HC Deb 03 July 1996 vol 280 cc464-6W
Dr. David Clark

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the independent advisers who have provided advice to his Department's proposed married quarters housing sell-off in the past six months. [35372]

Mr. Arbuthnot

I have nothing to add to the reply my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces gave the hon. Gentleman on 1 November 1995,Official Report, column 328.

Dr. Clark

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 4 June,Official Report, column 343, what has been the total cost to date, inclusive of VAT, of the employment of consultants for his Department's married housing quarters sell-off. [35451]

Mr. Arbuthnot

The total cost to date of the employment of consultants since we began to develop the proposal to transfer the married quarters estate to the private sector announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 30 November 1995,Official Report, columns 810–11, amounts to some £4.4 million, inclusive of VAT. VAT for these costs is refunded to my Department; the VAT-exclusive cost to date is £3.8 million.

Dr. Clark

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of married quarters in each English and Welsh county which are part of his Department's proposed housing sale. [35236]

Mr. Arbuthnot

The information is not available in the form requested, and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. However, figures are available divided by Defence estate organisation land agent— DLA—regions, as follows.

DLA Aldershot: 11,116

  • Berkshire
  • Buckinghamshire
  • Oxfordshire
  • Mid and North Hampshire
  • Part of Surrey
  • West Kent
  • Part of West Sussex

DLA Brecon: 2,080

  • Dyfed
  • Gwent
  • Powys
  • South, Mid and West Glamorgan

DLA Cambridge: 8,495

  • Bedfordshire
  • Cambridgeshire
  • Essex
  • Hertfordshire
  • Norfolk
  • Suffolk

DLA Canterbury: 1,724

  • East Kent
  • East Sussex
  • Part of West Sussex
  • Part of Surrey

DLA Catterick: 5,727

  • Northumberland
  • Tyne and Wear
  • Durham
  • Humberside
  • North Yorkshire
  • West Yorkshire
  • South Yorkshire

DLA Durrington: 8,791

  • Wiltshire
  • Dorset
  • Avon
  • Gloucestershire

DLA London: 4,410

  • Greater London and immediate vicinity

DLA Nottingham: 3,748

  • Derbyshire
  • Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire
  • Nottinghamshire
  • Northamptonshire

DLA Plymouth: 4,490

  • Cornwall
  • Devon
  • Isles of Scilly
  • Somerset

DLA Portsmouth: 3,758

  • South Hampshire
  • Part of West Sussex
  • Isle of Wight

DLA Shrewsbury: 4,032

  • Cumbria
  • Isle of Man
  • Lancashire
  • 466
  • Greater Manchester
  • Merseyside
  • Cheshire
  • Clwyd
  • Gwynedd
  • Shropshire
  • Staffordshire
  • West Midlands
  • Warwickshire
  • Hereford and Worcester

It should be noted that these figures relate to the estate for sale at the time when the information memorandum was published—23 February 1996. The size of the estate for sale remains subject to adjustment during the continuing management of the estate.