§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what obligations his Department have to clean up redundant military sites before disposing of them.
§ Mr. HanleyThere is no statutory requirement fully to restore land offered for sale. It is my Department's policy, however, to seek to identify instances of contamination on sites allocated for disposal and this information is made available to prospective purchasers and will be taken into account in agreeing the sale price. Decontamination work is generally limited to the removal of ordnance and other contaminants such as explosives, radioactive and microbiological materials on which a civilian contractor could not be expected to have appropriate expertise.