§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effects on the Manchester, Gorton constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 14 November 2000. [154499]
§ Dr. MoonieThe 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 presence in the Manchester, Gorton area: within a 25-mile radius distance of the constituency, MOD direct employees totalled around 600 personnel as of 1 October 1999 (service and civilian).
Since 2 May 1997, around 1,360 contracts with a total value of some £250 million were placed with prime contractors in the Manchester area1.
I draw attention to the Defence Analytical Services Agency report "UK Defence Statistics 2000", which contains a welfare 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 Manchester area may well be 19W done elsewhere: similarly, contracts placed with contractors outside the Manchester area could lead to sub-contracts on companies in Manchester.