§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the adequacy of accommodation for British forces in Kosovo in the absence of the planned temporary field accommodation; and if he will make a statement. [104798]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 17 January 2000]: In order to bridge the gap between the current in-service tentage and the more robust Temporary Field 395W Accommodation, an interim solution, known as Improved Tented Camps, has been put in place. This has been a great success which has provided warm, dry and comfortable accommodation and met with the approval of the British forces who use it.
§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Salisbury of 10 January 2000,Official Report, column 92W, for what reasons the temporary field accommodation project in Kosovo was not fully deployed by December 1999; and under contract penalty clauses how much of the cost he will claw back from the contractor. [104797]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 17 January 2000]: The original requirement and camp build sequence were drawn up before UK forces had entered Kosovo. Delays have been caused partly by the need to change the requirement and Temporary Field Accommodation (TFA) camp build sequence to reflect the circumstances actually encountered on entry into Kosovo and partly by supply, communications, transport and technical problems experienced by the contractor. Improved tented camps have been made available which provide a good enhancement to accommodation standards. Under the TFA contract we are withholding a significant element of the payment for each camp pending completion and will seek liquidated damages where delay can be shown to be the fault of the contractor.