Defence Costs Study (Hansard, 10 May 1994)

§ Mr. David Shaw
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of his review of defence expenditure.

§ Mr. Aitken
Work on the defence costs study is continuing. Thirty-one of the 33 individual study teams set up to examine particular areas of defence support have submitted their final reports. Their proposals are now under consideration. This is a complex and necessarily lengthy process and it will be some time before final decisions are taken. We hope to make public the broad outcome of the study before the summer recess. I refer the hon. Gentleman to my closing remarks in the Army debate on 4 MayOfficial Report, 4 May, columns 815–16, in which I outlined a number of messages emerging from the defence costs study.

§ 23. Mr. Denham
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the impact of the current defence review on defence-related employment in Hampshire.

§ Mr. Aitken
No such estimate is possible at this stage as decisions on the defence costs study have yet to be taken.

§ Dr. David Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 29 April,Official Report, column 399, if he will list the membership of the defence costs study team which is specifically concerned with repair, spares, storage and distribution; if he will give full details of the instructions given to the team; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Aitken
The defence costs study into repair, spares, storage and distribution was led by Mr. D. Jones. The study team members were:

Captain A. Burbridge RN,

Air Commodore D. Anderson,

Mr. J. Morrison,

Mr. S. Goodwin,

Mr. J. Oughton-Efficiency Unit,

Miss A. Perkins—HM Treasury,

Mr. R. Benton—External member.

The Study's remit was to identify means of achieving maximum possible reductions in the costs—including those that might be associated with further adjustments to readiness—associated with repair, spares, storage and distribution in all the services. The study was to range as broadly as necessary but in particular was to propose the appropriate policy and organisation/administration for:

Third and fourth line repair;

Spares procurement and stockholding;

Non-explosive storage;

Explosive storage and processing;

Freight Distribution.