§ 17. Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the property disposal programme of Defence Estates. [66974]
§ Dr. MoonieThe Ministry of Defence disposal programme is driven by the operational requirements of the armed forces. We keep the estate under regular review to ensure that it is no larger than is required for operational purposes. The principles under which we manage the estate are set out in our Estate Strategy published in 2000.
Land and property is regularly released for disposal, usually on the open market. At present, some 3,000 hectares of land, covering more than 70 sites across the United Kingdom are either in disposal or will come forward for disposal in the next 12 months. Further rationalisation and consolidation of the estate is likely to lead to additional sites and properties becoming surplus.