HC Deb 22 October 1998 vol 317 cc1162-3W
Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many single accommodation places exist for each of the services in Scotland, for (a) officers and (b) other ranks, by location; and if he will estimate the total number of service personnel that could be accommodated on shore in Scotland if all the available accommodation were utilised. [55407]

Officers Other Ranks
Ser Service Location Total SLA1 Occupied SLA2 Total SLA1 Occupied SLA2
1 Navy HMS Neptune 238 144 2,142 1,417
2 HMS Caledonia 28 20 509 277
3 HMS Gannet 21 19 264 145
4 RM Condor 80 353 1,082 3514
Total 367 236 3,997 2,353
5 Army HQ Craigiehall 26 16 153 39
6 HQ Edinburgh Castle 8 5 113 440
7 Dreghorn Barracks 22 19 395 278
8 Redford Infantry Barracks 23 22 386 356
9 Ford George 25 18 468 235
Total 104 80 1,515 948
10 RAF Benbecula 0 0 35 35
11 Buchan 30 20 233 192
12 Kinloss 101 60 771 602
13 Leuchars 155 48 692 575
14 Machrihanish 51 0 242 0
15 Lossiemouth 115 50 993 853
16 Saxa Vord 14 4 137 90
17 Stornoway 0 0 24 18
Total 466 182 3,127 2,365
Tri-Service Total 937 498 8,639 5,666
1 To show total number of available bedspaces
2 To show occupied number of bedspaces
3 As at 1 October 1998. Does not take account of elements of RM Condor who are currently deployed in Belize and Northern Ireland
4 ORs occupancy figure increases to 80 during Edinburgh Tattoo

Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what barrack accommodation is currently surplus to requirements in Scotland and awaiting disposal; and if he will estimate the potential single accommodation capacity of these barracks if modernised. [55409]

Mr. Spellar

The Navy and Army have no surplus single living accommodation awaiting disposal in Scotland. The RAF has 2 sites which are considered to be surplus and which are in the process of disposal, as follows:

  1. a. RAF Edzell. RAF Edzell was passed to the Defence Estate Organisation (DEO) for disposal in September 1998. If modernised, it is assessed that there would be 300 single bed spaces.
  2. b. RAF Stornoway. It was announced on 13 February 1998 that RAF Stornoway was to close on 31 March 1998; however further work is in hand to establish the MOD's legal position regarding Former Ownership of the land which requires resolution before proceeding with the sale. If modernised, it is assessed that there would be 15 single bed spaces.