HC Deb 09 February 1967 vol 740 cc369-70W
Mr. John Page

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will give in tabulated form, annually for the years 1967 to 1971, the actual savings or additional expenditure connected with the Government's projected run-down of defence forces in Malta, disregarding the effect of disbandment in the United Kingdom, Under the following headings: service pay, British civilian pay, service family costs, Maltese service pay, Maltese civilian pay, redundancy and pension payments to Maltese, transportation costs and costs of rehousing British families in the United Kingdom;

(2) if he will give in tabulated form, annually for the years 1967 to 1971, the units to be withdrawn from Malta, the numbers of British Servicemen and civilians and their families to be withdrawn, the Maltese Servicemen and civilians to be dismissed, and the numbers of all these categories who will remain if the proposed rundown were completed.

Mr. Reynolds

It would be contrary to normal practice to give information in this detail about plans for future overseas deployments and their costs. In any event our plans will remain flexible so long as discussions with the Government of Malta continue.