§ 1. Mr. DykesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the voluntary redundancy and early retirement statistics of civilian and military personnel at Stanmore Park RAF base. [8970]
§ The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Nicholas Soames)The majority of civilian staff to be affected by the closure of RAF Stanmore Park in April this year have been found alternative employment and every effort is being made to find posts for the remainder. By April, 35 Royal Air Force personnel will have left on voluntary redundancy and a further 13 will have been granted premature voluntary release.
§ Mr. DykesI thank my hon. Friend for that reply, and I also thank his Department and the Royal Air Force for the positive, thoughtful and careful way in which the programme has been handled. I congratulate him on being able to keep the pledge that there would not be other than a small number of redundancies. Is he now confident that everybody will be either deployed with satisfactory packages to enable them to have a breathing space to find alternative employment or re-employed in military or civil posts elsewhere?
§ Mr. SoamesI am grateful to my hon. Friend, and I note the care and attention that he has taken on his constituents' behalf on the occasions that he has lobbied me here and at the Ministry of Defence. I can give him the assurance that he seeks, but there may be a requirement for two employees—one industrial and one non-industrial—to leave on redundancy or early retirement terms by April 1997. However, all possible efforts will be made to identify alternative employment for them.