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2 Feb 2010 : Column 206W—continued
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many employees in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies are in transition prior to being managed out; how long on average the transition window between notification and exit has been in (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each of the last five years; what estimate he has made of the salary costs of staff in transition in each such year; and what proportion of employees in transition were classed as being so for more than six months in each year. [313243]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
My Department manages its surplus staff by using a Redeployment Pool (RDP). This service enables those who are or who will become surplus to be given priority consideration for vacancies. Staff in the RDP usually continue working in their last directorate or are redeployed to cover short-term tasks. As at 1 January 2010, there were 1,525 employees in the RDP. Some 85 per cent. have been in the RDP for less than six months and only 5 per cent. have been there for more than two years. On average, staff spend six months in the RDP before finding a post or leaving the Department. The majority move into new jobs rather than take early release.
Departmental NDPBs
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many non-departmental bodies his Department is responsible. [314252]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Information on the number of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) sponsored by the Ministry of Defence is published in the annual Cabinet Office report 'Public Bodies 2008', which is available online at the following link:
Copies have been placed in the Library of the House. 'Public Bodies 2009' will be published shortly.
Ex-servicemen: Elderly
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate has he made of the number of former service personnel resident in the UK who are over the age of (a) 65 and (b) 80 years. [314384]
Mr. Kevan Jones: There are currently 99,816 former service personnel aged 65 and over, resident in the United Kingdom (UK), in receipt of an ongoing occupational pension under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS). There are 22,071 aged 80 and over; this population is a subset of those aged 65 and over. Former service personnel with no AFPS entitlement, or who have not claimed their entitlement, are not represented in these figures as these are not known.
The latest data available are: as at 30 September 2009, there were 89,675 disablement pensioners resident in the UK aged 65 and over who were in receipt of an ongoing pension under the War Pension Scheme (WPS). There were 48,120 aged 80 and over, this population is a subset of those aged 65 and over. These figures provided have all been rounded to the nearest five.
Some former service personnel will be in receipt of a pension from both the AFPS and the WPS.
Ex-servicemen: Health
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of former service personnel who have been diagnosed with service-related injuries or long-term illnesses in each year since 1992. [314386]
Mr. Kevan Jones: It is only possible to identify veterans who have a health condition related to their service if they have made a claim and received an award under the relevant compensation scheme. The War Pensions Scheme (WPS) provided no-fault compensation for all ex-service personnel where illness, injury or death was caused by service before 6 April 2005. The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) which came into force on 6 April 2005 provided no-fault compensation for injury, illness or death caused by service on or after that date.
The following data, available only from 2002, provide the number of first time claims against these schemes as the best way of indicating how many personnel were diagnosed with service-related injuries or long-term illness in the time frame requested. They will therefore exclude ongoing payments through these schemes received by personnel diagnosed as suffering from in-service injuries or illness before 2002.
The following table provides the number of first claims awarded under the WPS by calendar year and by type of award. Ongoing war pensions reflect those who receive a regular pension. Gratuity payments are a one- off single payment, while nil awards are those that are awarded when it is accepted that a particular disablement is a result of service, yet no monetary compensation is given.
Between 1 November 2005 and 30 September 2009, there were a total of 1,995 individuals awarded under the AFCS who were not in service on 1 January 2010. This is broken down by year as follows:
| Awards | |
A total of 195 individuals have been awarded under both schemes.
Military Aircraft: Helicopters
Mr. Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his predecessor had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer between 2002 and 2004 on the availability of funding for the purchase of military helicopters to be used for future services in Afghanistan; and what the outcome was of each request by his Department for funding to purchase such helicopters in that period. [314788]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: UK forces have been in Afghanistan since 2001 but the decision to take on responsibility for Task Force Helmand was not made until early 2006. No discussions were held between 2002 and 2004 with HMT about the specific helicopter requirement to support that mission.
Military Bases: Colchester
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to declare any part of Middlewick Ranges, Colchester Garrison, surplus to military requirements. [314399]
Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 29 January 2010]: Middlewick Ranges is a fully operational firing range. Currently there are no plans to declare any part of the range surplus to military requirements.
However, as outlined in the Defence Estate Strategy 2006 (In Trust and On Trust) MOD land holdings are kept under continual review in order to take account of changing operational requirements.
Military Bases: Fremington
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has for the future of Fremington Army Camp. [314626]
Mr. Kevan Jones: In accordance with Government disposal guidelines and as there is no longer a Ministry of Defence requirement for Fremington Camp, the site will be placed on the Homes and Community Agencies surplus public land register. This will determine whether there is any requirement for the site by another Government Department or Agency.
If there is no Government requirement then the site will be assessed under the Crichel Down rules to determine whether it must be offered back to any former owners. If it does not, the site will be placed on the open market for sale by competition.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and the North Devon district council on the feasibility of utilising Fremington Army Camp for temporary accommodation during construction of the Atlantic Array offshore wind farm. [314670]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The accommodation at Fremington Camp is at the end of its economic life. Nevertheless, Ministers or officials of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) would be happy to discuss the utilisation of the site with their counterparts in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, if the MOD was approached.
Ministry of Defence Police: Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons he plans to separate the Ministry of Defence Police from the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency; and if he will make a statement. [314825]
Mr. Kevan Jones: There are no plans at present to separate the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Police from the MOD Police and Guarding Agency.
Navy
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest assessment is of the balance of naval power in the (a) Indian Ocean and (b) Pacific Ocean. [314793]
Bill Rammell: The balance of naval power in both the Indian and Pacific oceans currently leans towards the United States of America, although a range of nations in the region have, or plan to develop, significant maritime capabilities.
Royal Hospital Haslar
Sir Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what price was the Royal Hospital Haslar site sold and to whom; what the acreage of the site sold is; how many houses, flats and other buildings are on the sold site; what due diligence was undertaken prior to the sale; what undertakings were obtained from the prospective purchasers prior to the sale; what other offers and indications of interest were received for the site; what the monetary value of the site was on his Department's accounts prior to the sale; and what limitations and covenants were placed on the site at the time of sale. [314354]
Mr. Kevan Jones [holding answer 29 January 2010]: The Haslar Hospital site in Gosport, which extends to some 23 hectares and comprises around 75,000 square metres of buildings, was sold to Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd. in November 2009 for £3 million. The hon. Member will recall he met with me to discuss the proposals before the sale.
An Expressions of Interest campaign for the Haslar site was undertaken by Defence Estates in early 2009 and a number of bids were received by the closing date of 3 July, the details of which are confidential, for commercial reasons. The other bids were rejected either on grounds of insufficient detail regarding redevelopment plans for the site, the low level of the offer, or both. Prior to the sale the site was included on the Asset Registers of the Department at some £55 million based on the depreciated replacement cost of the site in its current usage. Such valuations are undertaken for accounting purposes, and are not the same as a market valuation undertaken for disposal.
Additionally discussions took place with Our Enterprise, with regard to the consortium's financial status and intentions toward the site's heritage assets, memorial garden and future maintenance. No limitations or covenants were placed on the site at the time of sale.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2010, Official Report, column 16W, on Haslar hospital, how much Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd. paid for Haslar hospital. [314669]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Haslar hospital site was sold to Our Enterprise (Haslar) Ltd. for £3 million.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates Ministers met representatives of the organisation Our Enterprise to discuss the future of Haslar Hospital. [314892]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Ministers have not met with representatives of Our Enterprise.
Somalia: Piracy
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost has been to date of operating the Northwood HQ in support of Operation Atalanta; and how much of that cost has been paid by (a) the UK, (b) the Athena mechanism and (c) other means. [312653]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The local running costs of the EU Operational Headquarters at Northwood, from which Op Atalanta is led, cannot be identified separately within the overall running costs of the Northwood Headquarters. These costs are met by the UK and are not recoverable from the EU.
The common funded budget for Op Atalanta in 2009-10, which is paid through the Athena mechanism, currently amounts to €17.64 million. The UK's share of these common costs is currently €1.3 million, approximately £1.15 million at today's rate.
Details of payments towards Op Atalanta by other means are not known to the UK.
Trident Submarines: Finance
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on the Initial Gate for replacing Trident nuclear submarines. [314038]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Initial Gate is a decision point in the acquisition process. The final spend on reaching Initial Gate cannot be calculated until after that point is reached; however, the total spend on the replacement submarine and associated propulsion system since the beginning of April 2007 to the end of December 2009 is some £380 million.
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