§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 17 December 2001,Official Report, column 340W, when the final assessment of the costs of moving the Army's northern headquarters from York to Edinburgh will have been made; what increase there has been in the number of people working at Craigiehall and York; and what military reason there was for the move from York to Craigiehall. [38872]
§ Mr. IngramThe final assessment of the costs of locating the Army's northern headquarters in Edinburgh should be completed in the early summer of this year. This work will also confirm manpower numbers but initial indications are that there has been an increase of some 170 at Craigiehall and of some 14 at York resulting from the move of headquarters, and the relocation of other organisations. The military judgements that led to the location of the headquarters in Edinburgh took into account a number of issues and were finely balanced. The conclusion was that the role of divisional headquarters could be discharged from either York or Edinburgh.