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23 Jun 2010 : Column 231W—continued
Wickham Research Laboratories: Animal Experiments
Mr. Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2010, Official Report, column 230W, on Wickham Research Laboratories: animal experiments, when she expects to be in a position to consider the findings of the review. [3413]
Lynne Featherstone: I expect to receive the report by 5 July 2010 and will publish the results when I have considered its findings.
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral statement of 14 June 2010, Official Report, columns 663-6, on Afghanistan, whether the £67 million announced is to fund counter-improvised explosive device teams in addition to those which were planned by the previous government. [3486]
Dr Fox [holding answer 21 June 2010]: The Prime Minister confirmed, in his statement on 14 June, that an additional £67 million will be made available for resources to counter the threat from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This £67 million will be made available to fund a commitment made by the previous Government that was never fully funded. This is new money-over and above funding that has already been approved-and will allow us to equip a significantly increased number of specialist counter-IED teams, and generate increased capacity to mitigate the threat from IEDs.
Animal Experiments
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many animals of each species were used in scientific procedures undertaken under the provisions of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which were commissioned directly by his Department in each year since 2004. [3397]
Peter Luff: The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory returns the numbers of procedures undertaken involving animals at DSTL Porton Down to the Home Office on an annual basis, the numbers of procedures returned for last five years are detailed in the following table. This is the only Home Office designated defence establishment. DSTL has an ongoing initiative to reduce the use of animals in the scientific research programme.
| Number of DSTL procedures returned to the Home Office | |||||||||
| Guinea pig | Ferret | Mouse | Pig | Rabbit | Rat | Sheep | Non-human primate | Total | |
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Ethical Review Committee at Porton Down is in operation. [3476]
Armed Forces
Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of members of each of the armed services are normally resident in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland. [3707]
Mr Robathan: The information is not held in the format requested. The vast majority of service personnel will live near to where they are stationed during their normal duty hours but may travel to other areas during off duty periods such as weekends or leave periods. The following table provides information on the permanent location of service personnel stationed in United Kingdom at 1 April 2010.
| Naval Service | Percentage of members | Army | Percentage of members | Royal Air Force | Percentage of members | |
The table does not include those individual on permanent non-operational postings outside the UK. Personnel on operational deployments will be shown against their most recent station.
Armed Forces: Mental Health Services
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what his policy is on mental health screening for serving military personnel; [3445]
(2) whether he has assessed the merits of the establishment of an NHS post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programme for military personnel. [3446]
Mr Robathan: The Government take mental health issues extremely seriously, and our "Programme for Government" makes clear that we will provide extra support for ex-service personnel. The Prime Minister has asked my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) to carry out a study into the health of both serving and ex-service personnel to see what more can be done to assess and meet these needs; a focus of this study will be mental health.
We are examining a number of ways to develop mental health support for the armed forces, including screening or surveillance techniques.
The Ministry of Defence is also working closely with the Department of Health so that we can better co-ordinate the way we treat ex-service personnel with mental health problems. As part of the military covenant review we will look into how we can better support combat stress and other charities that do such excellent work to support those suffering after service.
Armed Forces: Per Capita Costs
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on requests from the private sector for the use of military personnel for which the payment of capitation rates would be applicable. [3443]
Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence does not routinely provide military personnel to the private sector. Any request from the private sector for the use of military personnel and the subsequent cost recovery would be considered on a case by case basis, ensuring there is no operational impact.
Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the setting of his Department's military manpower capitation rates takes into account (a) past trends and (b) likely future consumption rates. [3444]
Nick Harvey: Ministry of Defence manpower capitation rates are calculated on the basis of actual rates for pay, employer's national insurance contributions and notional superannuation contributions plus an uplift for administration costs.
Atomic Weapons Establishment
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what intervals the Atomic Weapons Establishment's Nuclear Safety Committee met in the last 12 months; and what the names are of the committee members. [2026]
Peter Luff: Meetings of the Atomic Weapons Establishment's Nuclear Safety Committee are held on a monthly basis. Additional meetings are held as required in response to business requirements, but no such meetings have been required in the last 12 months.
With regard to the names of the committee members, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.
Colombia: Military Aid
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military aid his Department provided to Colombia in the last 12 months. [2893]
Nick Harvey: The UK has an on-going programme of counter-narcotics assistance for Colombia. It would not be appropriate to provide details about this programme, as to do so would prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
In addition to this, in December 2009 the Ministry of Defence hosted a visit to the UK by a small Colombian delegation supporting their preparations to deploy to Afghanistan as part of the ISAF coalition.
Defence
Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what mechanism has been put in place for the submission of opinions as part of the Strategic Security and Defence Review. [3602]
Dr Fox: I refer the hon. Member to my opening speech in the debate on the Strategic Defence and Security Review on 21 June, Official Report, column 52.
Departmental Manpower
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) front-line and (b) other staff were employed by (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in the latest year for which figures are available; and what his most recent estimate is of the annual cost to the public purse of employing staff of each type at each of those bodies. [532]
Dr Fox: We do not distinguish between frontline and non-frontline staff. Information in this format could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information on the number of staff employed, and their cost, is published annually in the Ministry of Defence's and defence Trading Funds' Annual Reports and Accounts. Copies of the reports for 2008-09 have been placed in the Library of the House (see note 9, starting on page 217). The figures for 2009-10 are intended for future publication in the 2009-10 Departmental and Trading Fund Annual Reports and Accounts, which are due to be laid before the House by the Summer Recess.
Statistics on numbers of military personnel and civilian personnel are also published on a monthly and quarterly basis respectively on the Defence Analytical Services Agency website
Decisions on how many military and civilian personnel we need for the future will be made in the context of the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Iran: Sanctions
Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what Royal Navy assets will be allocated to the imposition of sanctions against Iran; [3124]
(2) whether the Royal Navy will be used to stop and search vessels bound for Iran as part of the enforcement of sanctions. [3125]
Nick Harvey [holding answer 21 June 2010]: For security reasons, we do not as a matter of routine comment on the operational assignments of UK military units. The Government continue to develop a robust response to UNSCR 1929 in accordance with international law.
Military Aircraft
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what change there has been in the number of UK military airframes available to commanders in the last three years. [2519]
Peter Luff: Officials are collating the information requested, across the armed forces, and I will write to the hon. Member shortly when this work is complete.
Substantive answer from Peter Luff to Derek Twigg:
I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 15 June, (Official Report, column 350W) about the number of airframes available to the armed forces.
The number of airframes available to the armed forces at the end of May 2007 and May 2010 was 1,474 and 1,490 respectively; the figures include fixed and rotary wing aircraft and Remotely Piloted Aircraft. The numbers provided are for the Effective Fleet which comprises all aircraft barring those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.
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