HC Deb 30 November 2001 vol 375 cc1152-3W
Sandra Osborne

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the reasons were for the timing of the decommissioning of Squadron 819 at RNAS Prestwick. [17655]

Mr. Ingram

The planned date for the reduction of HMS Gannet to a Forward Operating Base remains 31 March 2002. In order to achieve this drawdown in practical terms it has been necessary to reduce the supporting infrastructure and move the Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopters based at HMS Gannet in stages, at the same time re-appointing the personnel of 819 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) associated with these aircraft. This resulted in the decommissioning of 819 NAS on 1 November 2001.

Sandra Osborne

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy personnel are based at HMS Gannet; and what was the cost of their(a) accommodation and (b) subsistence for each of the last 12 months. [17656]

Mr. Ingram

There are 210 service personnel serving in HMS Gannet. The total accommodation and subsistence costs for the past 12 months are as follows:

£000
Accommodation costs Subsistence
2001
November 86 27
October 109 27
September 111 9
August 98 8
July 117 8
June 99 7
May 123 8
April 107 7
March 103 8
February 102 7
January 94 6
2000
December 96 6
Total 1,245 128

Sandra Osborne

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy personnel will be based at HMS Gannet, Prestwick from April 2002; and how they will be accommodated. [17657]

Mr. Ingram

The Scheme of Complement for the HMS Gannet Forward Operating Base, from 1 April 2002, will be 82 RN personnel. They will be accommodated in either Service Family Accommodation (Married Quarters) for married and accompanied individuals, or Substitute Single Service Accommodation for those who are either unmarried or are married but are serving unaccompanied.

Sandra Osborne

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost is of the lease of the HMS Gannet site at Prestwick airport; and how long the lease has to run. [17658]

Mr. Ingram

There are two leases at the HMS Gannet site—one for the domestic site, known as Greensite and one for the operational site. The current leases for these two sites are due to expire in November 2013 and July 2019 respectively. Because the cost of the leases is commercially confidential, I am withholding the information requested under Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.