§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with the Borough of Gosport as planning authority about the long-term use of the site of the Royal hospital Haslar. [80798]
§ Dr. MoonieMinistry of Defence's plans to withdraw from the Royal hospital Haslar site, following the 1998 decision, are tied to the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust's development of its Queen Alexandra hospital site at Cosham. It would be premature for the MOD to enter into formal discussions with Gosport borough council until the timescale for the completion of that development is more definite, but informal discussions take place periodically with the Leader of the Council to apprise him of progress, and MOD officials met Council officers on one occasion in 1999 prior to a review of MOD estates in the Gosport and Portsmouth area and after the decision to close Haslar as a MOD site had been taken. At that stage, the local authority—which will ultimately be responsible for determining the future of the site—was reviewing its plans for the local area.