HC Deb 14 January 1997 vol 288 cc226-9W
Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list, by name, the companies that provide domestic furniture and personal effects removal services for armed forces personnel and the areas to which their contracts apply, including overseas moves, family moves under the service contract system and moves of single personnel. [9783]

Mr. Soames

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Transport and Movements Executive. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from M. G. R. Hodson to Mr. Robert Key, dated 14 January 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence, which asks for the names of the companies which provide removal services for Armed Forces Personnel, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Transport and Movements Executive Agency. The annexe gives details of those companies concerned. Please see my remarks in the answer to your other Question on removal contracts, regarding single personnel. The following companies provide overseas removal services on a tri-Service basis, for families and single personnel to and from the areas specified:

Area 1. (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, East Sussex, Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, London, Surrey, West Sussex)

  • Pickfords
  • Bournes
  • F and N
  • Whites and Co.
  • R and Y Tyres
  • Baxters

Area 2. (Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset/Avon, Devon, Gloucester, Wiltshire)

  • Pickfords
  • F and N
  • Whites and Co.
  • Cantay

Area 3. (Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, North Hampshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk)

  • F and N
  • Pickfords
  • Pearsons Ltd.
  • Whites and Co.
  • Kidds
  • R and Y Tyres

Area 4. (Cheshire, Dyfed, South Glamorgan, Gwent, Hereford, Powys, Staffordshire, Worcester, Clwyd, Mid Glamorgan, West Glamorgan, Gwynedd, West Midlands, Shropshire, Warwickshire)

  • F and N
  • Fleet
  • Whites and Co.
  • Pearsons Ltd.

Area 5. (Cleveland, Durham, Lancashire, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, South Yorkshire, Cumbria, Humberside, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire)

  • Selles
  • Pickfords
  • Pearsons Ltd.
  • F and N
  • Kidds
  • Whites and Co.

Area 6. (Scotland)

  • Pickfords
  • Pearsons Ltd.
  • Whites and Co.

Area 7. (Northern Ireland)

  • Whittles Movers

Area 8. (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands)

  • Whites and Co.
  • Stubbs
  • Pearsons Ltd.
  • F and N
  • Castles
  • RRT
  • Hendricks

Rest of World

  • Norway—White and Co.
  • Italy—Pickfords
  • Portugal/Spain—Gauntlett Removals
  • Canada—AMJ Campbell
  • USA—Ambassador Relocations
  • Cyprus—Orbit Removals
  • France—Baxters Removals
  • Denmark—Bournes Removals
  • Hong Kong—Allied Pickfords
  • Hong Kong—TCI
  • Hong Kong—Baltrans
  • Hong Kong—Fourwinds
  • Eastern Europe—Allied Pickfords
The following companies provide internal UK removal services for the army, and for families only, to and from the headquarter areas specified:

HQ London

  • Alton International
  • HR Shipping Services
  • Britannia Movers International

HQ Scotland

  • County Removals
  • Britannia Movers International

HQ 2 division

  • Britannia Movers International
  • The Pantechnicon Group
  • Pearsons Ltd.
    • 228
  • Whittle Movers
  • County Removals
  • W. Southerington and Son
  • HR Shipping Services

HQ 3 division

  • Britannia Movers International
  • HR Shipping Services
  • The Pantechnicon Group
  • Whites and Co.
  • Whittlers Movers
  • M. J. Christopher and Son
  • F. R. Hackworthy and Sons

HQ 4 division

  • Alton International
  • Baxters International
  • Britannia Movers International
  • HR Shipping Services
  • The Pantechnicon Group
  • Pickfords
  • Whites and Co.
  • Whittlers Movers
  • Hoults
  • Doree Bonner International

HQ 5 division

  • Britannia Movers International
  • The Pantechnicon Group
  • Premier Removals
  • White and Co.

HQ Northern Ireland

  • Whittle Movers
The following companies provide internal removal services for RAF and RN families to and from the areas specified:

Area 1 (South East)

  • Alton International
  • Baxters International
  • HR Shipping Services
  • Pickfords
  • Whittles Movers

Area 2 (Wales and South West)

  • M. J. Christophers and Son
  • F. R. Hackworthy and Sons
  • HR Shipping Services
  • The Pantechnicon Group

Area 3 (North)

  • County Removals
  • W. Southerington and Sons
  • Whites and Co.

Area 4 (Scotland)

  • County Removals
  • Ian Reid Removals Ltd.
  • White and Co.

Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the total value of current contracts, by area, in respect of assistance to Army personnel who are posted from one location to another, broken down into overseas moves, family moves and single personnel moves. [9781]

Mr. Soames

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Transport and Movements Executive. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from M. G. R. Hodson to Mr. Robert Key, dated 14 January 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence, which asks for the value in respect of assistance to army personnel who are posted, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Transport and Movements Executive Agency. The management information that is produced does not enable me to provide you with the details in exactly the categories you require. I have, therefore, broken down what information we do have, as far as is possible, but we are limited in what detail we can provide. For overseas moves of army personnel, both families and single, between the UK and some 80 countries worldwide, the total value of the current contracts is approximately £17 million per annum. For families moves for army personnel within the UK, the total value of the contracts is some £7 million per annum. For internal UK, the movement of the personal effects of single personnel takes place outside the main Unaccompanied Baggage arrangements. Their effects are moved by both in-house Service transport and commercial transportation as if they were normal Army freight. The management information is not available to distinguish such moves or their cost from the movement of other types of freight.

Mr. Key

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements he makes to assist Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel with removal costs when they are posted from one location to another. [9782]

Mr. Soames

When married RN and RAF personnel—and in the UK only, single personnel who meet certain conditions—are posted in the UK or to/from specified countries in north-west Europe, arrangements can be made to remove their furniture and effects at public expense where the circumstances of the move qualify. The removals are effected by a service which is based on the efficient use of removals companies contractually engaged by MOD via competitive tender. Service personnel should not need to meet any of the costs.