution since March 2006; and what the (a) total cost and (b) cost per flight has been. [303000]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Since March 2006 there have been 141 one way flights undertaken using the NATO Strategic Airlift Interim Solution, at a total cost of £25 million. The estimated cost per flight is £178,000.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) pallets and (b) tonnes of military equipment and cargo have been shipped to Afghanistan by (i) the Royal Air Force and (ii) aircraft leased under the NATO Strategic Airlift Interim Solution. [303001]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Information regarding the number of pallets airlifted is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Between 1 November 2008 and 31 October 2009 a total of 7,726 tonnes of freight have been airlifted to Afghanistan by RAF transport aircraft.
In the same time period 2,460 tonnes have been delivered using aircraft chartered under the NATO Strategic Airlift Interim Solution.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria his Department uses in determining the award of contracts; and how much his Department has spent on the advertisement of tenders for Government contracts since 1997. [303130]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The Ministry of Defence uses the most economically advantageous tender as the criterion for determining the award of contracts. This includes sub-criteria such as quality, price, technical merit, functional and environmental characteristics. Straightforward, low-value purchases may, however, be made on the basis of the tender that meets our requirement and offers the lowest price.
The Ministry of Defence has not spent any money on the advertisement of tenders for Government contracts since 1997, when following a competition the Department placed a contract to provide this service, which is funded by subscriptions from potential tenderers.
EU Battlegroups
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what unit will form the UK's commitment to the EU battle group in the first half of 2010. [304370]
Bill Rammell: The UK's commitment to one of the two EU Battlegroups on standby in the first half of 2010 will be formed from 42 Commando and the Joint Force Headquarters.
Ex-servicemen: Radiation Exposure
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of service veterans who were present at atomic weapons tests in the 1950s and 1960s who have died of conditions connected to their service in each of the last five years. [305185]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The War Pensions Scheme provides no-fault compensation to 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. Therefore to provide the information requested would require the manual search of many thousands of files and this could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Germany: British Forces Post Office
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent assessment is of the future of the British Forces Post Office in Germany. [304328]
Bill Rammell: From September 2010, BFPO 109 (Ramstein) will see an adjusted service. Armed forces personnel will no longer fulfil the postal functions and some counter services will cease, however, we will employ dependants and civilians locally to run a basic postal receipt and despatch facility. Critically, the BFPO number, which is so useful for administrative purposes such as banking and internet shopping, will be retained. No further changes to British Forces Post Offices in Germany are currently planned.
Iraq and Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received of allegations of rape involving members of (a) UK forces and (b) private security firms registered in the UK in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan since 2001; and what steps he has taken in response to those reports. [304055]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: In respect of UK Forces only, the information is not held in the format requested.
Any allegation of an offence involving UK Forces is fully investigated by the relevant Service Police authorities and if there is sufficient evidence to refer a disciplinary or criminal charge they will do so in accordance with the Armed Forces Act of 2006.
Private security firms are not the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence and as such are not subject to military law where the service police have jurisdiction.
Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) court cases and (b) courts martial remain outstanding regarding accusations against British troops involved in the Iraq conflict. [303567]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: 15 judicial review proceedings have been issued relating to accusations of mistreatment and challenging the extra-territorial application of the ECHR in Iraq. In addition, proceedings have been issued in 46 personal injury claims. The MOD has also been notified of 36 potential judicial reviews, and letters of claim have been received in 21 personal injury claims. Some of these cover the same alleged incidents and claimants. All allegations are investigated as fully as possible.
There are no such cases where courts-martial are outstanding.
Kentigern House
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff were employed at his Department's Kentigern House site in Glasgow in each of the last 10 years. [305280]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The approximate number of staff working at Kentigern House in Glasgow over the past 10 years is shown in the table.
| Total | |
Roughly 60 per cent. of staff work for the Army personnel centre and the remainder are either attached to various other MOD organisations or contractors.
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the maintenance costs were for his Department's Kentigern House site in Glasgow in each of the last 10 years. [305282]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The following table illustrates the maintenance costs for the Kentigern House site since Financial Year (FY) 2004-05.
| £ | |
Records of specific maintenance costs prior to 2003 which were provided under a different system are not available.
Reserve Forces
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what savings or efficiency measures are being made from the (a) Royal Naval Reserve and (b) Royal Auxiliary Air Force budgets in 2009-10. [304376]
Bill Rammell: The budget for training Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Marine Reserve for financial year 2009-10 has been reduced by £0.189 million. The reduction is being managed by individual units.
The budget for RAF Honnington, which runs eight Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadrons, has been reduced by £0.5 million for financial year 2009-10. This has been achieved by reducing the number of training days.
Neither of these reductions will affect bounty payments, or support to current operations.
Scientists
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions he has met (a) the Government chief scientific adviser and (b) his Department's chief scientific adviser in the course of his official duties in the last 12 months. [303963]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I have not met the Government chief scientific adviser since my appointment. As with other senior departmental advisers, I meet with the Ministry of Defence chief scientific adviser as required in the course of my official duties.
Somalia: Piracy
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the terms of reference for Operation Atalanta are; what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the operation to date; how many war ships from each country are involved in the operation; and if he will make a statement. [300485]
Bill Rammell: Operation Atalanta does not have terms of reference as such. The tasks of the mission, set out in a mandate agreed by member states, are the protection of vessels of the WFP (World Food Programme) delivering food aid to displaced persons in Somalia; the protection of vulnerable vessels cruising off the Somali coast; and the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast.
The conduct of the mission is governed by an operation plan (OPLAN) drawn up by the operation commander (currently Rear Admiral Peter Hudson Royal Navy) and agreed by member states.
Our assessment is that Operation Atalanta continues to be an effective counter piracy operation. Pirate activity in the Gulf of Aden has dramatically reduced and we are seeing unprecedented coordination between international navies and merchant shipping. Furthermore, as at 13 November 2009 the EU naval force had successfully escorted 51 World Food Programme (WFP) vessels, carrying 290,000 tons of aid to Somalia.
The number of warships assigned to Operation Atalanta (as of 20 November) are as follows:
| Country | Number of ships |
| (1) Flag ship (2) The second Spanish frigate is available to the operation commander. | |
Trident Missiles
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to modify the gas transfer system of the Trident warhead as part of the Mk4A refurbishment programme; and in which country the gas transfer system will be manufactured. [304340]
Mr. Quentin Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence on 3 December 2009, Official Report, column 911W. As for any modifications planned for this system, it is Ministry of Defence policy not to comment on details of UK warhead design as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice national security and defence in the UK.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the projected cost is of the Mk4A refurbishment programme for Trident warheads; and what proportion of this expenditure he expects to be incurred in the United States. [304341]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The overall cost to the UK of procuring the Mk4A component was an element of the estimated future costs of the Atomic Weapons Establishment as set out in chapter five of the White Paper 'The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent' (Cmd 6994), published in December 2006.
I am withholding further details on the costs of the Mk4A programme as their release would, or would be likely to, prejudice national security and defence in the UK.
USA: Defence
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason (a) the classification guidelines CG-UK-2 for the exchange of material between the UK and the US were produced in 2006 and (b) the new classification guidelines CG-US-UK-NUC-1 were produced in 2008. [303887]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Both of these documents were produced jointly by the UK and US in an effort to harmonise security classification guidance relating to sensitive nuclear information.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Prices
Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has had recent discussions with the devolved administrations on steps to reduce levels of crime by reducing the availability of cheap alcohol. [304208]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office has not had any recent discussions with devolved Administrations relating to the impact of cheap alcohol on levels of crime.
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