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22 Feb 2010 : Column 31W—continued
RAF Menwith Hill
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates members of the Intelligence and Security Committee have visited Menwith Hill since 2000; and which members of the committee participated in each such visit. [317979]
Bill Rammell: The Intelligence and Security Committee does not comment on its work programme. Where appropriate it publishes information on visits it has undertaken in its annual reports.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the Missile Defence System operations at RAF Menwith Hill in the next two years. [317980]
Bill Rammell: There are no plans to change the existing missile defence arrangements at RAF Menwith Hill.
Rescue Services: Scotland
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the monetary value is of the contract agreed with the Soteria Consortium for the provision of search and rescue services in Scotland. [317788]
Mr. Quentin Davies: While Soteria have been chosen as the preferred bidder for the search and rescue helicopter (SAR-H) project, the contract has yet to be signed. The finalised value of the contract to provide the search and rescue helicopter capability for the whole of the UK is likely to be in the region of £6 billion over the 25-year life of the service. It is not possible to break down the value of the contract by region.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of the privatisation of search and rescue operations on local economies in Scotland. [317789]
Mr. Quentin Davies: The future SAR helicopter service in Scotland is expected to be provided from four locations (Stornoway, Sumburgh, RAF Lossiemouth and Glasgow airport, which is taking over from RNAS Prestwick). With the introduction of new, modern, more reliable helicopters there is likely to be a reduction in personnel at the two locations where they take over from the MOD Sea Kings (RAF Lossiemouth and RNAS Prestwick). The details will be finalised as the contract is agreed. As such, there is likely to be a negligible impact on the economy of Scotland as a whole from the contractorisation of the future service.
Reserve Forces
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the (a) Royal Auxiliary Air Force, (b) Territorial Army and (c) Royal Naval Reserve are based in Scotland. [316516]
Mr. Kevan Jones: As at 5 February 2010, there are 224 Royal Naval Reservists, 141 Royal Marines Reservists, 2,506 in the Territorial Army and 252 personnel in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force based in Scotland.
Royal Navy Unit Prestwick
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated monetary value is of the property comprising Royal Navy Unit Prestwick; how much is planned to be spent on its redevelopment; and if there are plans to sell this facility. [317786]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The MOD has a long-term commercial lease to 2019 with the Prestwick Airport Authorities for the HMS Gannet Air Station. The existing assets on the site are appropriately maintained but, as we do not own the site itself, there are no plans for redevelopment.
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be lost as the result of the transfer of search and rescue operations from the Royal Navy Unit Prestwick to Glasgow; and what plans there are for the transfer of existing staff. [317787]
Mr. Kevan Jones: It is not anticipated that the decision to move future search and rescue operations from HMS Gannet at Prestwick to Glasgow airport will result in any job losses. Appropriate civilian personnel will be offered the opportunity to work with the successful contractor under the rules of Trade Union Protection of Employment (TUPE).
Service Personnel and Veterans Agency
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many employees there have been in the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency in each month since its creation; and what expenditure his Department has incurred on the Agency in each year since it was established. [318030]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Veterans Agency (VA) merged with the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency in April 2007 to become the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (SPVA).
These figures and further related information can be found in the SPVA Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are held in the Library of the House.
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many calls have been received by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency Veterans-UK Helpline in the month since that service was started; [317639]
(2) what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Veterans-UK Helpline. [317644]
Mr. Kevan Jones: Veterans-UK Helpline has been in place for a number of years and answered 249,739 calls in financial year 2008-09 and has answered 176,898 calls for April 2009 to January 2010.
Benchmarking exercises in August 2007 and August 2008, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, assessed the effectiveness of the Veterans-UK Helpline and compared it against internal and external call centres. In these assessments, the Veterans-UK Helpline compared favourably, being placed in the top quartile for overall performance.
Regular customer surveys also are conducted. In the 2008 survey 99 per cent. of customers rated the overall service provided as very satisfactory or satisfactory. Recommendations made in surveys are implemented where practicable.
In addition ongoing management checks are conducted to assess call handling and management.
As part of the Welfare Pathway I launched an additional National Point of Contact on 4 November 2009. This provides members of the Armed Forces, their families and Veterans with a single number to access support from a number of established service helplines and the Veterans-UK helpline on 08000 22 33 66.
In March 2011 an evaluation of the Welfare Pathway initiative will include the National Point of Contact.
Stabilisation Unit
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations the Military Stabilisation and Support Group has at the Permanent Joint Headquarters. [317518]
Bill Rammell: The Military Stabilisation and Support Group (MSSG) is a tri-service unit that forms part of 8 Force Engineer Brigade. While there is no MSSG 'representation' in PJHQ, the military stabilisation and support function, also known as Civil-Military Co-operation, or CIMIC, is well represented. PJHQ has a CIMIC-trained officer, and its deployable Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ) has a specialist officer responsible for engineering and CIMIC issues. Within the MSSG itself, there is a small Operations and Planning team of three staff officers ready to deploy with JFHQ at one week's notice.
Stabilisation Unit: Haiti
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to use members of the Military Stabilisation and Support Team to assist in humanitarian efforts in Haiti. [317517]
Bill Rammell: There are currently no plans to deploy a Military Stabilisation Support Team from the Military Stabilisation and Support Group (MSSG) to Haiti. The Department for International Development has the lead role in the UK's response to the Haitian earthquake, and does not currently require any military assistance beyond that already in Haiti or en route in RFA Largs Bay, following a reconnaissance by Permanent Joint Headquarters staff. The Ministry of Defence continues to take an active role in the UK response, and will provide further assistance where possible if required.
Veterans' World
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) cost and (b) circulation was of the publication Veterans World in the latest period for which figures are available. [317640]
Mr. Kevan Jones:
Approximately 18,000 hard copies of the January 2010 edition of Veterans World were distributed at a cost of approximately £10,000. The publication is produced three times a year and is sent to ex-service organisations, mental health care workers,
resettlement offices, homeless shelters, disability employment advisers, citizens advice bureau and the HM Prison Service. Audio copies of the publication are available and it can also be accessed via the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency website.
The aim of the publication is to raise awareness of the help, advice and support available to ex-service personnel and their families. For example, in the latest issue-No 15 it included articles on the launch of the Armed Forces Community Pathway, St. Dunstan's plans for a new centre in Wales, changes to the Veterans Welfare Service and initiatives for helping Veterans in Prison.
Northern Ireland
Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to receive the final report of the Saville Inquiry. [318065]
Mr. Woodward: Lord Saville has indicated that he intends to deliver his report to Government in the week commencing 22 March 2010.
Departmental Freedom of Information
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many freedom of information requests were submitted to the Northern Ireland Office in each of the last two years. [318066]
Paul Goggins: The following table shows the number of requests received by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in the last two years.
| Number of requests received | |
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has committed to publishing quarterly updates in relation to departmental performance under FOI, including information on both the volume and outcome of requests. The bulletins up to the 2009 third quarter can be found on the MOJ website at:
and in the Libraries of both Houses. MOJ will be publishing information from the 2009 fourth quarter in spring 2010.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five
years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented. [313826]
Mr. Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) operates a rigorous performance review policy that applies to all staff. The policy dictates that all NIO staff are subject to annual performance reviews and procedures are in place to deal with inefficiency/poor performance.
Full electronic records are not held to allow for an exact figure to be given in relation to the number of performance reviews actually carried out. It is, however, estimated that the overall figure in relation to the NIO and its agencies would be approximately 2,000 in each of the last five years.
The number of cases within the NIO and its agencies where annual performance was rated as unsatisfactory in each of the last five years is detailed in the following table.
| Number | |
| (1) Suppressed. Information not released on grounds of confidentiality. | |
No staff have been dismissed in the last five years as a direct result of an unsatisfactory annual performance review.
Offences against Children
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland were convicted in connection with an offence of a sexual nature that involved a child under 15 in each of the last three years. [318064]
Paul Goggins: The information is not available in the format requested. Northern Ireland conviction data do not include victim information, such as age, in relation to the commission of an offence. It is possible, therefore, only to give the number of convictions for those sexual offences which by their definition refer to a child or children. The one exception to this is the offence 'unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 14 years'-which confirms that the victim was under 15.
Convictions for these offences are documented in the following table. Data cover the calendar years 2004 to 2006 (the latest year for which figures are available) and are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence for which an offender is convicted is included.
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