§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Defence what would be the total cost of rehousing Malta-based Service personnel and their families in Great Britain, as a result of the proposed cuts in United Kingdom defence arrangements in Malta.
§ Mr. HealeyIt is not possible to isolate and cost the element of the United190W Kingdom housing programme which will be attributable to withdrawals from Malta because the cost of housing an individual family varies greatly according to the type of accommodation provided. Even in the extreme case, however, in which the most expensive type of accommodation is attributed to this contingent, the cost would be little more than a year's budgetary saving from the redeployment.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the net financial savings to Great Britain as a result of the proposed cuts in United Kingdom defence arangements in Malta, first, taking into account the additional cost of rehousing returning Servicemen and their families in Great Britain, and secondly excluding the additional cost of rehousing the Servicemen and their families.
§ Mr. HealeyAs I informed the House yesterday—[Vol. 740, c. 872.]—the the annual budgetary saving will be a little under £6 million a year. As I have explained in answer to another Question by the hon. Gentleman, the capital cost of rehousing would at the worst absorb the equivalent of little more than a year's saving at this rate.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons it is cheaper to base in Great Britain the two infantry battalions now in Malta than it is to leave them in Malta, where the men and their families are already well housed.
§ Mr. HealeyI gave details of the budgetary economies on Army account to the House yesterday—[Vol. 740, c. 872.]. As for rehousing costs I would refer the hon. Member to my Answers to his earlier Questions.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many British Service families will be returning to Great Britain during the next four years, as a result of the proposed cuts in United Kingdom defence arrangements in Malta.
§ Mr. HealeyThe number of families returning to Great Britain will depend upon future postings of accompanied personnel to and from Malta, as well as upon the Service rundown. We expect the average number of families of United Kingdom Servicemen and civilians to fall from about 3,100 in the financial year 1966–67 to about 1,500 in 1970–71.
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§ Mr. John Pageasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost of redundancy payments to be made to discharged Maltese civilian workers during the years 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1970; and how many workers are involved.
§ Mr. FoleySince terminal benefits are related to the individual's rate of pay and length of service, it is not possible at the present stage of planned rundown in Malta to give a reliable estimate.
§ Mr. John Pageasked the Secretary of State for Defence what are the estimated numbers and percentages of Maltese civilian workers who would be made redundant during the years 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1970 if present Government policy is put into effect.
§ Mr. FoleyIt is not possible at present to give reliable estimates of the numbers of Maltese civilians who would be made redundant during the years in question, because detailed programmes of unit moves, and the corresponding dates when redundancies will be declared, have not yet been worked out.
However, on the basis of estimated average strengths of civilians the reductions would be as follows:
Percentage of Original Strength Per cent. 1967 1,440 18.5 1968 1,650 21.2 1969 550 7 1970 770 9.9 Part of this reduction will be achieved by normal wastage. For example, approximately 1,000 employees would reach the normal retiring age of 60.