§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received concerning the proposed relocation of the Defence Accounts Agency from Cheadle Hulme to Bath; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanThere is no proposal to relocate the whole of the Cheadle Hulme office to Bath. I have, however, received a number of representations from hon. Members about the proposal to bring together at Bath certain elements of the agency's computer work which are currently carried out at Liverpool, Cheadle Hulme and Bath.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many redundancies among his Department's personnel and civilian support staff would be expected in Cheadle Hulme should Defence Accounts Agency computing facilities be relocated to Bath; and what would be the cost of those redundancies.
§ Mr. FreemanI expect to take a decision on the agency's mainframe rationalisation project early in the new year. It is too soon to anticipate the announcement I may have to make then on reductions in civilian posts.