§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will give details on the level of demand for, and level of provision of, his Department's housing in Scotland;
(2) if he will give details of the level of demand for, and the level of provision of, married quarters for armed forces personnel stationed in Scotland; and if he will break these figures down for each branch of the armed forces.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonAs at 31 December 1992, the latest date for which figures are available, the Ministry of Defence owned 6,821 housing properties in Scotland of which 5,903 were occupied. A total of 6,519 of these were service married quarters of which 5,702 were occupied, broken down by service as follows:
Married quarter stock Married quarters occupied Royal Navy 2,058 1,742 Army 1,566 1,220 Royal Air Force 2,895 2,740 Total 6,519 5,702 In addition 52 service families—10 RN, seven Army and 35 RAF—were being paid an allowance to rent private accommodation because of insufficient quarters at their place of duty. The number of families on waiting lists for quarters in Scotland and accommodated temporarily elsewhere could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The majority of the vacant married quarters owned by MOD were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or modernisation or were already allotted to service families who were due to move in shortly. In addition, 171 surplus married quarters were in the process of being sold.
Three hundred and two properties were MOD civilian houses of which 201 were occupied. Fifty-two vacant properties have since been handed back to Dumbarton 778W district council and the handback of a further tranche of 34 vacant properties is under negotiation. In addition, 42 houses were in the process of being sold, mostly to sitting tenants.