§ Gillian MerronTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Lincoln constituency, the effects on Lincoln of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [152981]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 20 March 2001]: The Ministry of Defence has a wide-ranging presence throughout the UK in terms of defence establishments and the service and civilian personnel they employ. This presence brings benefits to many communities, local economies and jobs. Also, 60,000 new defence contracts are placed each year that provide support to industry and create and sustain defence-related employment.
The Ministry of Defence has maintained a large number of personnel in the Lincoln area: within a 25-mile radius distance of the constituency, MOD direct employees totalled some 6,300 personnel as of 1 October 1999 (service and civilian), mainly based at RAFs Waddington, Coningsby and Cranwell. The strong RAF support to the local area will be maintained in the future by the basing of the Eurofighter at RAF Coningsby.
20WSince 2 May 1997, around 330 contracts with a total value of nearly £38 million were placed with prime contractors in the Lincoln area1.
I draw attention to the Defence Analytical Services Agency report "UK Defence Statistics 2000", which contains a wealth of defence statistical information, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.
1The decision as to where work under a particular contract will be undertaken rests with the contractor, therefore work on a contract placed with a prime contract in the Lincoln area may well be done elsewhere: similarly, contracts placed with contractors outside the Lincoln area could lead to sub-contracts on companies in Lincoln.