§ Mr. ByersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and by whom the decision was taken to site the Procurement Executive at Abbey Wood, Bristol; how many employees will work there; what is the estimated value of Abbey Wood; and how much(a) has been and (b) will be spent on the site to provide suitable accommodation.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Government's decision to site the Procurement Executive headquarters at Abbey Wood was announced in November 1991. Current plans envisage that some 4,300 PE staff, together with a further 600 PE-related project support and integrated logistics systems personnel, will work at Abbey Wood. Consideration is being given to accommodating additional staff at Abbey Wood to allow further rationalisation of MOD property holdings.
The project is estimated to yield some £40 million in direct annual departmental running cost savings and will enable annual PE staff reductions of some £35 million 641W which the PE was already committed to prior to the defence costs study.
The defence costs study reconfirmed that the project represented good value for money and would support additional annual savings worth a further £30 million by taking advantage of the benefit of the new working environment at Abbey Wood, improved working practices, and a more streamlined organisation.
The estimated cost of the Abbey Wood development, inclusive of site acquisition, construction, fitting out, professional works management fees and VAT, is £254,136 million at 1993 prices of which some £134,6 million, inclusive of VAT, has been spent to date. The project remains within budget.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the estimated total cost of the new Procurement Executive headquarters at Abbey Wood in Bristol;
(2) how many people will he employed at the Procurement Executive headquarters based at Abbey Wood in Bristol;
§ Mr. FreemanI refer the hon. Member to the reply I have given to the hon. Member for Wallsend (Mr. Byers) today.