§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many defence estates have been sold since 1997; and if he will make a statement on the adequacy of training areas and accommodation space for British forces. [3008]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 10 July 2001]: Since 1997 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has conducted in excess of 500 disposals. These range in size from airfields and barracks to small areas of land and individual houses.
Following the publication of "In Trust and On Trust: A Strategy for the Defence Estate" in June 2000, the MOD has embarked on a major "core sites" review covering all our 4,000 or more sites. This will determine how the estate can best be used to satisfy our long-term military needs and also guide future investment. Associated with this work, we are also considering the supply and demand for training as part of a Strategic Planning Study for the Army Training Estate (SPATE), which is largely concerned with the rural training estate. This should not be confused with the Defence Training Review, which is an advanced element of the "core sites" review and relates largely to the built estate.
While the MOD has no current plans to acquire significant additional areas of land, we do from time to time purchase land adjacent to existing training areas where this allows more efficient or effective use of the land we already own.
We recognise that some single living accommodation is below modern standards and the Secretary of State recently announced a huge programme of new investment in this kind of property, amounting to £1 billion over 10 years.