HC Deb 08 March 1965 vol 708 cc11-2W
Commander Pursey

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the Women's Royal Naval Service establishments, and state the number of officers, rating and civilians in the complement, respectively, for each establishment, and their respective annual cost, the annual cost of each establishment, and the total Navy Estimates annual cost for the Women's Royal Naval Service;

(2) if he will state the number of acres and value of land and buildings at the Women's Royal Naval Service Training Establishment, Burghfield, near Reading, Berkshire, the total annual cost of maintenance of buildings and grounds and of training, respectively, the number of officers and their salaries and emoluments, the number of training staff and annual cost, the annual number of officers and ratings, respectively, under training and the period, the annual cost of training per officer and other rating, respectively, and the total annual cost of this Women's Royal Naval Service school.

Mr. Mayhew

The only W.R.N.S. Establishment is H.M.S. "Dauntless" at Burghfield near Reading, but WRENS serve in 22 Royal Naval Establishments at home and overseas. H.M.S. "Dauntless" covers an area of 39 acres, the present day value of the land and buildings is assessed at £75,000, and the annual maintenance cost for buildings and grounds is about £12,500. The full complement of officers, rating and civilians is 21 costing £25,540 a year, 82 costing £55,850 a year and 4 costing £2,860 a year respectively: the training staff includes 7 officers costing £6,000 a year and 17 ratings costing £14,000 a year, and the total annual cost of training is £100,500.

No officers are trained at H.M.S. "Dauntless", which is the W.R.N.S. ratings' new entry training establishment; the annual training programme covers 965 students for 4 weeks' Part I training, and a number of stewards, cooks and other students for Part II training in courses lasting between 3 and 16 weeks. The normal length of course is between 4 and 8 weeks, the cost per student week is £24 10s. 0d., and the total annual cost of the school is £128,000. The total annual cost of the W.R.N.S. throughout the Service is about £2 million.