§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many scientific papers in the series called Porton technical papers were produced by the chemical warfare establishment at Porton Down since 1965; in which years these papers were produced; and how many of them are unclassified. [31967]
§ Mr. FreemanThis is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have therefore asked him to reply.
Letter from J. Chisholm to Mr. Ken Livingstone, dated 5 July 1995:
Your question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking about the scientific papers in the Porton Technical Papers series produced by the Chemical Warfare Establishment (CBDE) since 1965, has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) which, since April, includes CBDE as one of its divisions.2. The role of CBDE is to provide safe and effective protective measures to the United Kingdom Armed Forces against the threat of chemical and biological weapons. The United Kingdom unilaterally abandoned its offensive chemical and biological weapons capability in the late 1950's. Research at CBDE since this time has been concerned solely with providing a defence against chemical and biological warfare agents.3. The Porton Technical Papers series closed in 1969. A total of 63 papers were published between 1965 and 1969. Seventeen of these 63 papers held at CBDE are unclassified. I regret that it would involve disproportionate costs to identify the exact years in which each of the papers was published and the present classification of the remainder.4. I hope the information that I have been able to provide is helpful.