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29 Jun 2010 : Column 478W—continued
Chiefs of Staff
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse was of accommodation for the (a) Chief of the Defence Staff and (b) Chief of the General Staff in the last 12 months. [1045]
Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse was of accommodation for the Chief of the Air Staff in the last 12 months. [1050]
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse was of accommodation for the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in the last 12 months. [1047]
Mr Robathan: An essential part of the role of the 'Chiefs' requires them to host guests in support of departmental and wider Government objectives. As a consequence, the posts are entitled to occupy Official Service Residences. The following table shows the amount of rent paid in 2008-09, the latest year for which figures are available.
| Post | Rent (£) |
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces are employed in the household of the Chief of the Defence Staff. [1048]
Mr Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces are employed in the household of (a) the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, (b) the First Sea Lord and (c) the Chief of the Air Staff. [1061]
Mr Robathan: Service staff who are retained in official service residences contribute to upholding the traditions and military ethos of the armed forces. Their duties are varied and include supervision of staff, receiving of guests, as well as dining room support. The following table lists the number of armed forces personnel employed in the official service residences of the requested group:
| Number | |
Expenditure relating to official service residences is kept under close scrutiny. When it is practical to do so, staff from other residences are employed in support of a function to maximise use of resources.
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the public purse of staffing the outer office of the (a) Chief of the General Staff, (b) Chief of the Air Staff, (c) First Sea Lord, (d) chief of the Defence staff and (e) Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. [1058]
Mr Robathan: An estimate of the costs to the public purse of staffing the outer offices was conducted in the autumn of 2009 and was based on a generic salary rate of the staff at that time.
The salary costs for the private office of the Chief of Defence Staff are approximately £500,000 per annum.
The Vice-Chief of the defence staff has a shared private office with the Second permanent Under-Secretary. The combined salary costs for their joint private office staff are approximately £537,000 per annum.
The private offices of the First Sea Lord, the Chief of the General Staff and Chief of the Air Staff are structured in a similar way. The salary costs for each of the private offices for this group are approximately £416,000 per annum.
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel are employed in the outer office of the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. [1060]
Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel are employed in the outer office of the Chief of the General Staff. [1049]
Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel are employed in the outer office of the (a) First Sea Lord and (b) Chief of the Air Staff. [1039]
Mr Robathan: In order to minimise the staff overhead associated with each role, where possible, staff have joint responsibilities and are interchangeable. The Vice-Chief of Defence Staff shares a private office with the second permanent Under-Secretary.
The following table lists the numbers of military personnel employed in the private offices of the requested group:
| Military personnel | |
| Private Office | Number |
Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse was of the entertainment budget of the Chief of the Defence Staff in each of the last three years. [1356]
Mr Robathan: Official entertainment offered by the chief of the Defence staff is used to give the public a better understanding of the armed forces, to enhance professional contacts within the UK and abroad, and to promote the UK Government's wider policy interests.
Due consideration is given, at all times, to whether that official entertainment is necessary, appropriate, cost-effective and an admissible charge against the defence budget.
The total cost of entertainment of the Chief of Defence Staff in each of the last three years was:
| £ | |
Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many domestic helicopter flights were taken by the First Sea Lord in the last 12 months; [2034]
(2) how many domestic helicopter flights were taken by the Chief of the Air Staff in the last 12 months; [2053]
(3) how many domestic helicopter flights were taken by the Chief of the General Staff in the last 12 months; [2054]
(4) how many domestic helicopter flights were taken by the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in the last 12 months. [2055]
Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many domestic helicopter flights were taken by the Chief of the Defence Staff in the last 12 months. [1902]
Dr Fox: The following table lists the number of domestic helicopter flights taken by this group during the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.
| Number | |
Visiting UK forces is an essential part of the role of the professional heads of the services. The use of helicopters maximises the number of visits that can be made. Helicopter flights also provide valuable training opportunities for aircrew.
Defence: Procurement
Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on re-evaluating existing defence procurement programmes by staff at Defence Equipment and Support in the latest year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [4349]
Peter Luff: Programmes handled by Defence Equipment and Support are regularly reviewed against their performance, time and cost targets. In addition, as part of the review of public spending commitments made by the last Government between 1 January 2010 and the general election, a number of projects have been re-assessed to ensure that they offer good value for money and are consistent with the Government's priorities. This was conducted as part of normal business and costs are not separately identifiable.
As part of the strategic defence and security review, defence programmes will continue to be reviewed.
Mr Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether he plans to streamline the process for defence procurement overseen by Defence Equipment and Support; [4350]
(2) what changes he plans to the procedures governing defence procurement projects; and what assessment he has made of the likely effect of such changes on Defence Equipment and Support at Abbey Wood. [4706]
Peter Luff: The Department has an ongoing acquisition reform agenda. As well as ensuring the strategic defence and security review (SDSR) establishes an affordable equipment and support programme, the reforms are designed to ensure it remains strategically aligned, affordable and achievable, including by improving internal skills, management and decision-making. The acquisition reform programme also includes issues such as refreshing Ministry of Defence's overall relationship with industry, and ensuring that acquisition supports other defence priorities such as safety and sustainable development.
We will review acquisition reform further after the SDSR completes.
Departmental Manpower
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of people employed in jobs dependent on expenditure by his Department in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [4682]
Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence no longer compiles estimates of sub-UK employment relating to equipment and non equipment in UK industry and commerce as they do not directly support policy making or operations. The last estimates for 2007-08 were published in "UK Defence Statistics" in September 2009. As a result, the complex data analysis required to produce the underlying regional expenditure data is no longer performed. A comparable time series beyond 2007-08 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department continues to publish figures relating to MOD staff directly employed at MOD establishments and bases located across the United Kingdom. The latest available figures for 2008 and 2009 are presented in the following table:
| UK regular forces strength( 1, 4) | Civilian strength( 2,) ( 3, 4) | |||
| April 2008 | April 2009 | April 2008 | April 2009 | |
| (1) UK regular forces include all trained and untrained personnel and exclude Gurkhas, full-time reserve service personnel and mobilised reservists. (2) Civilian personnel includes Trading Fund staff and exclude RFAs and LECs. (3) Measured as full-time equivalent (FTE). FTE is a measure of the size of the work force that takes account of the fact that some people work part-time. (4) Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. | ||||
Departmental Ministerial Advisers
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many special advisers (a) he and (b) each named Minister in his Department (i) has appointed to date and (ii) plans to appoint. [306]
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) political appointments and (b) other personal appointments he has made since his appointment; and at what estimated annual cost to the public purse. [376]
Dr Fox: I refer the hon. Members to the written statement given by the Prime Minister on 10 June 2010, Official Report, columns 33-34WS.
Departmental Official Residences
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any domestic properties in the gift of the Government have been allocated to the use of Ministers in his Department. [1788]
Dr Fox: No domestic properties in the gift of the Government have been allocated to the use of Ministers in the Department.
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