HC Deb 17 December 1998 vol 322 cc656-7W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are the projected operating costs for 101 Battalion REME operating out of Queensferry in the first three financial years of operation. [63622]

Mr. Doug Henderson

[holding answer 14 December 1998]: This information is not yet available. However, operating costs of the TA Centre at Queensferry are currently forecast to be, over a 25-year period, some 25% lower than the operating costs of the TA Centre at Chorley, where HQ 101 Battalion REME is currently the sole TA occupant. The transfer of HQ 101 Bn to Queensferry, to join other TA units there, will realise further cost savings since it will allow the closure of TAC Chorley. The precise details have yet to be established, but this work will be undertaken in the New Year as part of my Department's usual financial planning process.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost of proposed redundancies of civil servants arising from the transfer of 101 Battalion REME from Chorley Barracks to Queensferry. [63621]

Mr. Doug Henderson

[holding answer 14 December 1998]: It is too early to say how many redundancies, if any, will be necessary as a result of the transfer of 101 Battalion REME from Chorley to Queensferry, and what the cost of these redundancies may be.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals for the future of 101 Battalion REME at the Devonshire Road Barracks, Chorley were included in earlier drafts of his review of the Territorial Army. [63619]

Mr. Doug Henderson

[holding answer 14 December 1998]: Initial outline proposals, issued as a basis for the consultative process, proposed that the Headquarters 101 Battalion would remain in Chorley.