§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the extramural contractors to the chemical and biological defence establishment, Porton Down, have agreed to allow disclosure of their contractual relationship with CBDE, in line with CBDE's open government initiative. [1593]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThis is a matter for the Defence Evaluation Research Agency under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive, DERA, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Ken Livingstone, dated 22 November 1995:
Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking how many extramural contractors have agreed to allow disclosure of their contractual relationship with the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down has been passed to me to reply as the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency which includes CBDE as one of its divisions.Forty four of our extramural contractors have agreed to their contractual relationship with CBDE being disclosed to the public. They include university departments and industrial companies.I hope this information is helpful.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what specific measures have been implemented by the chemical and biological defence establishment to make it more open about its current activities. [1594]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThis is a matter for the Defence Evaluation Research Agency under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive, DERA, to write to the hon. Member.
171WLetter from John Chisholm to Mr. Ken Livingstone, dated 22 November 1995:
Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking what specific measures have been implemented by the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment to make it more open about its current activities has been passed to me to reply as the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency which includes CBDE as one of its divisions.CBDE places a high degree of importance on publicising the work it carries out to protect the UK Armed Forces from the threat presented by chemical and biological weapons. The staff at CBDE have always published the results of their work in technical journals and represented CBDE at scientific conferences. While it was an autonomous Next Steps Agency CBDE also provided four full Annual Reports and Accounts detailing its activities. These will continue in future under the auspices of DERA. In addition CBDE encourages visits from all interested parties and has welcomed members of parliament and representatives from local and district councils, schools, universities and the local and national media.I hope this information is helpful.