§ 13. Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his latest estimate of the total capital cost of closing Ashchurch and Luddenhall CVDs, and of rebuilding Marchington/Hilton CVD, including redundancy payments and mothballing the closed depots.
§ Mr. Robert C. BrownI have nothing to add to the broad estimates provided in answer to the hon. Member's Question on 26th February. Closed depots would not be retained but would be declared surplus and disposed of by the normal procedure.
§ Mr. RidleyIs the Minister aware that, instead of costing the £2 million that he originally told me, it now appears that it will cost £14 million? Has the Department got its figures wrong? What is the point of a defence cut that results in much higher expenditure?
§ Mr. BrownAs I stated in my answer, I have no further details to give at this stage, nor do I accept the hon. Gentleman's premise. The estimates will be validated before final decisions are taken.