§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many properties earmarked for naval officers have been built by his Department(a) in total and (b) in the Portsmouth area in each of the last four years; at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [118652]
§ Dr. MoonieThe Defence Housing Executive (DHE) is the MOD agency responsible for managing Service housing in England, Wales and Scotland and, as a Tri-Service organisation, it does not build properties specifically for any one Service.
53 officers' quarters were built in Putney between 1995 and 1997 at a cost of £4.6 million, a small majority of which are occupied by Naval officers. At Taranto Hill, Ilchester, 34 officers' quarters are in course of 115W construction as part of a larger project, at an approximate cost of £2.7 million. The majority of occupants will be Naval officers based at RNAS Yeovilton.
Four Private Finance Initiative contracts have been placed by DHE covering requirements for new officers' accommodation for Lossiemouth, Shawbury, Glasgow (at Paisley) and Yeovilton, of which only those at Yeovilton will be mainly occupied by Naval officers. These PFI houses will not be owned by DHE and the cost will be paid through a monthly payment by DHE to the owners for the properties required. Payment will be dependent on the quality of service provided.
Two further PFI contracts are planned, one to cover accommodation requirements at Waddington and one to cover requirements at Bristol, Bath, Shrivenham and Portsmouth, of which the 70 houses for Portsmouth will be mainly occupied by Naval officers' families. Because of land ownership issues, some 15 of the 70 may be built with MOD capital and be MOD owned. Firm costs are not yet available and are likely to be commercially sensitive.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many naval officers in the greater Portsmouth area are living in privately rented accommodation and awaiting
Charter costs 1996–97 to 1999–2000 Ser. FY Number of ships Annual cost (£000) Task/Destinations1 1 1996–97 249 18,040 (a) Operations (11)—Split (b) Exercises (29)—USA, Spain, Norway, Germany, Turkey (c) Resupply (13)—Antwerp and Zeebrugge (for BAOR, Germany), Gibraltar, Cyprus, Kenya, Falkland Islands (inter-island) (d) Training (3)—Marchwood 2 1997–98 266 13,491 (a) Operations (10)—Split (b) Exercises (32)—Germany, Spain, Turkey, Norway, Sardinia (c) Resupply (39)—Antwerp and Zeebrugge (for BAOR, Germany), Gibraltar, Cyprus, Canada, Falkland Islands (inter-island) (d) Training (7)—March wood 3 1998–99 346 16,107 (a) Operations (16)—Split, Thessaloniki (b) Exercises (18)—Germany, Norway, Spain, Poland, Turkey (c) Resupply (32)—Antwerp and Zeebrugge (for BAOR, Germany), Gibraltar, Cyprus, Canada, Falkland Islands (inter-island) (d) Training (4)—Marchwood 4 1999–2000 359 21,552 (a) Operations (43)—Thessaloniki, Split, Corsica (b) Exercises (19)—Germany, Norway, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, USA, Scotland (c) Resupply (22)—Antwerp and Zeebrugge (for BAOR, Germany), Canada, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Kenya, Falkland Islands (inter-island) 1 Figures indicate number of tasks carried out 2 Number includes 1 × Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) RoRo on bare boat charter 3 Number includes 2 × JRRF RoRos on bare boat charter