§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the contractors which it is proposed will do the work of the REME detachment 41 Command, 367W Gainsborough, on refuellers, Royal Air Force mark 9 fire engines and fire crash vehicles; which of them have a similar facility for degassing tankers; and how it is intended that work on this equipment will be carried out in future.
§ Mr. GoodhartIt is intended to repair RAF Mark 9 fire engines and fire crash vehicles at either 41 Command Workshop, York, 38 Central Workshop, Chilwell, or 36 Command Workshop, Colchester, according to the unit at which the vehicles are based. Refuellers will be repaired by contract; it is not the practice of Departments to disclose names of potential contractors, for reasons of commercial confidentiality, but I am satisfied that each of the contractors that we have under consideration for this task is capable of performing it effectively.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Defence what are his reasons for closing the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers detachment of 41 Command at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.
§ Mr. GoodhartThe detachment's work load has declined to such an extent that it is no longer economic to maintain it in being. Satisfactory alternative repair arrangements can be made, which will produce a worthwhile net saving both in financial and manpower terms.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated savings to his Department of closing the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers detachment 41 Command, Gainsborough.
§ Mr. GoodhartThe closure of the Gainsborough detachment will save my Department about £700,000 a year, as well as yielding a net reduction of 80 civilian posts.
§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Defence why the REME detachment 41 Command, Gainsborough, cannot be run down by natural wastage; what is the estimated cost of closure, including redundancy pay, early pensions and unemployment benefit; and why Gainsborough has been chosen for cutting back instead of the similar establishment in York.
§ Mr. GoodhartThe REME attachment at Gainsborough is only a subsidiary of the much larger parent workshop at York. To run down the work force at a small unit by natural wastage rapidly renders it nonviable, because of the random disappearance of different skills; it would also take several years to achieve. The reducing workload in the Gainsborough catchment area means that the detachment itself is becoming steadily less economic to run; it is more cost-effective to concentrate residual repair work on York and other workshops in cases where it is impractical to put it out to contract. Closure of the detachment is estimated to save about £700,000 a year, although the once-for-all cost of redundancy—some £300,000—would have to be set against this saving. Some employees would be entitled to immediate pension, but it is not possible to assess the exact unemployment benefit payable, since this would depend on how many employees were able to find alternative work.