§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria he used to choose between the relocation of the Defence Vetting Agency to Hartham or York; and if an investment appraisal was undertaken to assess savings from co-location of the Second Division and the Defence Vetting Agency. [72967]
§ Mr. Doug Henderson[holding answer 25 February 1999] An investment appraisal into a number of collocation options demonstrated that collocation of the Defence Vetting Agency (DVA) from its existing four locations on to a single site would represent value for money. Subsequent studies showed that there was little, in financial terms, to choose between Hartham and York, as a location for the DVA.
Meanwhile, it became apparent that the Defence Communications Services Agency (DCSA) needed additional office accommodation near its headquarters at Corsham, and the Hartham site would meet this requirement. I therefore decided to accept collocation of the DVA at York as being in the best interests of my Department overall, as well as meeting the needs of the DVA.
The above was set out in a consultative document, which was put to the Trade Unions on 9 November 1998 and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
No investment appraisal was made of the impact of collocating the DVA alongside HQ 2 Division or indeed any other particular Defence organisation.