§ 9 Mr. Pagetasked the Secretary of State for Air (1) why he has decided to close No. 72 Maintenance Unit, Roade, Northamptonshire;
(2) the amount of capital expenditure on No. 72 Maintenance Unit since a decision was taken to build it into a single-point holding unit some three years ago;
(3) how much has been spent on road improvements approaching No. 72 Maintenance Unit.
§ Mr. BirchNo. 72 Maintenance Unit is being closed as part of the contraction programme for Maintenance Command. During the past three years about £18,000 have been spent on capital improvements, but much of that has been for removable equipment. I understand that there has been no substantial expenditure on the improvement of local roads for the benefit of the unit in recent years.
§ Mr. PagetIs not the Secretary of State aware that a number of roads, which apparently carry no other traffic, have been improved and widened, and the turn-over to a single-point unit led people working there to imagine that it would continue for some time, so that many of them have bought houses in consequence, and that this policy will cause hardship to employees in the unit?
§ Mr. BirchClosing any kind of unit of this sort is always a very unhappy and unpleasant business, and we do all we can to mitigate hardships caused by it. We are effecting very considerable and necessary economies in Maintenance Command, however, and we cannot do that without closing some units.