§ Mr. CartwrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what evidence he has to suggest that it will be easier to recruit specialist staff for the directorate general of defence quality assurance in Teesside than in south east England.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe directorate general of defence quality assurance is currently experiencing difficulty in recruiting specialist staff to work in south-east England, despite the higher pay allowances offered.
The level of unemployment in the likely travel-to-work area for the proposed site is considerably higher than in the south-east. We would expect to be able to recruit or train people with the technical skills and expertise we require from Teesside which has a strong heavy engineering, process and chemical engineering tradition.