§ Mr. Blakerasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many major Army units are now in Cyprus; and, of these, how many are attached to the United Nations forces.
§ Mr. Robert C. BrownThere are at present three major Army units serving in Cyprus, of which an armoured reconnaissance regiment less one squadron is attached to the United Nations forces. A Royal Marine commando is also attached to the United Nations forces in the infantry rôle.
§ Mr. Blakerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the reason for the accommodation problems that have arisen within the sovereign base areas in Cyprus which are referred to in paragraph 40 of the statement on the Defence Estimates; and when he expects the shortage to be eased.
§ Mr. JohnThe accommodation problems are those to which my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence referred in his speech on the 17th December—[Vol. 883, c. 1285]. They arose, as a result of last summer's emergency, from the need to accommodate within the sovereign base areas the considerable number of Service men who had formerly been housed with their families in dormitory areas outside and from the need also to accommodate larger forces on the island. The shortage of single accommodation has already eased considerably and the situation will further improve as a result of the force reductions referred to in Chapter 1, paragraph 40, of the Defence White Paper (Cmnd. 5976). A448W shortage of married quarters is likely to persist.