HC Deb 11 April 1989 vol 150 cc514-5W
Mr. Cartwright

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the total estimated cost of transferring the Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance from Woolwich Arsenal to Stockton on Tees and the individual costs of the major elements in the relocation package;

(2) what was the total estimated cost of relocating the Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance at Woolwich Arsenal.

Mr. Sainsbury

Competitive contracts will be let in connection with these proposals and therefore it would not be prudent to disclose departmental estimates of costs. Nevertheless a recent investment appraisal revealed that the net present values after 25 years and of the costs and benefits that vary with the three options studied were:

£ million
Continuation on two sites at Woolwich and one at Bromley 212
Collocation at Royal Arsenal west, Woolwich 188
Collocation at Teesside 178

Mr. Cartwright

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimates he has made of the numbers of(a) mobile and (b) non-mobile staff likely to transfer from Woolwich to Stockton on Tees with the Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance and the numbers he expects to recruit on Teesside.

Mr. Sainsbury

All staff who wish to transfer with their work would be given the opportunity to do so. Our current impression is that up to about 600 staff, mainly mobile, might transfer from Woolwich and Bromley and other MOD sources and that 900 staff, mainly non-mobile and including 250 apprentices, would be recruited on Teesside.

Mr. Cartwright

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the other departments currently located with the Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance at Woolwich Arsenal, indicating the numbers currently employed at each.

Mr. Sainsbury

The other departments currently located with the Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance at Woolwich Arsenal and the numbers currently employed at each are as follows:

Department Number of employees
Naval Publications Store 92
Air Publications and Forms Store 109
RAF Movements Unit (London) 33
Department Number of employees
RAF Signals Unit 194
Ministry of Defence Police 50
British Library 25
Her Majesty's Customs and Excise 49
National Maritime Museum 4
Civil Service Catering Organisation 12
Property Services Agency 66

Mr. Cartwright

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent on the design of a new headquarters building and on other preparations for the relocation of the Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance at Woolwich Arsenal.

Mr. Sainsbury

As I indicated in my answer to the hon. Member on 20 April 1988 at columns503–4, £300,000 was spent on sketch plans for a new headquarters building at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, for the Quality Assurance Directorate (Ordnance). The identified costs of doing studies on other buildings are £120,000. The departmental costs of the staff carrying out a feasibility study and an investment appraisal on the future location of the Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance were incurred in the normal course of their work and have not been separately identified.