§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the current workload, numbers employed and future prospects at the Royal Naval armaments depot, Beith.
§ Mr. HanleyAt present some 500 personnel are employed at RNAD Beith. The depot plays an important and active role in supporting both the Navy and the RAF in the storage and processing of a wide range of armaments. By the end of 1994, the depot will have assumed further non-armament engineering tasks which have been transferred from other MOD establishments. The future of the depot, which is currently subject to a market-testing exercise, is being reviewed, along with other MOD establishments, as part of the defence costs study.