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Armed Forces: Allowances
Lord Burnett asked Her Majesty's Government:
When British troops who have been deployed in Afghanistan for over three months will receive all the additional allowances payable to them by virtue of such deployment. [HL1019]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): Service personnel who have served for over three months in Afghanistan will receive their tax-free operational allowance, worth about £2,240 fora six-month deployment, as one lump-sum payment via their salary when they return from their tour of duty to their permanent unit. However, while they are deployed, service personnel are also entitled to a daily rate of separation allowance that is taxable and paid via their salary on a monthly basis.
Armed Forces: Entry Search and Seizure
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the Armed Forces (Entry Search and Seizure) Order 2006 and the Armed Forces (Entry Search and Seizure) (Amendment) Order 2006 have been laid under the Armed Forces Act 2001 rather than the Armed Forces Act 2006. [HL932]
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): The orders referred to were laid under the Armed Forces Act 2001 because the relevant provisions of the Armed Forces Act 2006 have not been brought into force. Until the 2006 Act provisions are commenced we must continue to make secondary legislation under the existing Armed Forces Acts. In this case the relevant enabling powers are contained in the Armed Forces Act 2001.
Armed Forces: Joint Strike Fighter
Lord Luke asked Her Majesty's Government:
When the first Joint Strike Fighter for service on the new aircraft carriers will be delivered; and whether that date will affect the projected in-service date for the carriers.[HL880]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): We will not be setting in-service dates for the Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) or the future aircraft carriers (CVF) until we take the respective main investment decisions. We will take those decisions when the projects are sufficiently mature. Our plans for JCA remain coherent with the CVF programme.
Armed Forces: Steven Roberts Inquiry
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the recommendations in the published findings of the board of inquiry into the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts in March 2003, how many sets of Osprey body armour the defence clothing integrated project team have produced to date; how many of these sets have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq; and when the delivery of the total 20,550 sets is expected to be completed. [HL1013]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): Some 15,550 sets of Osprey body armour have been procured to date, all of which have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. Delivery of the remaining 5,000 sets, which are for pre-deployment training and maintenance stocks, is due to be completed by 31 January 2007.
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the recommendations in the published findings of the board of inquiry into the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts in March 2003, how many Kestrel body armour systems have been produced to date; and what percentage of these are in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. [HL1014]
Lord Drayson: A total of 4,600 sets of Kestrel body armour have been procured to date. All have been deployed: 3,500 sets are in Iraq and the remaining
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Arms Trade: Al Yamamah
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Under what statutory or prerogative power the Attorney-General gave instructions to the Serious Fraud Office not to pursue its investigation of offences of corruption in relation to Saudi Arabian arms contracts; what limits there are, if any, on the exercise of this power to halt investigations; and into what classes of offence. [HL927]
The Attorney-General (Lord Goldsmith): No such instructions were given. The SFO itself decided to discontinue its investigation but not as a result of any instructions from me.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Attorney-General received representations from BAE Systems warning of the adverse impact on business from the loss of a Eurofighter Typhoon agreement unless the Serious Fraud Office investigation into alleged bribery of Saudi officials was halted. [HL986]
Lord Goldsmith: BAE Systems made such representations to me in November 2005, which I passed on to the Serious Fraud Office. However, in reaching the decision to discontinue the investigation, in accordance with Article 5 of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, the SFO took no account of such considerations.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the respective roles and responsibilities of the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General in reaching the decision to halt the Serious Fraud Office investigation into alleged bribery by BAE Systems of Saudi officials. [HL987]
Lord Goldsmith: The decision to discontinue the investigation was made by the Serious Fraud Office, which exercises its functions under my statutory superintendence. As I explained in my Statement of 14 December 2006, I obtained views from the Prime Minister and the Foreign and Defence Secretaries as to the public interest considerations raised by the investigation. The nature of those views was set out in my Statement.
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Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the decision to abandon the Serious Fraud Office investigation into the Al Yamamah oil-for-arms contracts was influenced by pressure from Saudi Arabia in relation to the jet fighter contract with Saudi Arabia. [HL1050]
Lord Goldsmith: No. As I explained in my Statement of 14 December 2006, the public interest factors taken into account by the SFO related to national and international security, not commercial or economic considerations.
Aviation: Gibraltar Air Traffic
Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to increase safety at Gibraltar airport, given the increased traffic being created by more airlines flying there. [HL595]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): Aviation safety and security relating to civil operations at Gibraltar Airport are governed by the pertinent rules and regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The safeguarding of the aerodrome is regulated by the Government, with the assistance of Air Safety Support International, which makes regular visits to Gibraltar to ensure that the relevant standards are met. Gibraltar Airport has considerable capacity to expand and the increased traffic that is envisaged will not affect the capacity of the airfield to continue to meet its international obligations.
Additional safety measures are planned following the Cordoba ministerial statement on Gibraltar Airport, including the introduction of new final approach paths to the airport in order to enhance operational safety conditions.
BBC: Arabic Television Service
Lord Watson of Richmond asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the reasons for BBC World's planned Arabic television service offering less than 24-hour coverage. [HL879]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): BBC World Service (BBCWS) approached the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2005 with a proposal to launch a12-hour Arabic TV service. The proposal made it clear that BBCWS was confident, based on careful research, that a 12-hour service would make a significant impact. A 12-hour service was deemed to be correct when assessed against the
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Benefits: Incapacity and Severe Disability
Lord Skelmersdale asked Her Majesty's Government:
In each of the past five years, how many claimants of incapacity benefit and severe disability allowance ceased to claim, by age decile. [HL719]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The information is shown in the tables below.
| Incapacity Benefit terminations in each of the past five years by age decile (Thousands) | |||||
| IB | Year to May 02 | Year to May 03 | Year to May 04 | Year to May 05 | Year to May 06 |
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