| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Dec 2009 : Column 826W—continued
The Department did not produce full accounts until the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting for the financial year 2001-02. Prior to this, the Department's outturn was reported in the end of year "Appropriations Accounts and Estimates Reports", copies of which can be found in the Library of the House. Appropriations Accounts do not, however, separately identify the cost of operations or the costs of the security and intelligence services. This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of gross domestic product was spent on defence (a) including and (b) excluding the cost of military operations in each year since 2007-08. [305105]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The requested information is provided in the following table.
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| (1) GDP figures based on those published by HM Treasury. | ||
The Outturn figures for 2009-10 will be published in the annual report in July 2010.
Departmental Art Works
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on art works in the last 12 months. [306447]
Mr. Kevan Jones: No works of art have been purchased by the Ministry of Defence in the last 12 months. Some works displayed within Ministers' departmental private offices are from the Government Art Collection (GAC), which publishes an annual list of acquisitions. The most recent details of acquisitions made by the GAC were published on 5 October 2009 and are available on the GAC website:
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many residential properties his Department owns; and how many (a) are occupied and (b) have been empty for more than six months. [303995]
Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 3 December 2009]: Much of the stock of service family accommodation (SFA) in England and Wales is owned by Annington Homes Ltd. and leased by the Department. Of the 49,828 SFA properties in the UK, 7,872 were void as at 1 December 2009 of which 3,345 have been void for more than six months.
The Department accepts that the number of voids is too high and is taking active steps to reduce this, although a management margin for refurbishment and to allow unit moves will always be required.
We do not hold central records for non-SFA residential properties owned by the Department.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on works and refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department's buildings in the last 12 months. [305685]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Due to an increased number of Ministers, my Department has incurred costs of £139,000 excluding VAT, on office works and refurbishments in the last 12 months.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the energy efficiency rating is for each of his Department's buildings in London. [306322]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I have placed in the Library of the House a list of the operational energy ratings and energy bands for buildings' occupied by my Department and its agencies, including those in London for which a display energy certificate has been produced.
Departmental Empty Property
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many properties owned by his Department are unused; and for how long each such property has been unused. [304333]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Details of all properties of all types on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) estate that are unused, and the length of time each has been so, is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) energy rating and (b) energy band of each building occupied by his Department and its agencies was in each year for which figures are available. [305945]
Mr. Kevan Jones: A list of the operational energy ratings and energy bands for buildings occupied by this Department and its agencies for which a Display Energy Certificate (in Scotland, an Energy Performance Certificate) has been produced. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Freedom of Information
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department received in 2008; and how many of these received a substantive response within 20 days. [305501]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice on Freedom of Information in central Government for 2008 show that of a total of 2,692 non-routine requests received by the Department (based on aggregated quarterly data) 73 per cent. (1,972) received a substantive response within 20 days. 84 per cent. (2,269) of requests were dealt with 'in time', that is within 20 days by meeting the deadline or other permitted extension deadline.
The statistics can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
and copies are available in the Library of the House.
Departmental Internet
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what redesigns of websites operated by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have been carried out since 27 June 2007; and what the (i) cost to the public purse and (ii) date of completion of each such redesign was. [306164]
Bill Rammell: The Ministry of Defence and armed forces collectively maintain four corporate websites. Identified redesign and implementation costs on these are provided in the following table.
Staff costs are excluded as redesign costs cannot be disaggregated from the ongoing cost of maintaining the websites.
In addition, the Department also maintains the following websites classed as Executive agencies by Central Office of Information (COI) within the Service Transformation Agreement.
A number of other websites are run by different parts of the Ministry of Defence, but these are not managed centrally. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Lost Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) laptop computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) items of office furniture and (d) works of art have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department in each of the last three years; whether his Department has made an insurance claim in respect of each such item; and what the estimated value of each item was. [300592]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The MOD takes any loss of information, associated media storage devices and valuable assets very seriously and has robust procedures in place to mitigate against such occurrences. New processes, instructions and technological aids are also being constantly implemented to mitigate human errors and to raise awareness of every individual in the Department with regards to information assets, information and its security. The quantity and impact of lost or stolen data has been significantly reduced due to these steps and the use of appropriate encryption in the MOD.
MOD units are not mandated to centrally report incidents of the loss or theft of mobile phones or office furniture nor record any related insurance claims. No work of art for which MOD is responsible has been reported lost or stolen during the last three years. To gather the further data beyond that reported below would incur a disproportionate cost.
For information on mobile telephones I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 January 2009, Official Report, column 33W, to the hon. Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer).
For information on laptop computers I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Armed Forces Minister, Bob Ainsworth, on 24 March 2009, Official Report, columns 271-72W, to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox).
No insurance claims have been made in respect of any of the above items in the MOD since 2006, which, in common with other Government Departments, does not generally insure and, instead, bears it own risks.
Departmental Pay
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) bonuses and (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by his Department in each of the last three years. [300631]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
In the case of MOD fee earners, who are taken on for a temporary period to provide a particular service or specialist skill, they are paid only an agreed fee for their work.
In the case of consultancy work MOD places a contract on the basis that the contractor delivers a defined output at an agreed price. Individual remuneration is a matter for the contractor.
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) bonuses and (b) incentives have been paid to (i) consultants and (ii) contractors engaged by executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible in each of the last three years. [300632]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: No bonuses or incentives were paid to consultants or contractors in 2006-07 or 2007-08. In the financial year 2008-09, a total of £1,860 was paid to two individuals.
Departmental Public Relations
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what payments his Department has made to Green Issues in the last 12 months; for what purposes such payments were made; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments were made. [305250]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Payments made to Green Issues Communications so far in financial year 2009-10 have totalled approximately £195,000.
The payments are for a contract to provide support to the Submarine Dismantling Project in the areas of consultation and communications.
No other records of central payments to Green Issues have been found in the last 12 months.
I shall not place a copy of the contract in the Library as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |