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Defence Aviation Repair Agency
Lord Gregson asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What targets have been set for the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) for the financial year 2002–03.[HL5472]
Lord Bach: Key Performance Indicators have been set for the chief executive of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) for financial year 2002–03 as follows:
| Title | Details | Target |
| KPI 1–FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 1 | The measurement of DARA's ROCE | To achieve a minimum average ROCE of 6 per cent over the first three years of trading—subject to the maintenance of current MoD customer planning assumptions, the availability of sufficient funding and the understanding that directed sub-contract work will count towards the obligation |
| KPI 2–FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 2 | The measurement of value of contracts won. | To achieve order intake to the value of at least £60 million. |
| KPI 3–QUALITY | The measurement of attributable major customer concerns received from DARA's customers. | To have no more attributable major customer concerns than the baseline set on DARA's performance of FY - |
| KPI4–EFFICIENCY | The measurement of the reduction in unit production price of a representative basket of DARA outputs. | To achieve a reduction in the unit production price of 4 per cent in real terms, of the basket of products (weighted by value of annual task quantity), baselined from FY01/02—subject to the maintenance of current MoD customer planning assumptions, the availability of sufficient funding and the understanding that directed sub-contract work will count towards the obligation. |
Gulf Veterans: Deaths
Lord Elder asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are the latest figures for deaths of Gulf veterans, and amongst the control group.[HL5473]
Lord Bach: The latest data, as at 30 June 2002, are shown in Table 1. Because of concern among some Gulf veterans over deaths caused by cancer, Table 2 provides a detailed breakdown of deaths from cancer (malignant neoplasm) by anatomical site.
We are currently discussing with the University of Manchester proposals for a detailed comparative study of the incidence of cancers among Gulf veterans and the Era comparison group and underlying factors, and hope to place a contract shortly. We also plan to commission a study of a cohort of Bosnia veterans on whom data is already available.
We are also discussing with the University of Manchester a detailed study of the factors underlying the figures for road traffic accident deaths, and hope to place a contract in the near future.
In addition, we have asked the Medical Research Council (MRC) to undertake an independent review of the research work that has been carried out into Gulf veterans' illnesses and advise on appropriate areas for furture research. The MRC's conclusions will be published.
| ICD Chapter | Cause of death | Gulf | Era | Mortality Rate Ratio (Note: 3) |
| All deaths | 551 | 547 | 1.00 | |
| All cause coded deaths | 542 | 537 | 1.00 | |
| I—XVI | Disease-related causes | 213 | 256 | 0.83 |
| I | Infectious and parasitic diseases | 4 | 2 | 1.99 |
| II | Cancers | 92 | 99 | 0.93 |
| III | Endocrine and immune disorders | 1 | 4 | 0.25 |
| V | Mental disorders | 11 | 12 | 0.91 |
| VI | Diseases of the nervous system and sense organs | 10 | 8 | 1.24 |
| VII | Diseases of the circulatory system | 71 | 99 | 0.71 |
| VIII | Diseases of the respiratory system | 10 | 5 | 1.99 |
| IX | Diseases of the digestive system | 12 | 17 | 0.70 |
| IV, X-XVI | All other disease-related causes | 2 | 10 | 0.20 |
| EXVII | External causes of injury and poisoning | 329 | 281 | 1.17 |
| Railway accidents | 4 | 1 | 3.98 | |
| Motor vehicle accidents | 118 | 92 | 1.27 | |
| Water transport accidents | 4 | 1 | 3.98 | |
| Air and space accidents | 25 | 18 | 1.38 | |
| Other vehicle accidents | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Accidental poisoning | 11 | 14 | 0.78 | |
| Accidental falls | 8 | 7 | 1.14 | |
| Accidents due to fire/flames | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Accidents due to natural environmental factors | 2 | 2 | 1.00 | |
| Accidents due to submersion/suffocation/foreign bodies | 17 | 7 | 2.42 | |
| Other accidents | 31 | 28 | 1.14 | |
| Late effects of accident/injury | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Suicide and injury undetermined whether accidental | 100 | 97 | 1.03 | |
| Homicide | 6 | 4 | 1.49 | |
| Injury resulting from the operations of war | 3 | 4 | 0.75 | |
| Other deaths for which coded cause data are not yet available | 5 | 4 | ||
| Other deaths for which cause data are not available | 4 | 6 |
Notes:
1. Service and Ex-Service personnel only.
2. World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases 9th revision 1977.
3. Mortality rate ratios differ marginally from the crude deaths ratio owing to some small differences between the Gulf and Era cohorts.
1. Service and Ex-Service personnel only.
2. World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases 9th revision 1977.
Lord Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bach: The Government consider it important to respect the principle that where there is a clear, demonstrable decision taken within five years of a campaign that a General Service Medal should not be awarded, that decision should not be reopened.
The evidence relating to consideration of a General Service Medal for the Suez canal zone is however less clear-cut. A number of representations have been made by the veterans of that campaign with which the Government have considerable sympathy.
In view of these exceptional circumstances, the Government are setting up a small sub-committee of HD Committee under the chairmanship of General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank to report on the case for an exceptional award of a General Service Medal for the Suez canal zone without creating wider precedent or breaching longstanding principles which underpin the making of such awards.
Baroness Lockwood asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath) : My right honourable friend the Minister for Health (Mr Hutton) represented the United Kingdom at the Health Council in Luxembourg on 26 June 2002.
The Council debated the Commission's package of proposals for review of pharmaceutical legislation, covering the authorisation of medicinal products through a centralised authorisation procedure and the constitution of the management board of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA). No conclusions were reached.
During discussions of the framework convention on tobacco control, the commission along with the incoming Danish Presidency, urged member states to be flexible to allow the adoption of a strong European Union position for the next round of negotiations in Geneva in October. Some member states called for high level political input to seek to avoid adoption of a position that simply represented the lowest common denominator. The United Kingdom remains a supporter of a strong and effective convention.
Council conclusions on patient mobility were adopted; with the Commission expected to bring forward proposals during the Danish Presidency.
The rest of the agenda covered the presentation of new dossiers or updates on the progress of current legislation. The Commission presented a draft directive on the safety of tissues and cells, to complement the current one on blood safety, as well as one on traditional medicines. There were also and two recommendations one on smoking prevention a tobacco control and another on the reduction of risks associated with drug dependence.
Details of these and other agenda items are set out in the table which will placed in the Library. No votes were taken on any issue before the Council.
ICD 9 Site Gulf Era
140-239 All neoplasms 92 99
140-149 Malignant neoplasm of lip, oral cavity and pharynx
3 4
150-159 Malignant neoplasm of digestive organs and peritoneum
18 23
160-165 Malignant neoplasm of respiratory and intrathoracic organs
15 21
170-175 Malignant neoplasm of bone, connective tissue, skin and breast
14 8
179-189 Malignant neoplasm of genitourinary organs
2 4
190-199 Malignant neoplasm of other and unspecified site
18 26
200-208 Malignant neoplasm of lymphatic and haematopoietic tissue
19 11
239 Unspecified nature
3 2
Notes:
What progress has been made on the award of a General Service Medal to those who served in the armed forces in Suez canal zone from 1951 to 1954.[HL5536]
What was the outcome of the Health Council held on 26 June; and what their stance was on each issue discussed, including their voting record.[HL5539]
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