This is a regular round up of Parliamentary questions and answers from ministers relevant to defence issues

In addition to oral questions, MPs and Peers can ask government ministers questions for written answer. These are often used to obtain detailed information about policies and statistics on the activities of government departments.

In the House of Commons ‘ordinary’ questions do not have to be answered on a specific date. An MP will date a written question for two days after they have tabled it (ie, submitted it for answer via the Table Office).

The convention is that the MP can expect it to be answered within seven days of the question being tabled.

Question

Stephen Gilbert (St Austell and Newquay, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average annual operating cost of the (a) Hawk T1 and (b) Hawk T1A aircraft was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Answer

Peter Luff (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative)

Information is not held in the format requested. The Ministry of Defence calculates the operating cost of aircraft per flying hour based on historic data.

The current average costs per flying hour, for financial year 2010-11, are provided in the following table. The figures include forward and depth servicing, fuel, crew and training costs and the cost of capital charge, depreciation and amortisation.

Hawk TI/TIA Estimated cost per hour (figures rounded) (£)

Hawk (RAF Training on 100 Squadron, 19 (Reserve) and 208 (Reserve) Squadrons) 10,000

Hawk (Royal Navy) 7,000

Hawk (Royal Air Force Aerobatics Team) 6,000

The operating cost for RAF Hawk training aircraft on 100, 19 (Reserve) and 208 (Reserve) Squadrons includes elements for simulators and other training infrastructure.

 

Question

Jim Murphy(East Renfrewshire, Labour) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence

(1) what estimate he has made of the likely savings to the public purse arising from the decommissioning of HMS Cumberland over the comprehensive spending review period;

(2) what estimate he has made of the likely weekly cost to the public purse of maintaining HMS Cumberland once it is decommissioned;

(3) what estimate he has made of the operational costs of HMS Cumberland for 2010-11.

Answer

Peter Luff(Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative)

In order to deal with the deficit in the defence budget and contribute to wider deficit reduction, a decision was taken as part of the strategic defence and security review to withdraw from service the remaining four Type 22 Frigates, including HMS Cumberland. The savings arising from this decision will include overheads and other costs relating to the operation of a class of ship. Therefore, the precise savings arising from the withdrawal of an individual ship are not separately identifiable.

The total savings from withdrawing all four ships are estimated at some £240 million across the comprehensive spending review period. It is not possible at this stage to state the costs of maintaining HMS Cumberland following her decommissioning as work is ongoing to identify the optimum disposal route. The projected operating cost for HMS Cumberland in financial year 2010-11, based on actual costs to February 2011 and those estimated for the remainder of the financial year is £16 million.

 

 

Question

David Laws(Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future of the Commando helicopter force; and if he will make a statement.

Answer

Nick Harvey(Minister of State (Armed Forces), Defence; North Devon, Liberal Democrat)

The Strategic Defence and Security Review confirmed the continuing requirement for the Commando Helicopter Force, based at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, particularly in relation to the helicopter lift requirements for littoral manoeuvre. It remains our intention to transfer the Merlin Mk 3/3a helicopters to the Commando Helicopter Force to replace the Sea King Mk 4 helicopters which go out of service by 2016 on current plans.

The force’s fleet of Lynx helicopters will be replaced by Wildcat attack helicopters.

 

 

Question

Priti Patel(Witham, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average cost was of providing a meal to members of the armed forces (a) based in Britain, (b) serving in Afghanistan and (c) serving in another country in the latest period for which figures are available.

Answer

Peter Luff(Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative) Armed forces personnel are primarily catered for through outsourced Catering, Retail and Leisure (CRL) contracts which are being introduced across military bases in the UK, Germany and Cyprus. Some 65% of armed forces personnel are catered for under these arrangements, whereby individuals pay for the meals they consume. Contractors are required to offer a core meal, covering breakfast, lunch and dinner, with set calorific and nutritional standards, in line with the prevailing Daily Food Charge, which is currently capped by the Armed Forces Pay Review body at £4.13 per day. Service personnel can, however, choose an alternative retail offering if they prefer.

As part of a CRL contract, the contractor will customarily receive what is known as the Service Provision Payment (SPP), which covers the costs of the civilian labour required to deliver the service, which the Ministry of Defence would otherwise have to provide. SPP varies from contract to contract, the competitions for which are run at individual unit, or group of units’ level. For armed forces personnel stationed in bases not currently covered by CRL arrangements, including those serving on operations and overseas exercises, Daily Messing Rates (DMRs) apply. DMRs are the cost of ingredients based upon bespoke ration scales; these rates are adjusted quarterly to reflect food cost inflation and are currently set as follows: These amounts cover the provision of three meals a day but exclude the cost of logistics, which for locations such as Afghanistan is significant-for financial year 2009-10, the cost of food provided to personnel in Afghanistan was £17.944 million while the associated Logistical Operating Costs excluding contractor’s profit was £46.595 million.

The corresponding figures for non-deployed personnel not covered by CRL arrangements were £50.440 million for food and £15.994 million for logistical operating costs.

Location Daily Messing Rate

UK (£) 2.36

Falkland and Ascension Islands (£) 2.88

Afghanistan (Operation Herrick) (£) 3.89

Germany (on exercise) (€) 4.35

Cyprus (on exercise) (€) 4.30

 

Question

Fabian Hamilton(Leeds North East, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK of the NATO share of the contribution to the US missile defence system.

Answer

Gerald Howarth(Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (International Security Strategy), Defence; Aldershot, Conservative)

In November 2010 Alliance members agreed that they would develop a NATOBallistic Missile Defence capability, of which the US missile defence system will form an important part. The cost of developing the NATO system is estimated to be between €864-928 million over 10 years. The UK currently contributes 11.5% to the NATO Security Investment Programme, from which this capability is funded.

 

 

Question

Bob Ainsworth(Coventry North East, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate he has made of the likely savings to his Department through contract renegotiations over the comprehensive spending review period; (2) how much money his Department has saved as a result of contract renegotiations since May 2010.

Answer

Peter Luff(Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Defence Equipment, Support and Technology), Defence; Mid Worcestershire, Conservative)

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently examining 130 contracts relating to the strategic defence and security review (SDSR) decisions, which is expected to increase to some 500 contracts in due course. We expect the process of renegotiating these contracts to take around 18 months. The MOD has made estimates of the cost savings that will accrue from contractual renegotiations, and from other measures in the SDSR, for the purposes of formulating policy. Some of these estimates have been published to help inform the public debate. Release of further detail may prejudice commercial interests. Final savings figures will depend on detailed implementation, which will generally be subject to full consultation with all relevant parties, including the trade unions and the devolved Administrations, as well as the results of mandatory assessments on the impact that the measures will have on sustainability, equality and diversity and health and safety. I am, therefore, not prepared to release more detailed information at present.