Quentin Davies: The Secretary of State for Defence has not personally been involved in discussions relating to Sea Viper. However, I have been briefed by industry, partner nations and officials on a number of occasions, both on the recent test firing of the Sea Viper missile system and, more generally, on the weapons systems on the new Type 45 destroyers.
Nick Harvey: 20 depleted uranium shells were test-fired from the Ministry of Defence-owned Kirkcudbright Range (in Scotland) into the Solway Firth, which feeds into the Irish sea, on 11 and 12 March 2008. No other depleted uranium test firings have taken place since.
Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many fires have taken place on UK (a) nuclear-powered and (b) nuclear-armed submarines in the last five years; and how many of those fires on submarines occurred (a) at sea and (b) while berthed.
Stephen Ladyman: The Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS 1974) requires passenger roll-on roll-off ferries to be fitted with a type-approved, fixed pressure water spraying system to extinguish fires on the vehicle decks. The convention also requires drainage or pumping arrangements sufficient to ensure that the water from the spraying system will be discharged rapidly from the ship, to avoid the serious...
Mike Penning: The international conventions for the safety of life at sea (SOLAS) provide that vessel operators must ensure the operational safety of their vessels through the application of a safety management system, in accordance with the International Safety Management Code. Among other things this requires companies to operate their ships in accordance with mandatory rules and regulations and in such...
Marie Rimmer: To ask the Attorney General, what data protection training has been given to (a) the Treasury Solicitor, (b) the Head of Litigation, (c) the Head of the Bona Vacantia Division, (d) the Ministry of Justice Advisory SCS1 Team Leaders, (e) the Ministry of Justice Legal SCS2 Team Leaders and (f) Legal Aid Agency Senior Lawyers at Grade 6 or above since 1 July 2013.
Tim Loughton: I understand from Her Majesty's Chief Inspector that Ofsted has incurred costs of £331,059 including payments to the Treasury Solicitor, counsel's fees and VAT. Ofsted has incurred other in-house staffing costs which are not readily identifiable. The Department has so far incurred costs of £92,753.09 (including VAT) in respect of representation in the legal proceedings by the Treasury...
Ben Bradshaw: The Department does not instruct the Treasury Solicitor in the appellate courts, preferring instead to conduct nearly all domestic litigation with the help of in-house lawyers. Information on the number of times the Department itself has sought leave to appeal to the House of Lords, and on the number of times applications have been rejected, could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Dr Lynda Clark: The identifiable costs of the office are not limited to the work of the Advocate-General but include litigation and advisory work, including the preparation of Bills, carried out by lawyers from the Office of Solicitor to the Advocate-General on behalf of Government Departments. The figure for 2002–03, in respect of identifiable costs of staff and related administration for my office, was...
Harry Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General on what grounds the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew charges against Kamel Bourgass and co-defendants of conspiring to make chemical and biological weapons and substituted conspiracy to cause a public nuisance; for what reasons Government lawyers requested an order requiring no reporting of the charge of making chemical weapons being dropped at the time; and if...
Kim Howells: The media reported on 19 June that North Korea had test-fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan. We have since consulted our international partners and concluded that, contrary to initial media reporting, North Korea did not test fire any missiles on 19 June. Recent media reporting on 21 June also reflected that North Korea did not conduct a missile test launch on 19 June.
Tobias Ellwood: We are aware of Israeli forces responding to illegal rocket fire from Gaza with 29 strikes since the 26 August 2014 Gaza ceasefire agreement. According to figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israeli forces have opened fire into the Gaza Access Restricted Areas on land and sea on at least 696 occasions since then....
Robert Courts: The recent fire and explosion on board the X-Press Pearl and the subsequent environmental impact of the incident highlights the importance of fire safety on container ships. There are two main international standards applicable in these cases, these are the International Code for Fire Safety Systems and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code. These are implemented in the UK...
John Denham: holding answer 3 December 2001 I am informed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that a substantive reply was provided to lawyers acting for Detective Inspector John Redgrave on 5 November 2001. The delay in providing this reply was caused by the need to seek legal advice on the complex issue involved. A change of solicitor dealing with the matter extended the time taken to...
Mike Penning: The following principal types were required to be designated: boats, aircraft, ground units and supplementary units. The following search and rescue units are designated as being available: Boats/vessels-short-range coastal, long-range sea going; Aircraft-Cessna 402, Sea King, AW139 and S92 helicopters; Ground units-coastguard shore search teams controlled by Maritime Rescue co-ordination...
Mike Penning: The following principal types were required to be designated: Boats, Aircraft, Ground Units and Supplementary Units. The following search and rescue units are designated as being available: Boats/Vessels—short range coastal, long range sea going. Aircraft—Cessna 404 and 406, Sea King, AW139 and S92 helicopters. Ground Units—Coastguard shore search teams controlled by maritime rescue...
Nick Raynsford: The current estimate of the procurement cost for the proposed eight new regional control centres for fire and rescue services in England is £5.8 million, up to the time of award of contracts for control centre accommodation and infrastructure services. This includes the involvement of civil servants, secondees from the fire and rescue service, consultants and advisers such as lawyers and...
Mike Penning: The following principal types were required to be designated; boats, aircraft, ground units and supplementary units. The following search and rescue units were designated as being available in 2008: Boats/vessels-short-range coastal, long-range sea going; Aircraft-Islander and Cessna 402, Nimrod, Sea King and S61 helicopters; Ground units-coastguard shore search teams controlled by Maritime...
Lord Callanan: Using threats about firing and re-hiring as a negotiating tactic is unacceptable. If the employer changes an employee’s terms and conditions without their agreement, the employee may be entitled to seek legal redress. The Government has been working with ACAS on this issue, who are seeking insights and views from employer bodies and trade unions, as well as professional bodies with...
Mike O'Brien: ...the CPS on 1 November 2003. The District Crown Prosecutor for the South East Prosecution Team in Southend is Diane Stenning. She joined the CPS as a Legal Trainee in 1991 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1993. She transferred to CPS Essex in 1998. The post of Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Essex is currently vacant. From 1999 until September 2005 this post was held by John Bell. He was...
