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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 12 March 1993
DEFENCE
Bosnia
Mr. Day : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what further consideration he has given to the deployment of forces in the Bosnia region ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Rifkind : I informed the House on 14 January at column 1057 that in order to enhance the safety of our troops in Bosnia I was authorising the deployment of additional forces to the region. These included HMS Ark Royal and her carrier group, with a light gun battery and associated support units embarked. I made clear that these deployments did not mark any change in our policy in the area. The carrier group reached the Adriatic on 26 January.
We have kept this deployment under continuous review. We judge it still to be essential that the carrier group remains on station in the Adriatic to carry out the role for which it was orginally deployed, and that the associated personnel remain in a high state of readiness. In the light of current circumstances, we are satisfied that this readiness can now be achieved by moving most of the Army personnel concerned, who have been embarked on ships in the Adriatic, to the United Kingdom where they will be able to resume normal training. They will be available to rejoin their equipment by air at very short notice if this becomes necessary.
Vulcan Bomber
Mr. Olner : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason training flights for the remaining Vulcan bomber have been continued ; and when has been the cost of continuing training from September 1992 to the present.
Mr. Aitken : The Vulcan is flown occasionally to maintain aircrew currency for a delivery flight to its eventual purchaser. The additional cost of operating and maintaining the aircraft between 20 September 1992-- the date of its last display--and 26 February 1993--its most recent continuation flight--was approximately £3,600.
Atomic Weapons Establishments
Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the exact role (a) Brown and Root, (b) Hunting plc and (c) Atomic Energy Authority Technology would play in the day-to-day management of the AWEs.
Mr. Aitken : Brown and Root, Hunting plc and AEA Technology have formed Hunting BRAE Ltd. as a joint venture company, which has been selected as the winner of the competition to appoint a contractor to operate the Atomic Weapons Establishment from 1 April 1993. It is Hunting BRAE Ltd., rather than its parent organisation,
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which will have the responsibility and authority for day-to-day management of the establishment after that date, subject of course to MOD's stringent operating requirements.Departmental Properties
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many MOD properties were (a) offered for sale and (b) sold under their discount scheme in 1992, 1991 and 1990.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is set out in the table :
Year |Offered for sale|Sold -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1992 |321 |385 1991 |460 |525 1990 |721 |715
Some of the properties sold were dwellings which were offered for sale in the previous year.
Service Personnel (Housing)
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what discussions he has had with local authority associations concerning the housing needs of personnel leaving the services ;
(2) what discussions he has had with local authorities in areas covering MOD sites concerning the housing needs of personnel leaving the services.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Officials from my Department are in regular contact with local authorities. The Department of the Environment circular 54/75 gives local authorities advice about the housing requirements of ex- service personnel. My officials have been considering with Environment Department officials the revision and re-issue of that guidance. The Department of the Environment will be consulting local authority associations on the draft text of a replacement circular shortly.
Inhumane Weapons
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what are the defence implications of the delay in ratification of the 1981 inhumane weapons convention by Her Majesty's Government ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what are the defence implications of the delay in ratification of the 1977 additional protocols to the Geneva convention by Her Majesty's Government ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are no defence implications. Our armed forces already adhere to the principles laid down in both the additional protocols to the Geneva conventions and the United Nations weaponry convention.
Secondary Medical Care
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 26 February to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox), Official Report, column 740, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of building a new joint RAF-NHS hospital in East Anglia.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : There are no plans to build a new joint hospital.
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 26 February to the hon. Member for Woodspring, (Dr. Fox) Official Report, column 740, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of modernising and expanding the Princess Alexandra hospital, Wroughton.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The information requested is
commercial-in-confidence.
Princess Mary Hospital, Halton
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the costs of closing the Princess Mary hospital, Halton.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : This will depend on the future use of the hospital site.
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with (a) Oxford regional health authority, (b) Buckinghamshire Purchasing Agency, (c) Aylesbury Vale community health council, (d) Buckinghamshire family health services authority and (e) Stoke Mandeville hospital concerning his decision to close the Princess Mary hospital, Halton.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : Exploratory meetings have taken place between Royal Air Force staff and representatives of the Oxford regional health authority, the Buckinghamshire Purchasing Agency, and the Stoke Mandeville hospital to discuss our proposals for the reorganisation of RAF secondary medical care. We will be seeking the views of all local health bodies affected by our plans.
Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the proposals for the establishment of an MOD-funded wing at Stoke Mandeville hospital.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : A number of potential sites for the proposed joint MOD/NHS venture to cover our requirements in East Anglia are being considered. A final decision on location has not yet been made.
Civil Servants (Redundancies)
Mr. Viggers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many central London-based administrative level civil servants in his Department of administration trainee level and above have been made redundant or warned for redundancy in the past 18 months ; and if he will classify these by rank.
Mr. Aitken : My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.
Contracting Out
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all those services or functions that have been contracted out from his Department since
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November 1991 without market testing an in- house bid against external competition, with, in each instance, the successful contractor and the reasons for the decision to exclude an in- house bid.Mr. Aitken : Detailed information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The services contracted out since November 1991 have, however, included some cases where a substantive in-house bid was not tested against external competition, but not necessarily because an in-house bid was "excluded". The reasons for these include the requirement being for a short-term contract making in- house provision impracticable, and the in-house operation being invited to bid but declining to do so.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Market Testing
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in the Land Registry since November 1991 ; whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision or whether the service was contracted out ; what was the name of the successful contractor where appropriate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993 :
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning HM Registry's market testing programme.
Since November 1991, market testing projects relating to the following services have been initiated :--
Building Management/Maintenance and Estate Services
Legal Services
Catering
Security Guarding
Land Registry Surveys
Land Registry Property Inspections
Printing and Graphic Design
Records Management
These projects are at varying stages of development but none that involve existing in-house provision have reached the point at which a contract has been awarded. The Registry will continue to participate in the service-wide initiative to market test appropriate services. The market testing programme is one component of the Registry's commitment to improve the quality of the service it provides and ensure that its customers receive best value for money.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in the Land Registry are assigned to the market- testing programme ; how much the programme has cost the Land Registry since November 1991 ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. John M. Taylor : The hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993 :
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning resources used in HM Land Registry's market testing programme.
The Registry has appointed a Project Board to oversee its market testing programme. Staff involved with the programme report, via Project Managers, to the Project Board. The equivalent of approximately 6 full time staff are engaged on this work. From November 1991 to date, the total staff and non- staff costs associated with the programme is estimated to be £250,000.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in the Lord Chancellor's Department are assigned to the market-testing programme ; how much the programme has cost his Department since November 1991 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : There are 12 staff assigned to the market testing programme in the Lord Chancellor's Department. The programme has cost £375,000 since November 1991. These figures include those engaged on the review of enforcement agents and their cost, as well as the costs of those consultants engaged to assist with managing the programme.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in the Lord Chancellor's Department since November 1991 ; whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision or whether the service was contracted out ; and what was the name of the successful contractor where appropriate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : Since November 1991 the Lord Chancellor's Department has put out to tender the professional services required to manage its accommodation and development of new court buildings. Prior to that date these services were provided by PSA Services. Lists of the commissions which have been let are as follows :
Court Building
Scheme |Service |Company
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bournemouth |Design |Stride Treglown
Bournemouth |Quantity Surveying |Gleeds
Docklands |Feasibility and |Kyle Stewart
|Design
Docklands |Estate Surveying |Knight Frank and
|Rutley
Docklands |Quantity Surveying |C. F. Baker and
|Partners
Cardiff |Project Management |W. S. Atkins
Crawley |Feasibility and |PSA Projects
|Design
Staines |Feasibility and Design|Kyle Stewart
|Design
Staines |Estate Surveying |PSA BM South
|East
Neath |Project Management |W. S. Atkins
Pontypridd |Project Management |W. S. Atkins
Leicester |Project Management |CS Project
|Management
Newport Isle of |Project Management |TT Project
Wight |Management
Bournemouth |Project Management |Widnell Project
|Management
Managing agent ------------------------------------------------------------ Chelmsford group |Drivers Jonas Kingston group |Drivers Jonas Western circuit "A" |PSA Bournemouth Western circuit "B" |Torpy M&O circuit |E. C. Harris North East circuit |Bernard Thorpe HQ building |PSA (BM) SE London group |McBains Northern circuit |Grimley J. R. Eve Maidstone group |McBains RCJ |Turner and Townsend Wales and Chester |Torpy
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the firms of consultants used by the Land Registry as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John. M. Taylor : The hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of Her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993.
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning the use of consultants as part of HM Land Registry's market testing programme.
The Land Registry has used the following consultants to assist in carrying through its market testing programme :--
Building Management/Maintenance and Estate Services--Acer Consultants Limited
Catering--Touche Ross
The estimated total cost in the current financial year is £152,000. The Registry employs external consultants for market testing purposes when there is a need to supplement the expertise and experience of its own staff. That policy will continue to be applied to future market testing programmes.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the firms of consultants used by the Lord Chancellor's Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The firms of consultants used by the Lord Chancellor's Department as part of the market-testing programme since November 1991 are :
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PE InternationalAMTEC Consulting
DM Management Consultants Ltd.
Kyte and Co.
Coopers and Lybrand
Price Waterhouse
MBA Consultants
The total cost as at 1 March 1993 is £152,000.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Attorney-General if he will list all those services or functions that have been contracted out from the Land Registry since November 1991 without market testing an in-house bid against external competition, with, in each instance, the successful contractor and the reasons for the decision to exclude an in-house bid.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The hon. Member's question concerns a specific matter on which the chief executive of her Majesty's Land Registry is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from John Manthorpe to Mr. John McAllion, dated 11 March 1993.
As Chief Executive of the Land Registry it is my responsibility to answer questions on operational matters. The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has therefore asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question to him concerning services contracted out from HM Land Registry.
Since November 1991 no further services or functions have been contracted out from the Land Registry. In-house bids are being invited in respect of each of the internal services currently included in the Land Registry's market testing programme. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the House Library.
Contract Law
Mr. Boateng : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Norwood (Mr. Fraser) of 10 February, Official Report, column 623, if he will list the representations he has received on the Law Commission's proposals to abolish the principle of privity of contract distinguishing between those in favour of those opposed to the proposals.
Mr. John M. Taylor : No, it would not be practicable to do so. The Lord Chancellor has received a large number of representations from commercial landlords and tenants on the Law Commission's proposals. Although in general the former oppose and the latter support them, there is no uniformity of view within each group ; for example, there are differing opinions among landlords as to whether the proposals should extend to future leases and among tenants as to whether they should extend to existing leases.
Legal Aid
Ms Janet Anderson : To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of the total legal aid budget is accounted for by the cost of compulsory attendance and cover to police stations by solicitors 365 days per year.
Mr. John M. Taylor : The total cost of the duty solicitor police station scheme in 1991-92, which provides for an
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initial telephone service as well as attendance at police stations, was £53.6 million. This accounted for 5.9 per cent. of the total net expenditure on legal aid. Information on the detailed breakdown of the overall figure is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.ENVIRONMENT
Rural Housing
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many units were provided by housing associations in rural areas for each year since 1979 ; and what proportion this represented of the total provision for housing associations for that year.
Sir George Young : Figures are readily available only for schemes supported by the Housing Corporation since 1989-90. Information for earlier years cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost. The numbers of approvals granted by the Housing Corporation since 1989-90 in settlements with populations of 3,000 or fewer and the proportion of total approvals these represent are as follows :
|Approvals in |Proportion of total
|settlements of |approvals
|3,000 or fewer
|Per cent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989-90 |578 |2.7
1990-91 |348 |2.8
1991-92 |2,345 |5.5
1992-93 |1,788 |3.7
The 1992-93 figures are to 28 February 1993, and exclude approvals given under the housing market package.
Council Tax
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce a 50 per cent. reduction in council tax for single householders in place of the current reduction.
Mr. Robin Squire : No. The existing 25 per cent. discount for single adult households is reasonable.
Docklands Light Railway
Mr. David Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to improve the performance of the Docklands light railway.
Mr. Redwood : The chairman of the Docklands light railway yesterday announced the signing of a contract with Brown and Root Projects Ltd. to deliver improved performance and equipment reliability for the railway. The contractor will take responsibility for completing and commissioning the new extension to Beckton, for introducing new rolling stock and an advanced new signalling and control centre. The contract is based on specified levels of performance and system reliability which will provide direct benefits to the quality of service offered to the DLR's customers.
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Local Government, Derbyshire
Mrs. Angela Knight : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the Local Government Commission to publish draft recommendations for local government structure in Derbyshire ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : The draft recommendations were due on 21 March. However, the commission has asked for more time to consider the many representations made to it, particularly on community identity. I have today issued a direction which extends this stage of the process until 16 May 1993.
This extension will not effect the time allowed for public consultation on the draft recommendations. There will however be a corresponding reduction in the time allowed for the commission to prepare the final report, so it is still due on 19 September.
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