§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) when the future location of the headquarters of the directorate of defence quality assurance was first considered; what factors led to a decision that it should remain at Woolwich; and why the issue has once again been re-opened;
(2) what is the estimated cost of retaining the headquarters of the directorate of defence quality assurance at Woolwich and Bromley compared to moving it to a new site outside south-east England;
(3) how many schemes for the rationalisation and reorganisation of the Royal Arsenal site at Woolwich have been considered since 1974.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonSince 1974, the future of the Royal Arsenal has been the subject of a number of studies with terms of reference of varying width. An important step in 1979 was the integration of the quality assurance directorate (fighting vehicles and engineering equipment) with quality assurance directorate (weapons) to form quality assurance directorate (ordnance). That establishment sponsored a further, broader based, rationalisation study which led in 1982–83 to the production of a Woolwich development plan. On the formation of the directorate general of defence quality assurance in 1984, this plan was taken into account in further studies aimed at achieving a rationalisation of accommodation for the whole organisation. Recommendations have been made that Royal Arsenal west is the preferred existing QA location capable of housing the main units of the new organisation, but other locations outside south-east England have to be taken into account before an investment programme of this scale is undertaken. The further appraisal is not yet completed and comparative costing information is therefore not available.
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§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the annual running costs of the Royal Arsenal site, Woolwich, over each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe current annual cash expenditure by the directorate general of defence quality assurance as site landlord is about £4.7 million. Figures for the 10 earlier years are not readily available.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the various units now based at the Royal Arsenal site at Woolwich, indicating the numbers of employees at each.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe units presently based at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich and the numbers of their employees are as follows:
Number of employees MOD Units Army Cataloguing Authority 74 Directorate General of Defence Quality Assurance 1,268 Naval Publications Store 96 Air Publications and Forms Store 113 RAF Movements Unit (London) 34 RAF Signals Unit 219 Ministry of Defence Police 68 Non-MOD Units Books Supply Department (British Library) 52 Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Stores 52 National Maritime Museum 6 Civil Service Catering Organisation 12 Property Services Agency (Department of the Environment) 63