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DSA 2000
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the UK firms represented at DSA 2000 in Malaysia; what recent meetings Ministers or officials have had with such firms in respect of licensed production; and what products on display at DSA 2000 are (a) manufactured and (b) designed by UK firms. [126765]
Dr. Moonie: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Rifles
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policy has been adopted with regard to the sale of self-reloading rifles no longer required by the British Army. [126461]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 19 June 2000]: Our policy is that small arms (other than automatic weapons which are routinely destroyed) which are declared surplus by the Ministry of Defence area available only to Governments, including acceptable military, paramilitary and police organisations (either directly or through duly licensed entities authorised to procure weapons on their behalf), to meet their legitimate defence and security requirements. All such transfers are assessed on a case by case basis against the UK national export licence assessment criteria and the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports.
In practice, few inquiries are received for the purchase of surplus small arms and the reality is that most are destroyed.
Civil Servants
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the further dispersal of MOD civil servants outside London to other parts of the United Kingdom. [126678]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 21 June 2000]: The following planned moves will result in civil service staff being relocated from London to other parts of the United Kingdom:
- As part of the Head Office redevelopment the number of staff in London will reduce, fulfilling one of the aims of the Strategic Defence Review. Staff will move to a number of locations including York, Bath and Bristol;
- As part of the integration of the former Army Technical Support Agency (ATSA) functions into the Equipment Support (Land) organisation in the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO), many of the 216 civilian posts at ATSA Woolwich will move to Andover in late 2002;
- 48 civilian posts at the former Print and Distribution Function Woolwich are due to transfer to the Defence and Storage Distribution Agency (DSDA) at Llangennech.
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Sierra Leone
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what reports he has received concerning the well-being of Major Andrew Harrison, serving in Sierra Leone, following his involvement with the RUF; what assessment he has made of threats to Major Harrison and the Ghurkha detachment being held hostage by the RUF; and if he will make a statement; [127310]
- (2) what recent discussions he has had with the (a) UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone and (b) Revolutionary United Front concerning Major Andrew Harrison. [127311]
Mr. Hoon: I receive regular briefings on the situation regarding Major Harrison from civilian and military officials, who are in daily contact with him. I spoke to him myself by telephone on Monday 19 June. He is well and in good spirits, and is well protected by the Indian Gurkha forces at Kailahun. Although, because of the presence of RUF forces, the UN forces there are restricted in their freedom of movement outside the UN compound, they are not hostages and there is currently no direct threat to them or to Major Harrison. Although this is primarily a matter for the UN, we are liaising closely with them in Sierra Leone and New York in an effort to resolve the situation peacefully. I have not had any contact with the RUF.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many troops, and from which regiments, were affected by the failure to supply sufficient quantities of mefloquine in West Africa. [126054]
Mr. Hoon [holding answer 15 June 2000]: The number of personnel who deployed to West Africa on Operation Palliser without supplies of anti-malarial tablets, and the reasons for this, are currently being investigated by my Department. Supplies of the tablets were readily available and there are no known problems with the supply chain.
Non-procurement Fraud
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the cost to its budget in each of the last five years in relation to non-procurement fraud; and if he will make a statement. [126686]
Dr. Moonie: The reported estimated annual costs of non-procurement fraud for the financial years 1995-96 to 1999-2000 inclusive are as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 217,000 |
| 1996-97 | 234,000 |
| 1997-98 | 98,000 |
| 1998-99 | 570,000 |
| 1999-2000 | 99,000 |
No abatement is made for subsequent recoveries. These figures relate to a combination of suspected and proven frauds with estimated values refined from time to time as investigations, sometimes lasting a year or more, reach a conclusion.
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Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many written parliamentary questions tabled to his Department between 19 October 1999 and 20 April 2000 have not received substantive answers, citing as the reason commercial or other confidentiality. [127340]
Dr. Moonie: I will write to the right hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Trigat Programme
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the medium-range Trigat programme. [125782]
Dr. Moonie: The MR TRIGAT Industrialisation and Production (I&P) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by Germany, France and the UK, but has not come into force because Belgium and the Netherlands have yet to sign. This has delayed the placing of the MR TRIGAT Industrialisation and Production contract by over 12 months. The situation has been further complicated by a request from Germany to reduce the number of equipments envisaged when that country signed the MOU. These uncertainties cast significant doubt on whether (and when) a contract based on the existing MOU will be possible.
Our priority must be to deliver a cost effective anti-tank guided weapon capability with the minimum delay. To this end, we continue to liaise with the participating nations to resolve the current uncertainty and to agree a way forward.
Arms Exports (Saudi Arabia)
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the value of United Kingdom arms exports to Saudi Arabia in each of the past five years. [126251]
Dr. Moonie: I refer my hon. Friend to the 1997 and 1998 Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls, which contain details of the value of arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Copies of these reports have been placed in the Library of the House. The 1999 Annual Report is due to be published shortly. Comparable information for other year could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
General Permitted Development Order
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to amend the General Permitted Development Order made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1995. [126284]
Ms Beverley Hughes: In February, my Department launched a research project which includes a review of the changes of use granted permission by the General Permitted Development Order 1995. In May, we announced in response to the report by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones that the Government was
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minded to introduce a requirement for an application for full planning permission for all new telecommunications masts. However, we would need to consult widely on the principle and precise scope of any new arrangements, including the extent to which the existing permitted development rights in the Order might need to be amended. My Department also issued jointly with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 19 June a consultation paper which proposes that a planning application should in future be made for certain works within conservation areas that currently benefit from permitted development rights. Implementation of the proposal would require amendment of the Order.
Transport Plan
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make it his policy to publish an environmental appraisal alongside the Government's Ten Year Transport Plan. [126852]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The Ten Year Plan will contain an assessment of the Plan's impact on key environmental indicators.
Interactive Voice Response Systems
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many agencies of his Department use interactive voice response systems when dealing with telephone inquiries from the general public. [127113]
Ms Beverley Hughes: None of the Department's nine executive agencies currently offers telephone services that recognise and react to the spoken word.
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