House of Commons Written Answers 30 January 2014
Publications
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s new Finance and Military Capability Operating Model. [184237]
Mr Francois: A copy of the Financial Military Capability Target Operating Model (FMC TOM) version 3 will be placed in the Library of the House. The right hon. Member should be aware that the TOM is a live document and will be updated and developed as the FMC construct matures and the Levene Delegated Model becomes a fully operational reality on 1 April 2014.
Radar: Hebrides
Mr MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) on what date his Department allocated funding to permit the contract process to begin for the North Uist air defence radar upgrade; [185276]
(2) on what date his Department decided that money would need to be allocated to fund the upgrade of the air defence radar on North Uist. [185277]
Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence allocated funding for the Remote Radar Head (RRH) Benbecula (North Uist) upgrade at the time the contract was signed in November 2013. The Department has known for many years that RRH Benbecula would need to be upgraded as it approaches the end of its expected life. The receipt of a formal proposal to upgrade RRH Buchan in summer 2013 presented an opportunity to preserve fleet commonality, and therefore the Department decided to upgrade RRH Benbecula also.
Radio Frequencies
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department paid in radio spectrum fees in each year between 2009-10 and 2012-13. [185097]
Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence paid the following amounts in radio spectrum fees:
£
2009-10: 58,430,709
2010-11: 63,382,464
2011-12: 154,878,400
2012-13: 154,878,400
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department expects to pay in radio spectrum fees in each financial year between 2013-14 and 2015-16. [185100]
Mr Dunne: The Ministry of Defence will be paying the following amounts in radio spectrum fees:
£
2013-14: 154,878,400
2014-15: 154,878,400
The radio spectrum fees for financial year 2015-16 have yet to be agreed and are subject to on-going negotiations with HM Treasury.
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department is making with the sale of (a) 2.3GHz and (b) 3.4GHz electromagnetic spectrum bands; and if he will make a statement. [185102]
Mr Dunne: As I announced on 13 September 2013, the communications regulator, Ofcom, is conducting the release process of the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) radio spectrum in the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands. Ofcom has already conducted a six-week “Call for Inputs” consultation seeking the views of interested parties and will shortly be publishing its technical coexistence proposals. Ofcom has indicated that the earliest the spectrum could be awarded would be in financial year 2015-16. In the meantime, the MOD is progressing with its work to clear existing military/Government users from the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands.
House of Commons Written Answers 27 January 2014
Defence Equipment and Support
Sir Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2013, Official Report, columns 12-13W, on Defence Equipment and Support, whether his Department made estimates of the financial savings that would be achieved through the DE&S+ model before the decision to proceed with that model was made. [184413]
Mr Dunne: The decision to establish Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) as a bespoke trading entity was made on the basis that continuing with the commercial competition was unsafe and that, in transforming DE&S, we would look to build on, but not necessarily implement as outlined in the interim proposition, the DE&S+ model. We have not yet determined the level of financial savings expected of the