PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 1st September 2008
1 Sep 2008
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) unladen weight, (b) carrying capacity by weight, (c) external measurements, (d) internal measurements of working space and (e) cubic capacity of working space is of the (i) Snatch Land Rover and (ii) Force Protection Cheetah. [220773]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Snatch 2 Land Rover has an overall length of 4,800 mm including the spare wheel, an overall height of 2,370 mm and an overall width of
2,000 mm with mirrors folded. I am withholding the information relating to the weight, internal measurements of working space, cubic capacity of working space and vehicle carrying capacity as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces. The Cheetah series of vehicles is produced by the US company Force Protection Inc. The Department does not have any of these vehicles in service and therefore cannot issue what constitutes proprietary information on this vehicle. The hon. Member may, though, be interested in looking at a brochure on the Force Protection Industries website which contains information on the Cheetah’s specifications. The address is: www.forceprotection.net/models/cheetah/specs/cheetah_brochure.pdf
House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 10 September 2008
Defence
Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK nationals
have been taken into custody following military operations as part of OP HERRICK
in Afghanistan. [223226]
Des Browne: As I stated in the answer I gave on 9 June 2008, Official Report,
column 66W to the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr. Tyrie), the Ministry of
Defence is undertaking a review of its detention records. I will write to the
hon. Member when the review has completed.
Air Force: Training
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-commissioned officers in the RAF have achieved the National Examining Board for Supervision and Management Award at diploma level since 1998 [217589]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Substantive answer from Bob Ainsworth to Mr. Lidington: I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 15 July 2008, (Official Report, column 299W) about the number of non-commissioned officers in the RAF who have achieved the National Examining Board for Supervision and management Award at diploma level since 1988. Since 2003, 5,273 RAF Non Commissioned Officers have attained professional qualifications, equivalent to a diploma, in Leadership and Management, accredited to the National Examining Board prior to 2005 and the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) thereafter. Information prior to 2003 is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Notes: RAF Halton offers ILM qualification, levels 2-5, broadly equivalent to BTEC First Diploma, BTEC National Diploma and Higher National Diplomas
respectively. RAF Halton transferred its accreditation scheme from the National Examining Board to the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) in November 2005.
The accreditation to ILM is broken down into 3 levels of qualification:
a. AMLC Level 5 Award in Management
b. IMLC Level 3 Award in First Line Management
c. JMLC Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading
I am placing a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Lasers
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to ensure the development of ground-based laser defence systems as part of the UK’s counter-mortar and counter-rocket capabilities. [223224]
Des Browne: I can confirm that the Ministry of Defence continues to asse