§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in(a) central London and (b) Greater London. [150289]
§ Mr. CaplinMOD headquarters activity is currently carried out in six buildings in central London. Both military and civilian personnel occupy office space. The net usable area of these buildings, not including circulation, columns and walls, to the nearest square metre, is laid out in the following table.
Building Net usable area (m2) Metropole Building 15,528 Northumberland Avenue 10,285 Old War Office 25,396 St. Georges Court 20,835 Great Scotland Yard 14,631 Total 97,165 1Includes circulation. The Main Building redevelopment project completes in 2004. Following reoccupation the MOD will dispose of four of the buildings listed in the table. Headquarters activities will be concentrated in two Whitehall sites, with one further building in central London, as part of an overall reduction in staff in central London from over 12,500 in 1990 to less than 5,200 by the time the project completes. The net usable area for these buildings, to the nearest square metre, is as follows.
886W
Building Net usable area (m2) Redeveloped Main Building 49,634 Old War Office 25,396 St. Georges Court 20,835 Total 95,865 In addition the Department occupies parts of three other buildings in central London, including the Met Office London Weather Centre, totalling some 4,355 square metres.
A relatively small number of civil servants are based at operational and other military establishments throughout Greater London. Information on the proportion of these establishments used for office space is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.