§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment his Department made of the possibility of moving a TA battalion HQ from south to north Wales during its consideration of the restructuring of the TA; and what estimate it made of the cost; [65015]
(2) what assessment he has made of the benefits of transferring a battalion headquarters from south Wales to north Wales. [63812]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonThere are at present two Infantry battalion Headquarters in Wales, one in the North of the principality and the other in the South. The amalgamation of TA infantry units in Wales into one battalion will require only one of these headquarters in the future, necessitating a choice to be made between the two for the new TA Infantry battalion Headquarters. Taking into account the recommendation of the TAVRA, we decided that the Infantry battalion Headquarters should 7W be based in Cardiff. The cost of basing the battalion Headquarters in either of the two locations was taken into account as part of the considerations.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has(a) to improve recruitment of officers in the north Wales TA and (b) to fill the existing officer vacancies in the north Wales TA. [65021]
§ Mr. Doug HendersonWe plan to launch a new national recruit marketing campaign, beginning in February 1999, as part of the launch of the new TA structure. In addition, we will encourage the transfer of suitable TA volunteers by the creation of a nationwide TA 'Job Shop', and by making arrangements to identify those who wish to take up these opportunities and to match individuals to posts where possible.