HC Deb 05 May 2004 vol 420 cc1517-8W
Mr. Hancock

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed in the Defence Fire Service; and how many of these have indicated a willingness to become sponsored reserves in the event that the public sector comparator solution is selected for the Airfield Support Services Project. [167645]

Mr. Ingram

There are approximately 1,300 personnel based in the United Kingdom who are employed by the Defence Fire Service. A survey carried out in spring 2002 for Fire Study 2000, which has been used to inform the Public Sector Comparator for the Airfield Support Services Project, identified 420 fire fighters willing to become sponsored reserves.

Our cash outturn for research and development for 1996–97 is published in "UK Defence Statistics 2001". Outturn figures for 1997–98 to 2001–02 are in UK Defence Statistics 2003. R&D outturn for 2002–03, on the same basis, is published in the MOD "Annual Report and Accounts 2002–03". R&D plans for 2003–04 and 2004–05 are published in the "Office of Science and Technology Forward Look 2003". Figures are not yet available in this form for 2005–06.

£ million
Equipment procurement Total MOD Research and

Development (R&D)1

1996–97 9,494 2,144
1997–98 9,373 2,314
1998–99 10,281 2,140
1999–2000 10,094 2,272
2000–01 10,408 2,240
2001–02 2,057
2002–03 2,734
2003–04 2,579
2004–05 2,629
1From 2000–01 these figures are calculated on a resource basis.

Details of the MOD's "procurement" resource and capital outturn for the years 2001–02 to 2002–03 and plans from 2003–04 to 2005–06 are set out in The Government's Expenditure Plans for the MOD 2003–2004 to 2005–2006 (Cm 5912):