§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were the operating costs of the joint Forces Headquarters for each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. HanleyA joint force headquarters (JFHQ) is constituted only during a crisis to provide an in-theatre headquarters for major United Kingdom deployments. There is no peacetime requirement for such a headquarters although there is a small number of staff who have been identified to form an initial core of any potential JFHQ and who are tasked in peacetime with planning and exercises. The cost of these staff is not separately identifiable and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The only occasion a JFHQ was required in the last 10 years was when a JFHQ was created in October 1990, based in Riyadh, for in-theatre planning, preparation and execution of Operation Granby. It was stood down on completion of the operation. The operating costs of the headquarters were not identified separately and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.