§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many schools there are for the training of cooks; where they are located; and what is the number of cooks presently being trained at each school and the estimated running costs of each school for this year for each service. [34430]
§ Mr. SoamesThree sites provide training for service cooks. They are: HMS Raleigh in Cornwall; the Army School of Catering at St. Omer barracks, Aldershot and RAF Halton, near Aylesbury. At present, the Royal Navy has 49 cooks undergoing training, the Army 157 and the RAF 18 on courses ranging from apprenticeships to advanced trade training. The estimated running costs for each school are: catering training within the overall budget of HMS Raleigh, £850,000; Army School of Catering, £7.536 million; costs specific to Catering Training Squadron at RAF Halton, £215,000. The difference in running costs reflects the different constitution of the schools; HMS Raleigh and RAF Halton 973W are units within larger establishments and have the benefit of sharing overhead and support costs with their hosts, while St. Omer barracks is a stand-alone facility responsible for its own site and its attendant support.