Departmental Responsibilities

HC Deb 19 March 1997 vol 292 cc671-2W

Mr. Llew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of his annual departmental budget was spent in Wales in each of the past five years; what(a) non-departmental Government bodies and (b) executive agencies responsible for his Department operate in Wales; and what land his Department currently (i) owns and (ii) leases in Wales, indicating the area of each site. [20707]

Mr. Soames

It is not possible to split the total defence budget by geographical area. Defence expenditure on equipment and associated direct employment in Wales for the most recent five years for which analysis is available is in table 1.9 of "UK Defence Statistics 1996", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. For each financial year from 1990–91 to 1993–94 inclusive the estimated proportion of the total equipment expenditure spent in Wales was about 1 per cent. In the financial year 1994–95 the proportion is estimated to have been about 1.5 per cent.

The National Employer's Liaison Committee is my Department's only non-departmental Government body to operate in Wales.

Five Ministry of Defence agencies maintain operational establishments in Walesr: the Army Initial Training Organisation; the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency; the RAF maintenance group; the RAF training group; and the Army Base Storage and Distribution Agency. In addition the Army base Repair Organisation has a contracts office in Cardiff.

The Defence Estate Organisation, which is scheduled to launch as an agency on 18 March, maintains a deputy defence land agent office at Brecon, and is responsible for the management of the defence estate throughout Wales.

The following agencies maintain a presence or from time-to-time conduct operations or training in Wales: the Ministry of Defence police; the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency; the Meteorological Office; the Defence Dental Agency; and Military Survey Defence Agency.

I am placing the information requested regarding Department owned and leased land in Wales in the Library of the House of Commons.