§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if the Medical Group HQ can be accommodated at Imphal Barracks; at what cost; and if he will make a statement; [115536]
(2) when a new Medical Group HQ will be set up at Imphal Barracks, Yorkshire. [115535]
§ Mr. SpellarThe HQ Medical Group will consist of three discrete elements; a deployable 1* Headquarters, HQ Army Medical Services (AMS) TA currently based at Imphal Barracks, York, and the Field Training Centre currently based at Strensall. All the elements of HQ Medical Group will ultimately be co-located in Strensall. This co-location will concentrate the command and control and training that is required to deliver hospital support on operations. To achieve this, a re-build at Strensall costing some £1.9 million is required, and it is estimated that this will take 18 months to complete (including the procurement process). The HQ Medical Group will therefore not be able to form up in Strensall until late 2001 at the earliest. In the meantime, the new HQ element will form up in Imphal Barracks at a cost currently estimated at some £0.2 million.