§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimated cost of closing part of the Invergordon fuel depot in 1988, as compared with the previously planned total closure in 1986.
§ Mr. StanleyThe cost of closing the Cromlets site of the Invergordon fuel depot at the end of 1988 is expected to be about £90,000. Under previous plans the cost of closing the complete depot in 1986 was expected to be about £625,000. These figures refer to the cost of cleaning and making safe equipment but otherwise leaving facilities essentially intact.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence why he proposes to retain the fuel depot facilities at Seabanks and Inchindown until 1993.
§ Mr. StanleyPrimarily to hold stocks of fuel while other depots undergo a programme of tank conversion to cater for fuels of a different specification.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence what was the experience gained in the Falklands which caused him to postpone the closure of the Royal Navy fuel depot at Invergordon.
§ Mr. StanleyIt is the decision whether to close the whole depot at Invergordon that has been postponed. The Falklands experience resulted in a number of surface ships being maintained in the active fleet for longer than 459W anticipated and underlined the importance of fuel reserves. However it was changes in the tank conversion programme at other fuel depots to accommodate different specification fuel which had the major bearing on the decision.