§ Mr. JamiesonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the total cost to his Department of establishing the Crown housing trust to manage MOD service quarters; and if he will make a statement about its future;
(2) how many people are employed by the Crown housing trust; and what has been the total cost in salaries to its employees since its inception.
§ Mr. SoamesWork has been under way in my Department since 1991 on new arrangements for the married quarters estate, at a total cost to date of some £5 million. This figure includes salary costs, to the end of November 1994, of approximately £160,000 for eight staff initially recruited for a housing trust and now engaged on setting up the defence housing executive, as announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 17 November 1994,Official Report, column 1.