HC Deb 22 May 1995 vol 260 cc393-5W
Mr. Ian Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are employed at Bovington and Lulworth broken down by types of employee; and whether they live on or off site. [25587]

Mr. Soames

There are at present 686 military personnel, about 400 civilian staff and 205 contractors employed at Bovington. Nearly all the military live on site; and nearly all the civilians live off site. This does not include trainees who come to Bovington for courses, who number around 3,500 a year.

Mr. Ian Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of building sufficient facilities for the 3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment at Bovington on land abutting Stanley barracks, by comparison to splitting the regiment between Bovington and Lulworth; and what studies have been carried out to look at these two options. [25585]

Mr. Soames

The two options were both examined in the study of the comparative costs of future locations of the 3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment. This work showed that the cost of building facilities at Bovington alone would be about £7 million higher than the costs of splitting the regiment. Moreover, building extra facilities on a green field site at Bovington would disrupt training activity.

Mr. Ian Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give a breakdown of the living accommodation at Bovington and Lulworth including the number of vacancies; how much of the accommodation is occupied by people on courses; what other accommodation the MOD owns within a 20-mile radius; and what are the vacancies. [25588]

Mr. Soames

At Stanley barracks, Bovington there are 550 bed spaces, 336 of which are for trainees. At present, there are 150 vacancies, although these vary from week to week depending on course loading.

At Allenby barracks, Bovington there are 567 bed spaces, all of which are occupied.

At Lulworth, there are 465 bed spaces. There are currently 142 vacancies, but these also vary depending on course loading.

Within a 20-mile radius of Bovington and Lulworth my Department owns three sites; West Moors petroleum training school which has 30 spare bed spaces and Blandford school of signals which has 121 spare bed spaces. The number of spare bed spaces at both sites depends on course loading and will often reduce to nil. In addition to the above two sites there is a hutted and tented training camp at Wyke Regis. This camp does not possess permanent living accommodation.

Mr. Ian Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training activities are carried out at Bovington camp in areas designated on the Bovington and Lulworth Ordnance Survey map as(a) S1, (b) W1 and (c) W2; how many days per year these activities are carried out; and what is the area of each of these sites. [25584]

Mr. Soames

The activities are as follows:

  1. (a) Recruit driver training, Territorial Army training, and infantry tactics; about 100 days a year; 180 acres.
  2. (b) Engineer training—bridging and digging, driver training, infantry tactics; 280 days a year; 165 acres.
  3. (c) Driving circuit used for low level infantry training and the armoured trials and development unit; about 100 days a year; 140 acres.

Mr. Ian Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will name the consultants who were employed to advise on the location of the 3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment; what were their terms of reference; if these included calculating the cost of locating the whole of the regiment at Bovington; and if he will publish their report. [25586]

Mr. Soames

The consultants were Sawyer Architects of Winchester. Their terms of reference which are set out, required them to consider and comment on the option of locating the 3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment in the Bovington area, taking into account a number of factors.

Terms of Reference

  1. (1) All the land and buildings associated with Stanley barracks, Bovington and areas available for development at Lulworth camp for satisfying the statement of requirement. The married quarters are not to be considered as part of the study. Any shortfall in existing buildings is to be costed as a new build, and any shortfall of land is to be addressed with a statement on how this shortfall can be overcome.
  2. (2) The study is to comment on the adequacy of existing, and future requirements for land, buildings and facilities for single living, eating, sleeping, recreation, administration offices, training and working accommodation and the storage, servicing, maintenance and operation of vehicles and equipment.
  3. (3) Identify in conjunction with the Defence Land Agent any known or anticipated environmental constraints, planning constraints including any historical listings.
  4. (4) As a desk study examine information available on ground conditions, ground water table which may have a bearing on the options.
  5. (5) Any proposed new builds, modernisations, extensions of maintenance projects in planning/design or construction.
  6. (6) For each option give estimated costs of the annual maintenance for the option as a whole as well as any anticipated major maintenance items, and the year in which you estimated they will occur, over a 60-year period.
  7. (7) Identify with the client representative the security needs for both the active and passive ie fences, lighting, perimeter intruder defence systems, close circuit television and security of buildings.
  8. (8) The report should identify, consider and make a brief statement on the implications of the feasibility, planning, costing, phasing and execution of the works with the current or proposed occupants in occupation during the construction of any works identified within the options.

A number of options were investigated including the cost of locating the whole regiment at Bovington. The consultants' report contains much information that is commercial in-confidence, and will not therefore be published. The conclusions of their report, along with other relevant factors, will, however, be made clear by the Ministry of Defence when a final decision on the future location of the 3rd Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment is made.