§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence which of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department have a statutory base; if he will list those bodies which(a) admit members of the public to all board and committee meetings and (b) hold open meetings for the public; and if in each case this is under a statutory requirement. [21450]
§ Mr. SoamesI will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those of his Department's advisory non-departmental public bodies which the Government are required to(a) consult prior to legislative proposals and (b) publish their response to advice from. [21734]
§ Mr. SoamesI will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department(a) hold public meetings, 918W the services to enhance significantly their military capabilities. Each of the three services has taken delivery of new, advanced equipment including the Challenger 2 tank, AS90 howitzer, the Duke class type 23 frigate and advanced air-to-air missiles. In addition, orders have been placed for military equipment including the Apache attack helicopter and amphibious ships which will further enhance the fighting capability and mobility of the armed forces. The Government are, of course, also committed to the procurement of the Eurofighter 2000 aircraft.
Our forces are robustly configured to face the challenges of the post-cold war world and are the envy of their counterparts around the globe. The Government's forward procurement programme illustrates our commitment to ensuring that this remains the case.
The figures requested by the hon. Gentleman, which are set out in the table, should be considered in this context.
Details of Army equipment holdings are not available in the form requested or across the period concerned. The overall unit establishments for Regular armoured and field artillery regiments have therefore been given to indicate their required front-line strength in the designated years. The figures exclude equipment held by training and research establishments, in store as the war maintenance reserve or awaiting disposal.
(b) conduct public consultation exercises, (c) conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests, (d) publish a register of members' interests, (e) publish agendas for meetings and (f) publish the minutes of meetings; and whether in each case this is under a statutory requirement. [21683]
§ Mr. SoamesI will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department(a) have a statutory base, (b) publish their advice to Government, (c) publish an annual report and (d) lay an annual report before Parliament; and if he will indicate in each instance whether this is (i) under a statutory requirement or (ii) voluntary. [21690]
§ Mr. SoamesI will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
919W