§ Mr. CartwrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many quality assurance staff he expects to be relocated at Defence Research Agency sites at(a) Fort Halstead, (b) Chertsey, (c) Farnborough and (d) Pyestock; and how many are likely to face redundancy.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleMany of the technical and scientific staff are expected to move with their tasks. Approximately 150 quality assurance technical posts are planned to be relocated at Fort Halstead and a further 200 technical posts in total to Farnborough, Pyestock and Chertsey. The distribution of posts between the latter sites is not yet finalised. In addition, a number of non-technical posts in support of quality assurance activities will be required at the above locations. We will do our best to minimise redundancies but, regrettably, it is not possible to guarantee that there will be none. The trade unions are being consulted in the normal way.